Lessons from the census

Omaha World-Herald: Culturally vibrant cities such as New York, San Francisco and Seattle have awesome power to attract ambitious, well-educated young people. But what about a city the size of Omaha — can it compete?

Yes it can. The proof is seen in other comparably sized cities.

Economist Joel Kotkin crunched U.S. Census numbers and found that many of the most successful “brain magnets,” relative to their size, were medium-sized metro areas, including Raleigh, N.C.; Austin, Texas, and Nashville, Tenn.

A lower cost of living, plus an array of civic amenities, can go a long way in attracting college-educated young people, Kotkin found.

So, an ambitious regional city such as Omaha can take heart from such findings. The opportunity is there.

That was just one of the many intriguing findings to be gleaned from the latest census and economic data.