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Nearly six in 10 US young adults live within 10 miles of where they grew up

census.gov

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Re: Nearly six in 10 US young adults live within 10 miles of where they grew up

#3

Post by mikrl »

thepangolino wrote: post #2

That's a pretty common statistics all around the world. People connect to their the place they grew up in and people they grew up with.

In my experience, moving is related to aspiration. If I stayed where I grew up I’d honestly likely be an opioid statistic and definitely not doing anything worthwhile with my life. I still keep in touch with a few people from youth who didn’t ruin their lives, and I’m the standout success story despite being the socially awkward and poor one.

Moving thousands of miles has changed my life in ways I’d never dream of, staying still was not on the cards: it would have been lethal. I had to upend to get the education I needed, find my person and the tech job I love.

Re: Nearly six in 10 US young adults live within 10 miles of where they grew up

#4

Post by bombcar »

60% of young adults live within the metro area they grew up in, at age 26.

That's not surprising, especially with how many college graduates move home now.

I wouldn't be surprised if a substantial amount of the remainder stay near where they colleged.

Re: Nearly six in 10 US young adults live within 10 miles of where they grew up

#5

Post by tricksforfree »

mikrl wrote: post #3
thepangolino wrote: post #2

That's a pretty common statistics all around the world. People connect to their the place they grew up in and people they grew up with.

In my experience, moving is related to aspiration. If I stayed where I grew up I’d honestly likely be an opioid statistic and definitely not doing anything worthwhile with my life. I still keep in touch with a few people from youth who didn’t ruin their lives, and I’m the standout success story despite being the socially awkward and poor one. Moving thousands of miles has changed my life in ways I’d never dream of, s…

Imagine if you and similar, "driven" folk stayed and made where you're from better.

Imagine if you started small businesses and hired/trained the locals.

Maybe everyone left behind wouldn't have to work at a big box store or just die to reduce the societal burden.

Edit: Not blaming, just food for thought.

Re: Nearly six in 10 US young adults live within 10 miles of where they grew up

#6

Post by ElevenLathe »

mikrl wrote: post #3
thepangolino wrote: post #2

That's a pretty common statistics all around the world. People connect to their the place they grew up in and people they grew up with.

In my experience, moving is related to aspiration. If I stayed where I grew up I’d honestly likely be an opioid statistic and definitely not doing anything worthwhile with my life. I still keep in touch with a few people from youth who didn’t ruin their lives, and I’m the standout success story despite being the socially awkward and poor one. Moving thousands of miles has changed my life in ways I’d never dream of, s…

It depends where you're from. IMO it is generally good and positive for families to stay in the same area for generations, since it allows for stronger ties among the community, leading to generally less fragile lives. But you're right that those same ties can hold you down in the right (wrong) circumstances.

...which I guess is just a long-winded way of saying that you should stay near home if it's good, and stay away if it's bad (for whatever values of good and bad).

Re: Nearly six in 10 US young adults live within 10 miles of where they grew up

#7

Post by knaik94 »

mikrl wrote: post #3
thepangolino wrote: post #2

That's a pretty common statistics all around the world. People connect to their the place they grew up in and people they grew up with.

In my experience, moving is related to aspiration. If I stayed where I grew up I’d honestly likely be an opioid statistic and definitely not doing anything worthwhile with my life. I still keep in touch with a few people from youth who didn’t ruin their lives, and I’m the standout success story despite being the socially awkward and poor one. Moving thousands of miles has changed my life in ways I’d never dream of, s…

I am glad you were able to have such a positive impact on the trajectory of your life by moving. But you shouldn't generalize your experiences with your home town with everyone else's. Sometimes moving is necessary for growth, but it could also be completely orthogonal. It depends on the place and also the person.

I grew up 30 minutes from a respected state college, about 15 miles, and about an hour away from both Philly and NYC, almost exactly 50 miles to each. The ongoing joke in my high school is at least 50% of each graduating classes ended up at the same state college. I'm not sure the real statistic, but I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

10 miles sounds far enough away from parents to be able to feel independent but also not far away enough to feel any kind of culture shock. Not everyone will have this privilege, but I just want to share another perspective.

Re: Nearly six in 10 US young adults live within 10 miles of where they grew up

#9

Post by irrational »

That is mind boggling to me. I don't know anyone that lives in the same state they grew up in. I live about 3,000 miles away from where I grew up. I have 7 siblings and none of us live in our home state (and none of us live in the same state as another one - we live in NY, CA, MI, TX, OR, OH, UT, CO - we grew up in FL).

Though, I remember that one of my brothers once lived in Pennsylvania and he met 2 women who had never left their county and were amazed that he lived in so many other places and wondered out loud if he had been scared to live in places other than where he lived right then in PA. The mind set that other places are scary to live in is so foreign to me.

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