Millenials Choosing Older Homes Closer In? (Burke, Annandale: apartment, new home, dorm)

[jillabean]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

Gosh, I'm still trying to figure out what I am. I think techically I am a baby boomer but at the tail end of that so I don't really fit in there. What is the next generation after them. I'm so confused....

I find a lot (not all, but a lot) this "generation" stuff to be a lot like astrology. Gen Xer's are like this... Capricorns is like this... Boomers are like that... Leos are like that. A lot of it seems to be along the lines of "people are like ___ because of when they were born."

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by jillabean

I find a lot (not all, but a lot) this "generation" stuff to be a lot like astrology. Gen Xer's are like this... Capricorns is like this... Boomers are like that... Leos are like that. A lot of it seems to be along the lines of "people are like ___ because of when they were born."

I agree with you in general--but I do think there's a grain of truth in it. Compared to the Boomers, we Xers are supposed to be 1. cynical, due to our parents' divorces; 2. in constant need of praise; and 3. insistent on work-life balance. Obviously, generalizations only go so far with huge groups of people, but there probably is a stronger pattern with all those things among Xers than other generations.

[jillabean]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

I agree with you in general--but I do think there's a grain of truth in it. Compared to the Boomers, we Xers are supposed to be 1. cynical, due to our parents' divorces; 2. in constant need of praise; and 3. insistent on work-life balance. Obviously, generalizations only go so far with huge groups of people, but there probably is a stronger pattern with all those things among Xers than other generations.

Maybe it's the cynical GenXer in me! Although my parents never divorced.

I think we pretty much are on the same page. I just think it's all overblown (and a lot more has to do with the stage of life someone is at vs. when that person was born).

[claremarie]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

In at least few cases, they did share a room (not our kid, but some kids she knows) They certainly never "forced" universities to build bigger fancier dorms - that did happen as part of the competition for students, but there are lots to whom that wasn't important - and there are LOTS of university dorms out there still that aren't like that.

Competition has forced college dorms to go upscale, and that is because of the expectations of the students, which expectations were formed by their upbringing in smaller families living in larger homes. Certainly, most older college dorms are still pretty spartan -- my oldest was in a room with less living space than a prison cell -- but new dorms, even at relatively under-endowed schools you're never heard of, are generally much nicer.

College Dorms: From Animal House to Luxury Living

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by claremarie

Competition has forced college dorms to go upscale, and that is because of the expectations of the students, which expectations were formed by their upbringing in smaller families living in larger homes. Certainly, most older college dorms are still pretty spartan -- my oldest was in a room with less living space than a prison cell -- but new dorms, even at relatively under-endowed schools you're never heard of, are generally much nicer.

College Dorms: From Animal House to Luxury Living

I never had to share a bedroom growing up, but I had to share a dorm room, and it was the size of a prison cell. I think what's changed is that kids no longer are asked to sacrifice, work in a humbling job, delay their gratification, etc. I mowed lawns as a teen and even into college; none of the little wastrels on our block do that. I think parents nowadays are afraid to tell their kids "No."

[hilsmom]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

I never had to share a bedroom growing up, but I had to share a dorm room, and it was the size of a prison cell. I think what's changed is that kids no longer are asked to sacrifice, work in a humbling job, delay their gratification, etc. I mowed lawns as a teen and even into college; none of the little wastrels on our block do that. I think parents nowadays are afraid to tell their kids "No."

I was an only child, so I also never had to share a room in my home. I did attend camps where I shared tents and dorm rooms before college, though, so it wasn't a foreign concept to me. My first dorm room in college was actually pretty spacious. My second one that I shared with a friend? It had originally been meant for one person and they shoved two into it. And of course my friend was even more of a slob than me. At least we were able to maintain our friendship in the end

I'm going to encourage my daughter to babysit as she gets older. That's what I did and made some decent pocket change even scheduling around all my schoolwork and activities. I think that is a part of it, too - parents tend to put their kids in all kinds of activities in hopes of building a resume/college application. Hard to fit in anything else!

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

The Silent Gen was the one that came of age during and just after WWII (my dad's generation)--the elder siblings of the Baby Boomers. Named thus because they didn't seem to make a fuss about anything. That was (I'm told) because they were eager to make their mark (like the WWII generation did) and were afraid of Sputnik.

Also known as the Republican base.

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

I never had to share a bedroom growing up, but I had to share a dorm room, and it was the size of a prison cell. I think what's changed is that kids no longer are asked to sacrifice, work in a humbling job, delay their gratification, etc. I mowed lawns as a teen and even into college; none of the little wastrels on our block do that. I think parents nowadays are afraid to tell their kids "No."

Okay Mr. Wilson. My kids are a bit beyond the little wastrel stage but they and their friends had jobs. They didn't mow lawns or pedal around on bikes deiivering papers but they did work in restaurants, clothing stores, pools, and skating rinks. One of mine even worked on the river boats. Kids have a lot more job choices than we did perhaps.

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

Also known as the Republican base.



Okay Mr. Wilson. My kids are a bit beyond the little wastrel stage but they and their friends had jobs. They didn't mow lawns or pedal around on bikes deiivering papers but they did work in restaurants, clothing stores, pools, and skating rinks. One of mine even worked on the river boats. Kids have a lot more job choices than we did perhaps.

I think they have more but also less of the jobs close to home. When I first moved into my neighborhood in the early 90s, we would have the boy across the street cut our grass. That was the last time it happened. Those sort of jobs were quickly taken over by landscaping companies who could cut your grass for just a bit more money, do a better job of it, in a shorter amount of time. A few years later, I couldn't FIND a kid to cut my grass. I believe they all gave up.

On one of our snowstorms there were some kids that came around looking to shovel but, guess what? Everyone had snow blowers. And if you didn't have one, your neighbor did and they did it for you.

I also see less and less parents going out with each other and looking for a teen sitter. Part of that is due to both parents working and then you feel bad putting them with yet another sitter on the weekend.

So those sorts of jobs are very limited anymore. But, there is SOOOO much more retail and restaurants in suburbia than there used to be and kids have those options. Both of my kids worked in high school. My son, who is a senior, works at a dog resort. I will say that very few of the kids in his high school do hold a job. He is in the minority. One obstacle my kids did run into was age. A lot of the mall stores didn't want to hire under 18 kids. They would if they couldn't find anyone else, but they always took the older kids first. Now that my daughter is 21 and in college she can pretty much pick up a summer job in Woodbridge very easily. That wasn't true a few years ago and she was told it was because of age. Retail wants to work you to death and they can't really do that with high schoolers.

[CAVA1990]

I fear we've veered off topic. So how about those millenials buying homes close in?

[irvine]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

I fear we've veered off topic. So how about those millenials buying homes close in?

Millenials are buying homes like crazy in Arlington and the part of Falls Church near McLean, which is why the schools are overcrowded. Same for Bethesda and Chevy Chase, where a new middle school will open in a few years. Parts of Alexandria like Del Ray are also very popular. To generalize, many Millenials choose where to live before where to work. They want a certain lifestyle with urban amenities.

(Many of the earlier posts focused on Annandale for some reason, but I don't exactly consider Annandale close-in.)