Greater Philadelphia Bicycle News

Brain Drain Revisited

A new census report shows the Philadelphia leads the nation's largest metro areas for losing the "creative class" - College Graduates aged 25-39. Philadelphia had an outmigration rate of 17% nearly double of the second lowest metro area - Detroit

Robert Lang, demographer with the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech University tells the Digital Collegian (State College) "The reason for movement to cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco is the quality of life and the fact that there are fun things to do more than anything else. As a college student, would you rather live in San Francisco and Los Angeles, or Philadelphia and Cleveland?"

Philadelphia wins for worst performance - best potential, Florida states in an interview about his book The Rise of the Creative Class" "Whereas companies---or sports teams, for that matter---that get financial incentives can pull up and leave at virtually a moment's notice, investments in amenities like urban parks, for example, last for generations. Other amenities---like bike lanes or off-road trails for running, cycling, rollerblading, or just walking your dog---benefit a wide swath of the population. "

Lets see, we have a 45 mile continuous path that starts at Locust St and goes to Green Lane Reservoir, 170 miles of bike lanes, the Fairmount Park system, the nations 3rd largest downtown and revitalized University City, a sizable transit system what gives?

Wage tax, urban blight, an underfunded park system, connecting multi-use paths on hold, pay to play, massive sprawl, parking garage building frenzy, SEPTA, parochialism, City Hall H-2's, Love Park.