Thursday, February 19, 2009

get a move on

I was listening to NPR the other day on the way to work and heard them discuss the approval of a new regional economic growth plan called "Agenda 360", whose stated goals are:


At the core of this plan are three transformational, long-range goals. By the year 2020, the goal of Agenda 360 is to:
  • Add 150,000 additional 20 to 34 year-olds in the region's workforce, an increase of 50 percent.
  • Add 200,000 net new jobs in the region, representing an estimated 50 percent increase in the historical job growth rate in the region.
  • Create economic self-sufficiency for all, incorporating the United Way goal of income at a minimum of 250 percent above the federal poverty level for all households.



Of course, being smack in the middle of that demographic at 26 years old, and as a designer being a member of the coveted creative class, my ears perk up. Does this mean my city loves me?

So naturally, I'm wondering what kinds of stimuli they're scheming in order to attract people like me to the region. I had hoped more emphasis might be put on public transit infrastructure, but I wasn't surprised to learn that the only reference to such is support of the anemic streetcar proposal already on the books and a vague reference to future LRT plans without any real call to action. For shame.

Young creative urban types thrive on public transit. You want to revitalize downtown, get these kinds of people interested in moving here? Public transit enables the lifestyle of the demographic you're targeting. In purely economic terms, it makes it more affordable to live and thus more attractive to people just out of college or at the beginning of their careers with lower incomes.

1 comment:

Shannon J. said...

It's funny they're trying to bring more young professionals here when all I know are young people who would love to be part of the city, and not part of its underclass. I think this agenda is hollow if it doesn't address education, and the born-and-bred Cincinnatians who are locked out from the intellectual and cultural offerings our city has.