Millenials Choosing Older Homes Closer In? (Arlington, Alexandria: college dorms, landscaping, luxury)

[OrangeFish]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

You don't consider 18 miles close?

Depends where the endpoints are.

[FC Merrifield]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

We live in 22205, and the whole area is crawling with middle-aged parents of little (and older) kids. People pay a premium for the schools here. It actually makes more sense (at least financially) to pay more for the house to get good public schools than to pay less for the house and use the savings to pay for private schools, because mortgage interest is deductible, as is property tax and a lot of trasactional fees on the home purchase. (Some would argue that private schools offer a better education than do even the best public schools, but that's another topic.)

Yes, the older houses are smaller for the most part, but I'm always gobsmacked at what people consider small. To me, 1800SF above grade does sound large--or at least comfortably spacious. What you see a lot of people do here is have a massive extension built off the back of the house, so that the old house is almost a foyer for the siding-covered HardieBarn off the back. (And in contrast to what someone said above, $1 million WILL get you a very spacious house in most of Arlington.)

Re. Millennials: As a Gen Xer, I find them (generally) as baffling and frustrating as the Silent Generation found the Boomers, with their addiction to Facebook, aversion to punctuation, and preference for group everything. (Exceptions abound--including on this forum!) So I have no idea what they want. I do seem to notice that young couples tend to look for a SFH the minute they get married and/or start having kids. I suspect, however, that the Millennials' love of group interaction means they find the exurban isolation off-putting; I don't think they want the kinds of homes most of them grew up in.

I agree with you regarding schools and home locations, but for whatever reason, of the people I know, the ones that live in Arlington are more likely to send their kids to private schools than the ones in Fairfax.

I also agree about the size of houses. I think I read that when the planned suburbs were built in Levittown (sp?), the houses were less than 1,000 sq ft and this was normal. But while that may fit a family of four, I guess it doesn't leave much room for walk-in closets and whirlpool tubs; hence, the current expectation that large homes are 3,000 sq ft. and up. I'm sure the people in 1,000 sq ft houses didn't think their houses were small since all of their neighbors were in the same situation.

I have no idea what this Silent Generation that you speak of is, but I do disagree with one characterization of millenials - their love of group interaction. I don't think this is particularly true, but maybe it just appears that way since every time we do have a group interaction, it gets posted on facebook and twitter. In fact, I think there is a concern that online interactions have replaced live interactions.

[hilsmom]

Originally Posted by FC Merrifield

I also agree about the size of houses. I think I read that when the planned suburbs were built in Levittown (sp?), the houses were less than 1,000 sq ft and this was normal. But while that may fit a family of four, I guess it doesn't leave much room for walk-in closets and whirlpool tubs; hence, the current expectation that large homes are 3,000 sq ft. and up. I'm sure the people in 1,000 sq ft houses didn't think their houses were small since all of their neighbors were in the same situation.

My neighborhood was built by the same company that built Levitttown. Our original house sizes (late 60s) were between 1500 sf-2200 sf. Some have done additions, but many still maintain the original footprint.

And honestly? I can't imagine living in anything much bigger. More than 2300 sf just starts to feel cavernous to me.

There have been many interesting threads on this topic on DCUM. Lots of families are still living in those post-WW2 housing neighborhoods and doing just fine.

I wish I could remember the guy's name who gave an address at the annual conference for the association I used to work for, but he wrote a book about how all we do when average house size gets larger is fill it with more junk. There is a whole industry devoted to storage of people's belongings. Yes, I do realize that some of our needs for how we live have changed (people who need home offices, room for entertainment systems/gaming, etc.), but I believe it still holds that all we do is fill the space with "stuff." And all of this then ties back to the "keeping up with the joneses" stress - shouldn't everyone have a man cave? what about a crafting room? I NEED MORE ROOM! People didn't have or need these things 50 years ago.

I digress...sorry, it is a topic that interests me.

[claremarie]

Aren't Millenials the ones who entered college never having shared a room, and forcing universities to build newer, bigger and fancier dorm suites to attract them? Many of these dorms are much nicer than the first apartments that their baby boomer parents rented when they started working. Hard to imagine that these folks are going to cheerfully live in smaller, older homes close in when they can get newer and bigger homes at the same or even lower cost further out. Especially when you consider that employment locations have spread out all over the metro area, and that fewer young professionals are actually commuting downtown than was the case 30 years ago. If you are working at least part of the time at home, that extra bedroom can come in handy.

[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....

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by claremarie

Aren't Millenials the ones who entered college never having shared a room, and forcing universities to build newer, bigger and fancier dorm suites to attract them? Many of these dorms are much nicer than the first apartments that their baby boomer parents rented when they started working. Hard to imagine that these folks are going to cheerfully live in smaller, older homes close in when they can get newer and bigger homes at the same or even lower cost further out. Especially when you consider that employment locations have spread out all over the metro area, and that fewer young professionals are actually commuting downtown than was the case 30 years ago. If you are working at least part of the time at home, that extra bedroom can come in handy.

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.

And lots of them take pretty small spaces in their first places out of college. Including in this region, typically either sharing places or taking small studios.

even this has come as an idea http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blo...ro-studio/5770


Its true that a smaller proportion of jobs are downtown (not a smaller absolute number in DC IIUC). but the space - commute tradeoff still exists - in this region if you work in Arlington, or Alexandria, or in Tysons you certainly face that tradeoff.

[BIMBAM]

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....

The generation after the Baby Boomers is Generation X. Baby Boomers are those born post war to 1964, Gen X comes after that. I don't know if there are fixed beginning for Gen Y, but it comes after Gen X. I was born in 1989 which put me firmly in Gen Y.

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by BIMBAM

The generation after the Baby Boomers is Generation X. Baby Boomers are those born post war to 1964, Gen X comes after that. I don't know if there are fixed beginning for Gen Y, but it comes after Gen X. I was born in 1989 which put me firmly in Gen Y.

Okay, I was born on the last day of 1963 which is why I guess I don't feel like I really fit in with Boomers. I'm on the cusp.

[irvine]

Originally Posted by BIMBAM

The generation after the Baby Boomers is Generation X. Baby Boomers are those born post war to 1964, Gen X comes after that. I don't know if there are fixed beginning for Gen Y, but it comes after Gen X. I was born in 1989 which put me firmly in Gen Y.

Depending on the source, Gen Y and/or millenials include those born after after 1976 (US Bicentennial), after 1979, after 1985, and I've also read after 1992. The problem is that the Gen Y generation is too big by most definitions, 1976-2004 according to many.

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

Okay, I was born on the last day of 1963 which is why I guess I don't feel like I really fit in with Boomers. I'm on the cusp.

Happy upcoming 49th!

Originally Posted by FC Merrifield

II have no idea what this Silent Generation that you speak of is, but I do disagree with one characterization of millenials - their love of group interaction. I don't think this is particularly true, but maybe it just appears that way since every time we do have a group interaction, it gets posted on facebook and twitter. In fact, I think there is a concern that online interactions have replaced live interactions.

Well, I guess that could be the case. I know the schools (so I hear) are expecting everything to be a group project these days--which I would absolutely hate. (I'm of the "If you want it done right, do it yourself" credo.) But yeah, they do seem to be very into a group identity online.

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.