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Letter to the editor

Tampa's youth appeal blasted

Forbes says there is no worse place for young professionals.

By NINA KIM
Published June 26, 2007

Here's one ranking you won't hear the Tampa chamber crowing about: Tampa placed last in Forbes' annual ranking of how attractive 40 major metro areas are for young professionals.

Blame in part Tampa's demographics: an older population and lots of out-of-towners. Tampa stands second-to-last among cities ranked for the number of people ages 20 to 35, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Further, just over a quarter of Tampa's housing stock has been bought up by investors and second-home buyers, according to Moody's Economy.com.

Young professionals also may be turned off by Tampa's lack of big businesses relative to larger cities and its comparatively high cost of living. Tampa scored lowest in Forbes' 40-city comparison of salary vs. cost of living.

Put it together, Forbes concludes, and the bay area pales in comparison with younger-skewing locales like New York and San Francisco.

Some fellow Florida cities didn't fare much better: Miami was 33rd and Orlando came in 31st.

"There's a lot of gray hair in our offices, " acknowledges Lesley Madden, chair of St. Petersburg Young Professionals. "There's not been a concentrated effort to attract young professionals."

But networking groups for younger employees in the Tampa area, like St. Petersburg Young Professionals, are on the rise.

"Young-professional groups are relatively young, so I think their impact will be seen in the coming years, " Madden said.

The Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce created Emerge Tampa, a young-professional networking group, after a 2004 national study reported that the Tampa area struggled to recruit and retain young professionals.

Survey results aside, Emerge Tampa leaders think they've made progress in connecting young professionals with one another and with leaders in the chamber.

"If you connect people to the leaders of a community, they're going to find a reason to stay, " said Nicole Levin, program co-chair for Emerge Tampa.

Best cities for young professionals

1. New York

2. San Francisco

3. Atlanta

4. Los Angeles

5. Washington

Source: Forbes magazine

[Last modified June 25, 2007, 23:10:31]