Forbes Magazine: San Antonio is the hottest city for millenials in the emerging Southwest

1. San Antonio. The city topping the list hits the appeal trifecta: a dynamic economy, employment opportunities and affordable living. Reasons cited for picking San Antonio ranged from “I think it would be a safe city to raise a family” to “It is expanding every day and providing new job opportunities, the atmosphere is great, and there are a lot of activities to do and festivities to join.”

Everyone knows that the Southwest is warm this time of year, but today the region is hot. Its time has finally come. Millions of Hispanic-American families (whose ethnic/racial group makes up 17 percent of the U.S. population) are putting down roots there, and Latin millennials are putting Latin flair into its cities, places and spaces.

To get specific, the new American centers of gravity are California and Texas. It’s not simply because they have the two largest populations, with just over 38 million people in California and 26 million–plus in Texas. And it’s not because of Hollywood or Dallas, Silicon Valley or even the constantly trending #SXSW.

Those two states, as well as Arizona and New Mexico, are the new capitals of influence. They’re not just border states (although that’s an important factor); they’re also a frontier between the America that we were and the America we’re rapidly becoming. Some 52 million Americans today identify as Hispanic, and 50,000 of them will turn 18 each month for the next two decades. These millennials have real clout, both for their spending power now and for their ability to influence what comes next. Marketers especially should start paying attention.

We undertook a study of 804 Hispanic and non-Hispanic Americans ages 18 to 34 in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas earlier this year. Among other questions, we asked them which cities in the Southwest will be the best places for their generation. Their answers were illuminating and based on where they currently live, where they had gone to college or would like to go, the media, and their friends and families. (These were open-ended queries, by the way, so it’s not as if we supplied our list and asked them to prioritize their “where.”) We all need to be keeping an eye on these cities as we think about where #nextgen will flourish. (Three commonalities: They are ethnic, affordable and youthful, including college towns as one anchor.)
Marian SalzmanContributor