CityLab Daily: Young People’s Love of Cities Isn’t A Passing Fad

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What We’re Following

Old kids on the block: For 30 years now, young people have played a starring role in the back-to-the-city movement. But as young Gen X-ers and Millennials took a greater interest in urban life than older generations, demographic experts wondered if it would last, or if they would find their way to the suburbs as they got older.

Well, they are getting older, and new evidence suggests their preference for cities isn’t wearing off. A new study finds that some of the youngest members of the Gen X—the ones who kicked off the urban revival in the 1990s—have stayed closer to downtowns in American cities as they’ve aged. For Millennials, the pattern is even more pronounced. But the trends have come at different paces in different cities, and access to urban amenities and transit play a greater role in attracting people today than they did when the city movement first kicked off. Today on CityLab, Richard Florida digs into the latest findings: Young People’s Love of Cities Isn’t A Passing Fad

—Andrew Small

More on CityLab

Getting the Wright Look

When Frank Lloyd Wright died in 1959, he left behind over 600 unrealized designs and a fiercely devoted fanbase. One of those fans, Spanish architect David Romero, has been using advanced 3-D representation to transform those visions into life-like renderings. To achieve such detail, Romero considers not only Wright’s drawings, but also any relevant photography, historical context, and built references for each rendering. “I would love to model all of Wright's work, but it is immense,” he says. “I do not know if during all my life I will have time.” CityLab’s Nicole Javorsky has the story: Bringing New Life to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Lost Design

What We’re Reading

Are waterfront hotels ready for climate change? (Curbed)

Britain vowed big changes after Grenfell Tower burned. Why are thousands stuck in firetraps? (New York Times)

After Paradise, living with fire means redefining resilience (NPR)

“Co-living” is the new “having roommates” (Vox)

Transportation Secretary Chao pledged to divest from a construction company doing business with the government. She didn’t. (Slate)

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