End Of McMansions? Does this speak for Atlanta as well? (Boston: mortgage, loans)

[arjay57]

That really makes so much sense. Why beat your brains out trying to rep-plow the same ground your parents have already covered? It would be great to see the next generation freed up from grind of "we've got to make a living" so that they can focus on making the world a better and more peaceful place.

We probably have enough housing stock to last another 10 years as it is.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by arjay57

It would be great to see the next generation freed up from grind of "we've got to make a living" so that they can focus on making the world a better and more peaceful place.

Wow...

So who is going to pay all the bills for all of the programs and all the debt run up by all the people making the world "a better place" and not worrying about the "grind" of "we've got to make a living?"

I guess all us old fuddy duddies who worry about "making a living" will just continue to grind and pay the bills.

[mcm2010]

Originally Posted by globalnomad

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Honestly, I don't have a political agenda I just happen to think too many folks of a certain age are envisioning their big homes as easily opened piggy banks to fund their downsized or assisted living arrangements down the road.

Good sense says it will always be easier to unload a modest-sized, modest- priced home than a mansion. There's more of a market in this range. Always has been, always will be.

Maybe you will or maybe you won't "live in this house until I retire". I'm making no assumptions here. I'm just saying that at some point there will be a tsunami of boomers trying to sell their houses and there may not be a similar sized tsunami of eager buyers waiting in the wings.

So, many people may unexpectedly end up having to "age in place".

The way I see it, a modest-sized, modest-priced house = more flexibility.

Well reasoned!

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by neil0311

Wow...

So who is going to pay all the bills for all of the programs and all the debt run up by all the people making the world "a better place" and not worrying about the "grind" of "we've got to make a living?"

I guess all us old fuddy duddies who worry about "making a living" will just continue to grind and pay the bills.

Well, we're the ones who chose to buy these giant cookie-cutter homes. The least we can do as we age in place is provide the next generation a place to live.

[MisterNY]

Originally Posted by bdawk

Sure a me me me mindset may be unfortunate, but there are reasons such as those I mentioned about for buying a nice house, in good school districts on a nice piece of land.

They will indeed look for the things you mentioned, but they may not look for huge homes. Families of 4 lived in smaller homes, and it may be the case in the future. Who knows?

Originally Posted by arjay57

Well, I do think there's been an identifiable movement of people back into the city of Atlanta proper. The numbers speak for themselves. But that hardly means the suburbs are doomed.

Most of Atlanta's intown neighborhoods are pretty suburban themselves, for that matter. Nearly all of them were built with the car in mind, and while they are to varying degrees walkable, most are still composed of single family homes that rely on the car for heavy lifting.

So I think we'll see these older intown suburbs increasingly being part of the mix along with the newer areas built in the post WWII era. The newer suburbs are likewise becoming increasingly urban. I see this as a matter of taste and the maturing of a big city, not an "urban vs. suburban" war.

Very well said.

Originally Posted by arjay57

Valid points. However, we can't overlook the fact that in 10-15 years today's young urbanites will be in their 40s, settled down and raising children. They'll need space and good schools and will want to be close to their jobs, which most likely will be in suburbia. In other words, they'll be demographically like today's suburbanites.

Very true, but they may want to scale down. Things aren't getting cheaper. Maintaining a 5000 sq ft home is not for the faint of heart. They may learn from our mistakes. Maybe that generation won't be impressed with opulence. Times are changing'..

Originally Posted by globalnomad

***********************
Congratulations to your niece, who sounds like a high achiever.

Apparently, she might be in the minority these days. Here's an interesting article from the New York Times about 20-Somethings:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/ma...ulthood-t.html

The article indicates that society has been "built on the expectation of an orderly progression in which kids finish school, grow up, start careers, make a family and eventually retire to live on pensions supported by the next crop of kids who finish school, grow up, start careers, make a family and on and on. The traditional cycle seems to have gone off course, as young people remain un*tethered to romantic partners or to permanent homes, going back to school for lack of better options, traveling, avoiding commitments, competing ferociously for unpaid internships or temporary (and often grueling) Teach for America jobs, forestalling the beginning of adult life."

