Develop Austin Texas

Yesterday, Forbes released their feature on US Cities on the Rise: vibrant cities welcoming the most newcomers. They’re not the big cities you’d think they are – in fact, New York is at the bottom of the list. It turns out Americans are most attracted to “job growth centers,” and college towns.

Three of the cities on the list are home to major universities, including Austin, Texas. Many young professionals, and everyone in thes areas, are very welcoming to newcomers. “If there are lots of newcomers, it’s easier to make friends; there’s a sense of vibrancy there,” says a senior fellow of the Brookings Institution, about these areas. “Places that don’t have a lot of new migrants tend to be older and more stagnant. They’re also more close-knit.”

Another draw to these cities are the universities themselves: universities are top employers and offer a steady flow of jobs. The population is educated, and it helps cities like Austin thrive. Says a senior fellow at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard, “these places retain people after they’ve graduated, and attract like-minded people.”

Austin sits at #4 on the list of US Cities on the Rise, with a population just over a million people and just over 6% of them having relocated to the area in 2008.