Study Reveals Mass Exodus of Youth from Westchester

In late February, Community Housing Innovations, a White Plains-based affordable housing services nonprofit, released a study titled “Richest Communities on Long Island and in Westchester Experiencing Demographic Collapse of Young Adult Workforce.” Yikes!

The study, perhaps unsurprisingly, found that adults between the ages of 25 and 34 have been leaving Westchester and Long Island in droves since 2000.

Alexander Roberts, the executive director of Community Housing Innovations, was quoted by CBS as saying “the long-term health of some of the richest communities of our suburbs is threatened because of the lack and the loss of 25- to 34-year-olds in huge numbers.”

The study paints a pretty stark picture: Since 2000, the young adult population dropped 52 percent in Scarsdale, 36 percent in Rye, and 40 percent in New Castle. Overall, the report found a striking correlation between wealthier towns and youth flight, whereas more racially diverse areas with lower incomes, like Peekskill, Yonkers, and Mount Vernon, saw less decrease or an increase in the young adult population.

The study blamed its findings on the lack of affordable housing in Westchester, as well as what it called “snob zoning,” a preference for single-family—as opposed to multi-family—construction, which tends to preclude lower-income workers due to the higher costs of single-family living.

Where are they going? Roberts told CBS “They are going to New York City. They’re going to places like Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in great numbers.”