Richmond’s increased appeal to young people was intentional, said John Martin, the CEO of SIR, a Richmond-based strategic consultancy. Programs have sprung to integrate young newcomers to the city, and businesses try to attract a new consumer and employee pool.

“It’s taken a village to make us a millennial town,” he said.

Inna Burroughs, a 29-year-old Realtor, moved to Richmond from Seattle about a year ago for a job. The ULI study ranked Seattle No. 14 for millennial growth, and Burroughs said she’s been struck by the two cities’ similarities, despite being on opposite coasts.

“People here say Richmond’s two hours from the beach, a one-hour drive to the mountains, and that’s exactly how people describe Seattle,” she said. “It’s on the coast and close enough to the mountains.”

After she was adopted from an orphanage in Russia at age 5, her family lived in New York City. From there, she moved from one urban area to another. Now she’s in Richmond, her first southern city. While she said the people are friendly enough, they seem to keep to themselves.

Burroughs has a theory that she can identify what city someone is from based solely on how they act in an elevator.