Hartford Courant – Aetna’s decision to look beyond Hartford for its headquarters isn’t complicated, experts say: the company wants young, highly educated workers who live in thriving city environments.

At the moment, that isn’t Hartford, which only recently has picked up the pace of adding downtown apartments and other sought-after urban amenities.

“The first thing is that you have to be in a big enough metro area to attract young people,” John Glascock, director of the Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, said. “GE had some problems with top candidates relocating to southern Connecticut.”

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