By Hope Yen, The Associated Press on NBC News:
New census estimates show that most of the nation’s largest cities further enhanced their allure last year, posting strong population growth for a second straight year.

Big cities surpassed the rate of growth of their surrounding suburbs at an even faster clip, a sign of America’s continuing preference for urban living after the economic downturn quelled enthusiasm for less-crowded expanses.

Farther-out suburbs known as exurbs saw their growth slip to 0.35 percent, the lowest in more than a decade.

Economists generally had played down the recent city boom as an aberration, predicting that young adults in the recovering economy would soon be back on the move after years of staying put in big cities. But the widening gains for cities in 2012 indicate that young people as well as would-be retirees seeking quieter locales are playing it safe for a while longer in dense urban cores, where jobs may be easier to find and keep.”

“Census data show that many closer-in suburbs linked to a city with public transit or well-developed roadways are benefiting from strong city growth, while far-flung areas near the metropolitan edge are fizzling after heady growth during the mid-decade housing boom.”
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Ed. Note:
This writer was recently consulted by a real estate assessor and told that the fact that Yelm has only focused on developing as a bedroom community in permitting so many houses, while being so challenging for companies to do business here [with water restrictions, annual taxes, so many restrictions], that there are few prospects in the future for any good-paying job growth here and that will stymy this area for years to come

That will be the legacy of a city council and city development department that has focused massive growth for a decade only in the lower-priced housing sector.