Photo of Charlotte, N.C., by Flickr user John Ashley.  

Meg Fencil is education + outreach program director and coordinator Transportation Choices Alliance, Sustain Charlotte. Charlotte is one of 26 Knight communities, places where Knight’s founders, brothers John S. and James L. Knight, once owned newspapers.

It’s no secret that Charlotte’s popularity as a destination for young professionals continues to grow. In April 2014, Forbes ranked Charlotte the 18th best city for millennials. With its vibrant financial institutions and diversity of employers, the city offers a lot to recent college graduates: a mild climate, a lower-than-average crime rate, a reasonable cost of living, entrepreneurial opportunities and proximity to outdoor recreation. According to a United Nations study of population growth, Charlotte and Raleigh are projected to grow faster than any other large U.S. cities over the next 15 years.

At the recent Rail-Volution Conference, Danny Pleasant, director of transportation for the city of Charlotte, said:  “Livability is becoming the gold standard by which communities are judged.” He believes Charlotte is heading in the right direction, citing several promising examples where the city is connecting residents through transit and walkable, bikeable, transit-oriented development:

• The South End neighborhood around the LYNX Blue Line track attracted $1.45 billion in new private investment between 2005 and 2015, generating annual tax revenue of $18.6 million.
• Among the new amenities touted by apartment properties along the Blue Line is a new phenomena: the transit lobby, which includes a coffee bar, television, Wi-Fi and a camera feed to alert people to the arrival of trains.
• An increase in restaurants, brew pubs and retail along the Blue Line. “If the brew pubs are popping up, you’ve probably done something right,” Pleasant said.

An upcoming bond vote includes dollars for transportation and street infrastructure and the Cross-Charlotte Multi-Use Trail, so we have even more opportunities ahead for enhancing our city.

Unemployment, underemployment and uncertainty about future economic prospects are changing the way millennials spend money. They’re increasingly choosing to reject additional personal debt. More so than previous generations, millennials value personal freedom and mobility to relocate to places that offer a high quality of life.

Millennials are increasingly moving into small urban rental apartments rather than taking mortgages on large suburban homes as their parents and older Gen X siblings did. Living in denser urban communities near the workplace affords them more opportunities to engage with peers during weekends and evenings without the need to own a car. And the need get a driver’s license and buy a first car are no longer the coming-of-age rites they once were.

As Charlotte continues to grow in population, we also need to grow our ability to attract and retain the brightest young talent from around the nation and world — one that’s known for its convenient and affordable transportation choices for all residents.

None of this will happen by accident or by taking a “business as usual” approach to planning. Knight is tapping into this need with its Knight Cities Challenge, a nationwide call for ideas. The challenge asks, What’s your idea to make cities more successful? That’s a thought-provoking question for any city and certainly one for Charlotte as we consider the best way to attract and retain young talent. Now more than ever, Charlotte needs visionary leaders to engage with residents as we develop and implement a healthy, vibrant and connected future.

The Knight Cities Challenge runs through 5 p.m. Eastern Time Nov. 14; apply at KnightCities.org.

This article was informed and inspired by the “Millennials + Boomers: A Win-Win Plan for All” workshop at the 2014 Rail~Volution conference. Panelists included: Danny C. Pleasant, Charlotte director of transportation; John Horvick, vice president and director of research, DHM Research, Portland, Ore.; Shannon Guzman, policy research analyst, AARP Public Policy Institute, Washington, D.C.