Boston has almost everything millennials want, they just don’t know it
A recent New York Magazine article asked the question, “Can Boston ever be fun?” Citing early bar closures, Puritan-like laws, and the general lack of nightlife, the magazine dubbed the city “bleh.”
Many Bostonians beg to differ with that sentiment, and there are efforts underway to make the city more fun for young professionals, but a new survey indicates many millennials choose to stay away from Boston even though it has many of the qualities they say they want in a place to live.
Apartment listing site ABODO surveyed 2,000 people born between 1982 and 1998, asking them to rank what is most important in a city and what city they’d most like to live in. It seems there is a slight discrepancy between what millennials want and where they think they want to live.
Affordable rent and a thriving job market are the top two things millennials want in their city, followed closely by affordable home prices, parks or hiking trails, local restaurants (non-chain), and even quality pizza.
When asked to choose their “perfect” city, the biggest share of respondents went with New York (19.93 percent), San Francisco (10.33 percent), Seattle (9.23 percent), Portland, Oregon (9.13 percent), and Los Angeles (7.77 percent). Boston fell to No. 10 on the list with only 2.30 percent of those surveyed saying it was their city of choice.
But ABODO thinks millennials should give Boston a chance.
The site also ranked cities by the percentage of the millennials’ 20 most important qualities each of them satisfied, and saw a slightly different picture.
Boston moved up to the No. 2 spot in this version of the list. It has 90 percent of the most important 20 qualities. Where Boston fell short was affordable rent and highly rated public schools.
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