Seeking to stem youth flight, the Westchester County Association and New York City-based Project for Public Spaces will present a plan to attract and retain recent college graduates July 31 at PepsiCo Inc. headquarters in Purchase.
The key is creating clusters of places in close proximity to peoples”™ homes and workplaces that contain a variety of activities, said Meg Walker, vice president of PPS.
PPS has worked around the country and around the world to promote what it calls “placemaking,” Walker said.
Every place, Walker said, should have a range of uses and activities, should be connected to other places and be easy to get to, and should be comfortable and sociable.
“A lot of Westchester places cater to families and empty-nesters, but they don”™t cater to this age group,” she said, referring to recent college graduates and young professionals.
Young professionals, on the other hand, “are really looking for a lifestyle that they feel Westchester doesn”™t offer them,” Walker said.
She said coming up with solutions to the youth flight issue calls for developers, municipal officials, businesses looking to recruit recent graduates and young professionals themselves to all be at the table together.
“One key point we need to make clear both to the developers and to the elected officials is that these ideas will increase their revenues,” she said. “Whether it”™s activating a downtown or bringing people to a waterfront or a park or creating a whole new neighborhood.”
Separately, the WCA on July 19 began accepting applications for its Blueprint Accelerator Network, a business accelerator unveiled in May that has garnered more than $200 million in financing commitments and in-kind service pledges to date.
The Blueprint Accelerator Network is seeking applicants who are already established but less than five years old, and who expect to be in the market within 18 months.
