Census: ‘Brain gains’ for high-tech cities

Many college graduates are passing up industrial centers and former hotspots in the Southwest, which have been hit hard by the recession, in favor of life in urban, high-tech meccas. Their moves are fueling a resurgence of brainiacs in parts of California, North Carolina and Texas. Census data covering 2006-2008 show that Austin, Texas; Portland, Ore.; Charlotte, N.C; Raleigh, N.C.; and Seattle saw large jumps in residents with at least a college degree. Each offers the promise of specialized tech jobs and hip lifestyles. San Francisco, with its burgeoning biotech industry, saw significant increases in residents with advanced-level graduate degrees. Houston, home to NASA and several medical centers, saw gains in more educated residents but also those with only a high-school degree. In contrast, metropolitan areas with high rates of foreclosures, less tech-based economies or increasing unemployment saw declines or slower rates of growth in residents with a college degree or higher. They included Los Angeles, Atlanta, Orlando, Fla., as well as New Orleans, Detroit and Cleveland.