The "timetable for adulthood," according to the authors, has changed.

So predicting that this age group is going to grow up right on schedule and be in a position to buy your Hummer House right when you are ready to retire to a senior community (along with millions of other boomers in the same big, leaky boat) might be a tad optimistic.

My belief is that these kids may not WANT what we wanted (the big house, the SUV, the second home) and that their definitions of success may be quite unlike ours. To many of them, the "shared future of mediocrity" is to become the slave to a giant house or to a $50,000 car payment or to a usurious credit card bill or to student loans the size of a mortgage.

I happen to think they will be smarter than we were and they won't drink the big house Kool-Aid.

A thinking man.

Originally Posted by arjay57

. Big houses have been around for a long time. Why were they okay 100 years ago when Druid Hills, Buckhead and Ansley were being built, whereas now they are considered declasse "Kool-Aid"?

Yes, these houses existed long ago, however they weren't in abundance. People lived in what they could afford. In the past years, some people have been in denial about what they could honestly afford (easy credit, frenzied spending). I say, to each his/her own. I don't mind the diversity in styles, architecture and sizes.

However, some people equate a big home with success. These houses meant "you've arrived, or made it in life"... Yeah right!!!

[WilliamM]

Originally Posted by arjay57

.. we can't overlook the fact that in 10-15 years today's young urbanites will be in their 40s, settled down and raising children. They'll need space and good schools and will want to be close to their jobs, which most likely will be in suburbia. In other words, they'll be demographically like today's suburbanites.

I have to disagree. Desire for space and good schools are culturally specific and changeable characteristics. Of course everyone wants these things in some basic form, but the form that takes will vary from place to place, across education levels, and across generations. The truth is, we just don't know for sure what people of a certain profile are going to want 15-20 years down the road.

[globalnomad]

"The truth is, we just don't know for sure what people of a certain profile are going to want 15-20 years down the road."

Although we don't know about future home buyers, we have a pretty good idea of what future home sellers will want 15-20 years down the road:

houses on one level without stairs or front steps,
bathrooms with wheel chair access,
easy access to vehicles (if still driving!),
proximity to hospitals and doctors, etc
with energy efficiency (low utility bills)
low property taxes

Gosh! It turns out that we'll want/need is a ranch house (with modifications) or a smart little cottage;
The starter homes of our parents and grandparents will suddenly be all the rage again.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by WilliamM

The truth is, we just don't know for sure what people of a certain profile are going to want 15-20 years down the road.

Oh, that's very true. I'm just saying that demographically they'll be similar to today's suburbanites. Who knows? Maybe they will reject suburbia. My generation was also convinced we'd be different but many of us wound up there anyway.

[WilliamM]

Originally Posted by globalnomad

"The truth is, we just don't know for sure what people of a certain profile are going to want 15-20 years down the road."

Although we don't know about future home buyers, we have a pretty good idea of what future home sellers will want 15-20 years down the road:

houses on one level without stairs or front steps,
bathrooms with wheel chair access,
easy access to vehicles (if still driving!),
proximity to hospitals and doctors, etc
with energy efficiency (low utility bills)
low property taxes

Gosh! It turns out that we'll want/need is a ranch house (with modifications) or a smart little cottage;
The starter homes of our parents and grandparents will suddenly be all the rage again.

Hmm, not so sure about that one. Some of those lazy, sprawling ranch yards don't fit with your "easy access to vehicles" condition.

[neil0311]

The comments here all assume that people buy a home to impress others or as a status symbol, and that if you own anything bigger than a certain size, you must be overextended and a poser. The other assumption that I find interesting is that people buy a home and use it as an investment, or plan to keep it until retirement, and at that time, the country will be made up of people living in condos, no longer wanting to "grind" to "make a living." At that point, all us dumbass suburbanites who work will be stuck with our "hummer homes."

This whole conversation has been very enlightening. Some of you have some very interesting attitudes and some very skewed ideas about the world, our economy, and social trends. Hey...that's "diversity" right?