University Cities | A NEW SPECIES OF CITY
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Discovering A New Type of City…

University Cities share a singular DNA that produces a constellation of magical effects: highly educated populations, innovative economies with high rates of entrepreneurship, outsized arts and culture sectors, and large nonprofit sectors that indicate a vibrant civil society. These traits mirror the large, coastal cities, but they happen in mid-sized cities with low unemployment, low-cost living, and extremely low violent crime rates.

These Six Cities…

If one were designing a city from scratch for success in the 21st Century – where educated talent is to the knowledge economy what rivers and ports were to the 20th Century manufacturing economy – then it might look like a University City.

The six cities that have major research universities in their urban cores, have metropolitan populations between 250,000 and one million, and have more than 10 percent of their populations consisting of students, are: Ann Arbor, Durham Chapel-Hill, Fort Collins, Lexington, Lincoln, and Madison.

Seemingly purpose-built for the 21st Century knowledge economy.

University Cities are a new species of city

These six cities have the advantages of the big coastal cities…

FULL OF EDUCATED TALENT…

70% GREATER THAN THE NATIONAL AVERAGE

 

PERCENT OF POPULATION WITH BACHELORS DEGREE OR ABOVE 2016
Source: 2016 Census Bureau
UNIVERSITY CITIES0%
Cities of the same size0%
Large Metros0%
National Average0%

HIGHLY ENTREPREN-

EURIAL…

BUSINESS STARTS PER 100,000 2014
Source: 2014 Census Bureau
226000
UNIVERSITY CITIES
23% GREATER THAN THE SIMILARLY SIZED CITIES
246000

LARGE METROS

184000

CITIES OF THE SAME SIZE

201000

NATIONAL AVERAGE

ECONOMICALLY INNOVATIVE…

GDP GROWTH 2009-2016
17% GREATER THAN THE SIMILARLY SIZED CITIES

 

Source: 2016 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
UNIVERSITY CITIES - GDP Growth (%) 2009-20160%
Cities of the same size0%
Large Metros0%
National Average0%

AND HAVE OUTSIZED ARTS & CULTURE SECTORS…

ARTS AND CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS PER 100,000
2016 44% GREATER THAN SIMILARLY SIZED CITIES

 

 

Source: 2016 Census Bureau
49000
UNIVERSITY CITIES
ARTS AND CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS /100K
61000

LARGE METROS

39000

CITIES OF THE SAME SIZE

43000

NATIONAL AVERAGE

LOW LIVING COSTS…

MIT LIVING WAGE INDEX 2016

 

 

Add source: 2018 MIT Living Wage

$ 13.01

UNIVERSITY CITIES
The cost of living in University Cities is 8% lower than in large metros
$ 13.17
LARGE METROS
$ 12.52
CITIES OF SIMILAR SIZE

LOW UNEMPLOYMENT RATES…

AVERAGE UNEMPLOYMENT  RATE 2017

 

 

Source: 2017 Bureau of Labor Statistics

3.00 %

UNIVERSITY CITIES
38% LOWER THAN LARGE METROS
4.80 %
CITIES OF SIMILAR SIZE
4.30 %
LARGE METROS
4.70 %
NATIONAL AVERAGE

AND VERY LOW VIOLENT CRIME RATES…

VIOLENT CRIMES PER 100000

 

 

Source: 2016 Federal Bureau of Investigation
26300
UNIVERSITY CITIES
43% LOWER THAN SIMILAR SIZED CITIES
44900

LARGE METROS

45300

CITIES OF THE SAME SIZE

38600

NATIONAL AVERAGE

While everywhere else suffered in the recession, this new urban species somehow kept unemployment, costs of living, and crime rates down. What we can learn from ‘University Cities.’

Post-industrial City. Metropolis. Border Town. Tourist Mecca. We like to classify our cities, giving them labels that signal what makes them tick, why they’re special.

Now, data suggest there’s another urban typology to add to the list: The University City. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said, “If you want to build a great city, create a great university and wait 200 years.”

NPR

“Older cities, they would locate on the river, and the river would power the paddle wheel, and the paddle wheel would make the electricty, and off went the factories. Our river is talent. Our river is intellectual capital coming from Penn State,”

-Videon CEO Todd Erdley.

This group, which he calls “university cities,” have distinct characteristics that make them different from smaller college towns or major cities with big research universities. And those characteristics translate into big economic development opportunities in the 21st century’s knowledge-based economy.

2017 University Cities Conference
Jim Gray, Mayor of Lexington. Conference welcome.

What Is A University City?

Scott Shapiro, Lexington Chief Innovation Officer.

The Value of University Cities.

Edward Glaeser, PhD, Professor of Economics, Harvard University, and author of Triumph of the City.

What do concentrations of human capital in University Cities produce?

Ken Troske, PhD, Professor of Economics, University of Kentucky.

What do concentrations of human capital in University Cities produce?

Eli Capilouto, DMD, Sc.D, president, University of Kentucky.

University Cities: The UK perspective.

Jim Gray, Mayor of Lexington; Chris Beutler, Mayor of Lincoln, and Wade Troxell, Mayor of Fort Collins.

Governing a University City + policy swap.

Omar Blaik, CEO, U3 Advisors.

From college town to University City.

Benjamin Kennedy, Kresge Foundation; Katie Appel Duda, Bloomberg Philanthropies; and Lilly Weinberg, Knight Foundation.

Impact philanthropy and University Cities.

Warren J. Wilson, YARDSTK; Steve Dauphin, The Kirchner Group and Bonaventure Capital; and James Lima, James Lima Planning + Development.

Entrepreneurship and innovation in University Cities.

John Burkhardt, PhD, Professor of Education and Founding Director of the National Forum of Higher Education for the Public Good, University of Michigan; Howard Lazarus, City Administrator, City of Ann Arbor; and Jim Kosteva, Director of Community Relations, University of Michigan.

Ann Arbor case study: equity in University Cities.

Scott Andes, Brookings Institution.

University-anchored innovation districts.

University Cities Conference Closing

University Cities Conference Closing

CONFERENCE SPONSORS
2018 UNIVERSITY CITIES SYMPOSIUM
2018 UNIVERSITY CITIES SYMPOSIUM
2018 UNIVERSITY CITIES SYMPOSIUM

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