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Young professionals and businesses are drawn to communities that are vibrant and provide the resources and opportunities to be successful. These resources include transit systems that are leveraged to create livable communities tailored for walking and complete streets.
Consider two articles in the last week that demonstrate how Tampa Bay’s economy is falling behind other regions because we lack the ability to build livable communities around transit.
On November 4, the Tampa Tribune wrote about the concern of community leaders that the region cannot attract high skilled workers or retain the ones we have. In the article, a military veteran studying to become an X-ray technician lamented over the lack of jobs in his field and what he might do next.
“I want to stay here as long as possible,” said 27-year-old Derrick Jayska, who grew up in Tampa. “But I guess, if need be, I’m not closed off to the idea of moving for work.”
On October 29, the Minneapolis Star Tribune had a much different story. Under the headline “Young, educated flock to the Twin Cities,” the article is a laundry list of investments that Minneapolis and St. Paul have made to attract young professionals, which has strengthened the Twin Cities’ economic muscle. But the article begins with an example of Florida and Tampa Bay’s inability to recruit and retain young professionals.
“From his perch in Florida, 27-year old Ryan Cox eyed two cities in which to pursue his tech career: San Francisco or Minneapolis.”
.jpg) Complete Streets in Charlotte, NC
Sun and sand is not enough. Young talented individuals, and the companies that seek them, desire the ability to get to work without sitting on an interstate. The attraction of young professionals to livable communities with transit access is so crucial that Atlanta, Cincinnati and Indianapolis have all included it as a part of their efforts to expand mass transit. Understand that Tampa Bay is in a competition for the workforce of the future. Each day spent without the necessary resources to pull in young professionals and their businesses is another day we fall behind.
Tampa Bay is already behind regions like the Twin Cities. In 2007 and 2008, Tampa was named Forbes’ “Worst City For Young Professionals.” Forbes said, “Tampa lags when it comes to innovation precisely because it hasn’t been able to attract or foster top companies of the best young talent.”
Pour through any of the lists of the best cities for young professionals and you will find places that have leveraged transit to create livable communities that appeal to talented young people. Salt Lake City, once a desert outpost, has become a magnet for young people who crave the city’s neighborhoods along the “first-rate transit system.” Washington, DC and Charlotte converted underutilized neighborhoods into thriving communities centered on transit stations.
In order to compete for the jobs of today and the future, we need transit and livable communities that appeal to the workforce and companies we desire. But we have to spread that message. Talk about what it means to have livable communities with your coworkers. Contact your elected officials and ask them what they are doing to build a transit system capable of creating jobs and economic development. Otherwise, Tampa Bay will fall behind our competitors and our talented students will keep moving to Minneapolis.
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