BROOKLYN, Mich — Brooklyn Village Manager Matt Swartzlander confirms we are seeing some real life examples of what census analysts are calling a striking shift: since the pandemic, big cities are losing 25-44-year-olds. Where are they going? To smaller communities like this one — where they're making their mark.
"We are lucky enough right now to have numerous couples like that in our community," says Swartzlander.
After 20 years in Chicago, Abie Baldwin and Taylor Aue moved their family here, to the Village of Brooklyn. And now — they've opened an upscale restaurant that would not look out of place in a major metropolis.
WATCH ABIE AND TAYLOR'S STORY:
"We were just looking to kind of slow down, slower pace of life, have our kids be closer to their grandparents and all of those fun family things that, you know, you think of small town living," says Baldwin.
Five years later, they say they're happy. But they did feel one thing was missing. Their solution?
"We built the restaurant that we wanted," says Aue.
That restaurant is Atlas. It caught my eye as I was passing through one day…and wouldn't look out of place in a major metropolis.
But putting $2 million into an upscale restaurant in an area more known for bars and burgers?
"We had faith that everyone was going to be supportive…and it would be well-received. And it really has been," says Baldwin.
Aue— a restaurateur with multiple restaurants in Chicago — says Atlas draws people from as far away as Toledo.
Baldwin says the restaurant was Aue's idea. "I said, just get a hobby. He said his hobby was opening restaurants."
For Aue, it comes back to a sense of community he felt was missing in the city: "I feel like in the city, things are often transient…you don't necessarily have that same long-term commitment to the neighborhood that you find in a community like this."
Baldwin, whose vision guided the interior design, says the idea was not "fancy", but "upscale casual" — with reasonably-priced, culturally diverse dishes and a cosy, comfy vibe.
She says, "We wanted this to be really approachable."
Swartzlander says he couldn't be happier.
"It's an amazing opportunity to have people like that in a community….When those pieces start to come together, that's when you see communities really start to thrive and grow."
