Outside our world-renowned colleges, Boston is not a great place for young residents. Rent is high, job prospects are limited, and happy hour is still somehow illegal. To address the growing concerns of young residents, Councilor Ed Flynn proposed creating a new City Council committee to retain and attract more young adults to the city.

“What will make everything worse is if young talent that we attract here from all over the world due to our colleges and universities, if they decide Boston is simply too expensive,” Flynn said.

Flynn cited a study by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce (GBCC), which found that 26% of residents between the ages of 20 and 30 plan on leaving Massachusetts in the next five years. Half consider affordable housing their top issue, followed by healthcare access, and the availability of quality jobs.

Satisfaction with day-to-day life in the city remains high but has declined by 10 points since 2023. Conversely, young residents report a near 50-point jump in the ease of community building.

Councilor Erin Murphy said that as a mother, she has witnessed this problem firsthand. “This is devastating for so many of our young, hardworking residents across this state who are finding it really impossible to get ahead, to move out, and live the life that I know I was able to,” she said.

Though exploring ways to support Boston’s younger residents proved broadly popular, the resolution’s passage will not result in the formation of a new committee. Council President Liz Breadon said the resolution is non-binding and that the issues faced by young people go beyond the scope of a single committee.

“I think this is a multidisciplinary, multidepartmental conversation,” she said.

As the youngest sitting city councilor, Enrique Pepen said he supports the creation of this committee, but the council should advocate for issues closer to young people, including housing, public transportation, and educational and occupational resources.

“These are things that we have to take into consideration. When we file resolutions like this to form a committee, but there are also policies that will make life easier for the same people this committee is going to serve, we also have the courage to vote in favor of them,” Pepen said.

Councilor Sharon Durkan added that she, too, would support this committee, but the council’s actions and policy positions need to “actually support young people in this city.”

“I think it’s really important that we actually center the needs of young people and sometimes that means making hard decisions,” she said. “Living in some of the only naturally occurring affordable housing on the north slope of Beacon Hill, I want to provide those opportunities to the next generation of people choosing whether they can stay in this city.”

She recalled a recent BTD hearing where many residents spoke negatively of BlueBikes, something deeply important to the younger residents of her district. GBCC found that residents feeling dissatisfied with Greater Boston reported greater difficulty getting around the city, suggesting mobility plays a role in their satisfaction. Durkan said the council should consider bold steps like supporting multimodal transportation and eliminating parking minimums.

“There are a lot of things that this body can be doing to demonstrate what it looks like to stand up for young people without having a committee,” said Councilor Julia Mejia. She said there are existing structures to consider issues that are faced by young residents.

Mejia said that it is most important for the council to utilize its platform, policy-making, and their power over the city budget to support the things that will give young people the quality of life the council was in agreement on caring about.