The Downtown Alliance has released a new “Brain Gain” study as a follow-up to a 2015 initiative looking into the Lower Manhattan workforce, finding that the young and educated population has grown even larger and faster than the rest of the Metropolitan area — and centering the neighborhood as a premier destination for global employers.
Not only is Lower Manhattan a hot spot for young workers, we also found that 970,000 college graduates aged 18–44 now live within a 30-minute public transit commute of the district — an increase of 182,000 since 2012 — outpacing growth in any other region within the New York metropolitan area. With young creative and professional workers choosing to live in neighboring areas like Williamsburg and Jersey City, and nearly half of all new NYC construction located within this same 30-minute commute zone, Lower Manhattan is an increasingly attractive option for workers looking for easy commutes. Indeed, supported by a dense transit network of 13 subway lines and extensive PATH and ferry services, Lower Manhattan has evolved into a diverse economic powerhouse, supporting over 235,000 private-sector employees across tech, media, fashion and finance.
Read our report here.