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May 23, 2001Michigan population grows olderMichigan gets grayer as young adults go elsewhere, census saysBy JOHN FLESHERThe Associated Press Wendy Kammer graduated from the University of Michigan, left her native state the next day and hasn't looked back. "I will always be proud to call Michigan my home, but it feels a bit limiting in terms of lifestyle and job opportunities, and I don't like the weather," said the 32-year-old Detroit native, who now lives in Los Angeles. An exodus of young adults such as Kammer and surging numbers of middle-aged and elderly residents made Michigan's population grayer in the 1990s, according to census data released Wednesday. The trend is likely to accelerate in the next decade as the first wave of baby boomers begins retiring, University of Michigan demographer William Frey said. "This generation gap is going to widen ... and permeate down to individual communities that used to have a nice balance between families with kids and empty-nesters and retirees," Frey said. Michigan's median age rose from 32.6 in 1990 to 35.5 in 2000, nearly identical to the national increase of 32.9 to 35.5. The state's population in the 20-34 age group fell 12 percent, while the 35-59 group - which takes in the post-World War II baby boomers - jumped 25.6 percent. While the 60-74 group fell 3.5 percent, the 75-and-older population jumped 27.2 percent. The school-age population grew moderately, although preschoolers declined. In part, the slump in young adults resulted from the "baby bust" that followed the boom, Frey said. But leaders in Michigan and other Midwestern states have spoken worriedly of a "brain drain," as young graduates increasingly take their degrees and talent elsewhere. A lack of jobs is the culprit in some areas, such as the Upper Peninsula. In Houghton County, the 20-34 age group slipped 5.4 percent despite the presence of Michigan Tech University and the Keweenaw Peninsula's Lake Superior vistas. In southern Michigan, where good-paying positions were plentiful in the 1990s, one problem is a reputation for a Rust Belt economy and cold winters - which also hampers recruitment of workers from other parts of the country. "Part of the challenge is just to get them to Michigan in the first place, to see all the high-tech jobs and ... appreciate that there is indeed a spring thaw and Lake Michigan isn't covered with ice," said Rich Studley, senior vice president of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce. Even booming Oakland County, north of Detroit, lost 12.6 percent of its young adults. |