Civil Municipal - June 2024

Reversing the Urban Migration According to NPR 3 , the nation’s rural population is shrinking as young adults leave for more populated, highly urbanized areas for jobs or college. High-speed internet has greatly improved the lives of younger generations more than older generations. 70 % of respondents 30 or younger indicate that they are more likely to stay in their community if it has high-speed internet. About the survey Data cited in this publication came from the 2023 Cox Expansion Impact Survey conducted by Cox in December 2023. Approximately 6,000 of Cox’s U.S. customers with a service time of at least one month in previously unserved and underserved areas in AZ, KS, NE, VA, FL, or OK were polled. With 551 respondents, the margin of error for 2023 Cox Expansion Impact survey is +/-4%. Want to know more? Please visit www.coxexpansionimpact.com for additional resources. 1 “Unserved” locations are defined as having broadband speeds below 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload and “underserved” is defined as having below 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload. Section 60102(a)(1), Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Nov. 2021. 2 Pew Research Center. Feb. 2021 3 NPR Fighting population loss in the shrinking rural US. July 2023 Bridging the Digital Divide Through Better Connectivity, Better Education High-speed internet is 2X more likely to greatly improve the education of children in lower-income families (<$50K/year) than higher-income families (>$50K/year). Test Scores Higher Education will improve test scores of children from lower-income families will improve test scores of children from higher-income families will improve lower-income households’ ability to apply to colleges/ vocational schools will improve higher-income households’ ability to apply to colleges/ vocational schools 70 % 40 % 87 % 66 % Millennials and younger Gen X and older 73% 45% I believe the addition of high- speed internet is going to help us attract and retain the younger generation if we can market it, and people know that it’s available here.” -- Mayor in Underserved Community