"magnet cities"

[warwickland]

It seems like some/most smaller midwestern citys have a target city that people tend to leave for, especially when they can't find themselves in their home city, having trouble finding a career, or have WANDERLUST. In St. Louis, it is undoubtedly Chicago, the sucking sound was deafening until only a few years ago, but even now its a strong trend...likewise, I notice that the Great Urban West has a much greater pull to Kansas City expats than anything to the east. I've heard theres a lot of ex-Kansas Citians in Denver (heard from a fellow St. Louis expat)...however, i also notice metro Kansas City has a weak, but apparent positive magnetic pull itself unlike most more easterly midwestern cities.


discuss? lock? ignore?

[ignatius]

See this thread on migration patterns of KC people...
http://forum.kcrag.com/index.php?topic=12600.0

KC is one of the few midwest cities that has gained more people through migration than lost.  KC gains a lot from perimeter cites but also net gains from STL, Chicago and most cold weather cities but also SoCal.  With the exception of Denver, KC net loses to warm winter cities.  But this is true of all cold winter cities.

Also see this...
http://www.metrooutlook.org/assets/migration2007.pdf

[warwickland]

Interesting that the KC metro sends more people from the Kansas side to Denver than from any other area, and certainly St. Louis is sending people to Denver (which makes sense from all the family friends who live there). I had single or DINK twenty/thirty-somethings in mind more than anything in this conversation, though, rather than general population. I've seen the information you've linked to before, but it is very interesting to look at again.

[ignatius]

These stats are old but check this out..

http://forum.kcrag.com/http://www.kcrag ... 577#p57577

[Jess]

]KC is one of the few midwest cities that has gained more people through migration than lost.  KC gains a lot from perimeter cites but also net gains from STL, Chicago

Can't speak for STL, but KC was a HUGE relief to me after Chicago because of Chicago's psychotic cost of living for what it is. I loved Chicago, but not enough to get ripped off. It's so much cheaper, here, I have all the same amenities that were important to me, and it's not nearly as consistently cold in winter.

[DanCa]

I've met several people in my neighborhood who also grew up in KC.  Maybe it's just an easy place to move to from KC if you're looking for a very different change of scenery.  You can still hop in your car and be in KC the same day.  (the same loooong, boring day!)

[warwickland]

Can't speak for STL, but KC was a HUGE relief to me after Chicago because of Chicago's psychotic cost of living for what it is. I loved Chicago, but not enough to get ripped off. It's so much cheaper, here, I have all the same amenities that were important to me, and it's not nearly as consistently cold in winter.

I can see that, and urban Kansas City has its vague similarities to Chicago, and it has its best and most inportant built environments in a singular and easily transit accessible north/south corridor (i used The Max much MUCH more than i do Metrolink here).

[kboish]

Just speaking from my own knowledge and where most of my friends (25-30 age range) have moved since college I can say Denver has by far the largest portion of people...a big, big draw.  It is particularly interesting when I think about where those friends grew up.  Nearly all the Kansas side people left for denver while nearly all the missouri side people now live in the KC urban core somewhere.  Although I must admit I'm originally a South KCer and if I were living in the U.S. still i'd probably be living in Denver or San Diego.

[KCtoBrooklyn]

In my circle (the creative class- musicians, artists, etc)  NYC and SF are definitely the biggest draws.  I probably know over 20 people from KC, or who went to college in KC, that are in NYC (mostly Brooklyn). 

I've heard a couple of New Yorkers express curiosity about KC due to the glut of talented/successful natives they have met in NY.  (although it's probably an anomaly because they run in my circle of friends from KC - I've heard just as many people say that they've never met anyone from KC.)

[dangerboy]

It's all relative.  KC is certainly a magnet city for smaller cities like  Springfield, Des Moines, Omaha, Wichita, etc.  In turn, bigger cities like Denver or San Francisco are magnets for medium cities like KC.  But as some have pointed out, the attraction goes both ways.  Just as some move up to the next biggest city, others move down to smaller ones.

[ignatius]

Based on this report, about 1/3 of people who move into KC come from metros larger than KC...

http://www.metrooutlook.org/assets/migration2007.pdf

[bahua]

1/3 would be a minority, right?

[ignatius]

I should correct that.  Nearly 1/2 the migration into KC comes from outside the US (page 7 in report).  Of the half+ that move to KC from other US cities, 1/3 come from metros larger than KC.

[Jess]

My boyfriend is a New Yorker who came to KC, and vastly prefers being a midwesterner.  I love that.