Joel Kotkin describes recent trends that he says may surprise city planners who have long pursued policies to attract college-educated citizens to their cities.
According to Kotkin, the common belief is that college graduates have been flocking to the coasts. However, according to data provided by Wendell Cox, the largest gains in college-educated citizens as a percentage of the adult population has occurred in the South and Midwest:
"It turns out that none of the top 10 gainers were large Northeastern cities, but largely Southern or Midwestern. New Orleans; Raleigh, N.C.; Austin, Texas; Nashville; Birmingham, Ala.; Kansas City, Mo.-Kan.; and Columbus, Ohio, all scored high marks. Only one California city, San Diego, made the top 10. Perennial "brain gainers" Denver, Colo., and Seattle round out the top 10."
FULL STORY: America's Biggest Brain Magnets

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Economic & Planning Systems, Inc.
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research