Wednesday, February 16, 2011  The Portland Youth Magnet
Portland got another national star turn this morning on NPR with
a story about the migration of twenty somethings to the city
despite relatively high unemployment and low pay.  The usual
suspects are trotted out as reasons - lifestyle, hipsters beget
more hipsters, etc.   The first is that as societies grow more
affluent one of the biggest jumps on consumption we see is a
jump the the consumption of leisure time. Affluence buys us rest
and relaxation - and the related vacations, travel, etc.  This
has been true for some time, over the 19th and 20th centuries we
saw the amount of leisure time increase dramatically in high-
income countries.  But I wonder if now what were are seeing is a
generation that puts more worth on lifestyle as opposed to more
material goals.  So it is now no longer just more leisure time,
but the quality of your leisure and your work time.  Being in a
community that affords quality leisure time activities, like
minded individuals a