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Eden, a restaurant that opened in Hanover Square, serves farmto-table food. The menu changes daily based on produce recieved from local farms. Page 7
The Marshall plans to add 24-hour security after a person trespassed during a fire alarm evacuation at the luxury student apartment complex. Page 3
Now a senior for Syracuse field hockey, Claire Webb has had no choice but to step up as a vocal leader and serve as the Orange’s “one voice” this season. Page 12
national
SMALL STEP Millennials drive small boost in city population
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Student sues Juul following stroke
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By Emma Folts
asst. news editor
Percent of the Syracuse population that are millennials
Story by Gillian Follett asst. copy editor
Percent of recent movers to Syracuse that are millennials
Percent of homes that millennials can afford in Syracuse
source: national association of realtors
Graphics by Talia Trackim presentation director
600,000
A
see population page 4
Population decline 500,000
Buffalo Rochester Syracuse source: world population review
400,000
Number of people
fter decades of population decline, the city of Syracuse has begun to experience a small boost in its overall population. Millennials are overwhelmingly leading the growth. Syracuse has historically struggled with population decline, and has lost about 77,000 people since 1950. The city’s population increased by about 0.32% between 2017 and 2018, according to census data. The increase is small, only a few hundred people, but Syracuse was the only major city in New York state to see a population increase that year. “It wasn’t a large amount, but it is certainly in the right direction and something that we think bodes well for the future,” Mayor Ben Walsh said at a media roundtable on Friday. Estimates from the National Association of Realtors also reveal that a significant portion of new residents — roughly three out of four — who have moved to the city since 2017 are millennials, or people who are in their mid-20s to mid-30s. The majority of millennials moving to Syracuse in the past decade have settled in the downtown neighborhood, resulting in a 70% population increase in the area, said Alice Maggiore, communications director of the Syracuse Downtown Committee. Syracuse’s slight population increase is part of bigger trend among fellow Rust Belt cities, said Alan Mallach, a senior fellow at the Center for Community Progress in Washington, D.C. Over the past 20 years, Rust Belt cities have seen a significant shift in their population, with an increasing number of millennials driving this resurgence, Mallach said. In Rochester, about two-thirds of new city residents are millennials. As of 2017, millennials accounted for more than one-fifth of the residents in Cleveland, another Rust Belt city. Almost 60% of these residents had moved to the city within the past few years. These cities have become appealing to younger people due to expanding job opportunities in the fields of health care and higher education,
300,000
200,000
100,000 1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2018
Year
Median millennial income in 2018 Syracuse United States source: national association of realtors
30.6 Median age of Syracuse residents in 2017 Source: Census data
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
Annual income in dollars
80,000
A Syracuse University student is suing Juul Labs, the e-cigarette company, after he experienced “catastrophic personal injuries” about two years after he began using the company’s products. Maxwell Berger, 22, experienced a hemorrhagic stroke in July 2017 that paralyzed the left side of his body, caused him to lose half his vision in both eyes and led to cognitive impairments and brain damages, according to the lawsuit filed in July 2019. He began using Juul in 2015, and eventually came to use up to two pods per day around the time of stroke. Berger alleges that the e-cigarette played a significant role in his injuries. The lawsuit comes as there are more than 400 reported cases of lung illnesses related to vaping or e-cigarette use —five of which possibly resulted in death, according to The New York Times. In New York state, there have been 41 cases of severe, vaping-related lung illness reported. At least one case was reported in central New York. The 41 cases reported to the New York State Department of Health involve the use of at least one vape product containing cannabis prior to becoming sick. The department announced Thursday that Vitamin E oil appeared in nearly all of the samples containing cannabis that were analyzed. The oil is now the primary focus of the investigation. While hospitalized for more than 100 days, Berger had three brain surgeries and experienced a severe nicotine withdrawal that led doctors to provide him with a nicotine patch. The lawsuit did not explicitly state whether Berger experienced any lung illnesses. “While he has and will continue to fight for his recovery and to lead as normal a life as possible, Mr. Berger’s brain and other physical injuries have caused him to become more withdrawn, depressed, aggressive and impatient with his family and friends,” the lawsuit states. Berger is listed in SU’s directory as a junior in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management. He did not respond to requests for comment sent to his university email address. Berger is represented by the law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP. Sarah London, an attorney representing Berger, was not available for an interview. The lawsuit also claims that Juul, other e-cigarette companies, researchers and marketing see juul page 4