Charlotte’s a donut!

Charlotte’s been getting a lot of acolades lately — best big-city bargain, home to a really rich dude — but none strike as much joy (or coronary disease) in our hearts as much as this: We’re a donut!

• Phil King (flickr)
• NOM NOM NOM

Or at least that’s what UNC’s Carolina Demography project deems a demographic shift in our population in which young, educated indivdiuals are moving toward the core of our city while the non-downtown core, or “inner suburbs,” struggle and the “exurbs” that surround them thrive. Confused? Picture, well, a donut. (It looks more like a bullseye to me, but I’m not going to argue with researchers who speak my love language.)

“Cities are back,” note Richard Voith and Susan Wachter from the Penn Institute for Urban Research, and recent city growth has been fueled by the in-migration of young, well-educated professionals and affluent retirees.

Cities aren’t the only portions of metro areas that are booming: much of the nation’s metropolitan growth has been in further-flung outer suburbs. At the same time, the inner suburbs and non-downtown urban core are stagnating. This creates what Renn terms “The New Donut,” a vibrant core with a belt of economically struggling inner suburbs surrounded by more affluent and growing exurbs.

(“Old Donuts” are apparently models in which cities would invest in downtown infrastructure — parking garages, museums, conventions centers — in attempts to revitalize the urban core.)

The project analyzed Census data, including education and poverty rates, to determine the shift. Apparently since the ‘90s, more folks with fancy degrees have been moving into the city — so much so that now, about 50 percent of adults that live in or near the loop have a bachelor’s degree. Not only is this data extremely relevant and interesting, it could also explain why Uptown is so douchey.

This article appears in Sep 24-30, 2014.