From the mid-2000s through the late 2010s, San Francisco was a magnet for young graduates driven largely by Web 2.0 and the mobile tech boom. It was a cool city that boasted high-paying jobs and promised a breezy West Coast lifestyle.
But in the past several years, younger workers have been ditching San Francisco for cheaper cities and better work-life balance. It started with a pandemic exodus, as workers moved to be closer to their families or to pursue a different lifestyle; then they steadily drifted toward Texas and Florida, where jobs were plentiful and rent was more manageable. In fact, a survey by global architecture firm Gensler showed nearly half of San Francisco’s young, childless adults were contemplating a move.
And now a new report from commercial real estate and investment management firm JLL shows there’s a third chapter in San Francisco’s migration script in which younger generations are moving to “welcomer cities” like Nashville and Orlando…