Addressing Minneapolis business leaders last week, Katherine Loflin, lead consultant to the Knight Foundation's Soul of the Community Project, explained the key factors that drive people's attachment to a city and how to lure young professionals.

"These days, those people most likely to drive the growth of a city, namely young people between the ages of 25 and 34, have reprioritized," says Marlys Harris. "Quality of life registers high on their list of necessities. Corporations are finding that increasingly they have to sell talented recruits on the place where they would be relocating as well as the job."
"The young-people-seeking-quality-of-life notion has become the conventional wisdom of chambers of commerce around the country, which are scrambling to figure out what will sell their towns to those hoity-toity Gen X- and Y-ers, not to mention the so-called Millennials," she continues.
Loflin's Soul of the Community Project sought to dig deeper into what makes a community a desirable place to live. "The study looked at several factors that might give people satisfaction, for example, health care, schools, housing, highways, safety and so on," notes Harris. "But three surprising factors outweighed those practical considerations: aesthetics, social offerings and openness."
FULL STORY: What makes people attached to a city?

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Study: London ULEZ Rapidly Cleaning up Air Pollution
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San Jose Mayor Takes Dual Approach to Unsheltered Homeless Population
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Atlanta Changes Beltline Rail Plan
City officials say they are committed to building rail connections, but are nixing a prior plan to extend the streetcar network.

Are Black Mayors Being Pushed Out of Office?
The mayors of New York, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh all stand to lose their seats in the coming weeks. They also all happen to be Black.
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