WASHINGTON — For the first time in a century, most of America's largest cities are growing at a faster rate than their surrounding suburbs as young adults seeking a foothold in the weak job market shun home-buying and stay put in bustling urban centers.

New 2011 census estimates released Thursday highlight the dramatic switch.

Driving the resurgence are young adults, who are delaying careers, marriage and having children amid persistently high unemployment. Burdened with college debt or toiling in temporary, lower-wage positions, they are spurning homeownership in the suburbs for shorter-term, no-strings-attached apartment living, public transit and proximity to potential jobs in larger cities.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/47992439#.T-18k_WTWxs


Jaclyn King, 28, smiles as she arrives at her job at a Denver hospital on Wednesday. King grew up in the suburbs of Denver and now lives in the city and says she’ll never return to the suburbs because she wants to avoid the long commutes her parents had.