Where Do All the Young People Go?

After college, most of my friends left to lead lives in different cities. Some chose New York, Milwaukee or Chicago. Some decided to move back home. A handful chose Madison, and I happen to be one of them.

I like Madison, I think it’s a great place to live, but there have been so many times when I’ve just felt like it might be too small. Those big cities that called my friends’ names have one thing that also draws me to them—other young professionals like me, fresh out of school, starting out their careers, and seeking new social networks to replace the ones we all cherished in college.

So where are the rest of us? And how in the world do I find them? In between all the college students and the families, I feel squeezed in the middle somewhere and I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one.

I’ve made a conscious choice recently to try and find other young urban professionals, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out how many there actually are in Madison.

I’m slowly breaking away from the college scene, one I’ve been familiar and comfortable with for a long time. Finding more young people like me might not be the easiest, but I’m sure it can be done, and it’s a journey that I’m more than excited to start.