This is so interesting as someone probably 15 years younger; compared to my parents, who immigrated to the US in the 1990s when they were 18 and 22 respectively and moved nearly every three or four years until they had their first child, the culture of moving has changed completely for "Gen Z" -- even those of us who, due to immigration, don't necessarily have super deep cultural and emotional roots in one part of the US.
It's already unusual that I moved away from the area of my undergrad for work (almost all my college friends stayed in the Bay), and it's noticeably only a certain subset of young people who move often -- I went to a university that people do recognize, which is why I have access to opportunities that allow me to relocate easily on a "relocation/signing bonus". But in this cohort of affluent, well-educated young people with "good jobs" that are often finance-adjacent, I think we relocate significantly more than average. If my parents moved maybe every three or four years, I think in our 20s, we move closer to every two to three years. Like how serial divorcees bring up the average divorce rate.
Exactly, I think there's a strange class divide when it comes to mobility.
Being self-referential again, the only reason I ended up going to school in California was because I was a competitive Judo player and there's exactly three places to seriously train that sport in the US. The fact that San Jose State University happened to be adjacent to the epicenter of the last decade's major economic expansion was pure coincidence. Which is all to say, barring that one weird twist in my life, my socioeconomic station could have resulted in me never leaving the Texas.
Interesting theme about tradition of mobility fostering civic institutions to welcome newcomers. I haven’t read Stuck yet but I just read Uprooted by Grace Olmstead, who argues that we can continue to be mobile to chase things but ultimately we need to learn to be “Stickers” wherever we decide to stay since that gives the truest sense of satisfaction and makes for healthier communities. I think there’s a certain aspect of seasonality and life phases that go with this (sometimes we want to be boomers and other times stickers) And we should have buildings and institutions like coliving and coworking and zoning flexibility for popups, and good public spaces that encourage and cultivate this in our towns and cities.
Mobility of residence is an often neglected subject. We often use diurnal mobility in support of a stable residence when it might be more beneficial to increase residential mobility as a means of reducing diurnal mobility. That should apply within regions as well as applying across regions.
Access to jobs and goods and services is a necessary condition for walkable neighborhoods. Service workers living within a block or two from their jobs is reduces their transportation cost and might remove a car from the neighborhood. Walking is better than public transportation, but there must be housing accessible to them to make this work.
This is so interesting as someone probably 15 years younger; compared to my parents, who immigrated to the US in the 1990s when they were 18 and 22 respectively and moved nearly every three or four years until they had their first child, the culture of moving has changed completely for "Gen Z" -- even those of us who, due to immigration, don't necessarily have super deep cultural and emotional roots in one part of the US.
It's already unusual that I moved away from the area of my undergrad for work (almost all my college friends stayed in the Bay), and it's noticeably only a certain subset of young people who move often -- I went to a university that people do recognize, which is why I have access to opportunities that allow me to relocate easily on a "relocation/signing bonus". But in this cohort of affluent, well-educated young people with "good jobs" that are often finance-adjacent, I think we relocate significantly more than average. If my parents moved maybe every three or four years, I think in our 20s, we move closer to every two to three years. Like how serial divorcees bring up the average divorce rate.
Exactly, I think there's a strange class divide when it comes to mobility.
Being self-referential again, the only reason I ended up going to school in California was because I was a competitive Judo player and there's exactly three places to seriously train that sport in the US. The fact that San Jose State University happened to be adjacent to the epicenter of the last decade's major economic expansion was pure coincidence. Which is all to say, barring that one weird twist in my life, my socioeconomic station could have resulted in me never leaving the Texas.
Interesting theme about tradition of mobility fostering civic institutions to welcome newcomers. I haven’t read Stuck yet but I just read Uprooted by Grace Olmstead, who argues that we can continue to be mobile to chase things but ultimately we need to learn to be “Stickers” wherever we decide to stay since that gives the truest sense of satisfaction and makes for healthier communities. I think there’s a certain aspect of seasonality and life phases that go with this (sometimes we want to be boomers and other times stickers) And we should have buildings and institutions like coliving and coworking and zoning flexibility for popups, and good public spaces that encourage and cultivate this in our towns and cities.
Mobility of residence is an often neglected subject. We often use diurnal mobility in support of a stable residence when it might be more beneficial to increase residential mobility as a means of reducing diurnal mobility. That should apply within regions as well as applying across regions.
Access to jobs and goods and services is a necessary condition for walkable neighborhoods. Service workers living within a block or two from their jobs is reduces their transportation cost and might remove a car from the neighborhood. Walking is better than public transportation, but there must be housing accessible to them to make this work.