Seemingly purpose-built for the 21st Century knowledge economy.
UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF KENTUCKY
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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.
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.
Lexington has the advantages of the big coastal cities…
70% GREATER THAN THE NATIONAL AVERAGE
PERCENT OF POPULATION WITH BACHELORS DEGREE OR ABOVE 2016
Source: 2016 Census Bureau
30.96 % greater than the national average
Cities of the same size0%
HIGHLY ENTREPREN-
EURIAL…
BUSINESS STARTS PER 100,000 2014
Source: 2014 Census Bureau
226000
26.1174 % greater than the similarly sized cities
184000CITIES OF THE SAME SIZE
GDP GROWTH 2009-2016
17% GREATER THAN THE SIMILARLY SIZED CITIES
Source: 2016 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
LEXINGTON - GDP Growth (%) 2009-20160%
19.89 % greater than the similarly sized cities
Cities of the same size0%
AND HAVE OUTSIZED ARTS & CULTURE SECTORS…
ARTS AND CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS PER 100,000
2016 44% GREATER THAN SIMILARLY SIZED CITIES
Source: 2016 Census Bureau
47100
32.7% greater than the similarly sized cities
39000CITIES OF THE SAME SIZE
MIT LIVING WAGE INDEX 2016
Add source: 2018 MIT Living Wage
14.88 % lower than large metros
AVERAGE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE 2017
Source: 2017 Bureau of Labor Statistics
26.3% lower than large metros
AND VERY LOW VIOLENT CRIME RATES…
VIOLENT CRIMES PER 100,000
Source: 2016 Federal Bureau of Investigation uniform crime report
26400
51.87 % lower than large metros
45300CITIES OF THE SAME SIZE