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the idea that we'd blame the next buying generation for a shortage of new construction homes in built-out city centers is laughable...I mean - who was the editor for that article?
It's not necessarily that Millennials don't want to live in suburbs, it's that they don't want to live in poorly designed suburbs. If they were designed with actual liveability in mind, like Mueller in Austin for example, they are popular with millennials.
The Boomers and Gen X were fine with strip mall sprawl and perpetuated it even as urban design experts kept trying to promote new urbanism. The chickens are coming home to roost.
Did you really refer to an area in the heart of Austin as a suburb? Mueller couldn't possibly be more of what the article is talking about, millennials only want to live near urban areas and builders aren't building affordable housing for the average millennial in those areas.
My wife and I are millennials, technically (unfortunately), and I couldn't be less interested in urban areas. If I didn't want to be close to my rental properties I would be out in the middle of the woods as far from another person as I could afford.
Did you really refer to an area in the heart of Austin as a suburb? Mueller couldn't possibly be more of what the article is talking about, millennials only want to live near urban areas and builders aren't building affordable housing for the average millennial in those areas.
My wife and I are millennials, technically (unfortunately), and I couldn't be less interested in urban areas. If I didn't want to be close to my rental properties I would be out in the middle of the woods as far from another person as I could afford.
Well that's the thing millennials are such a huge group .
While some millennials love being right in urban areas and taking public transit there are some that love nature and some are able to live in more remote areas or even out of the country if they can work from anywhere .
A couple of factors here to consider:
1) Many have watched and/or felt the impact of the housing crash during formational years of their lives. Taking on a mortgage is a big responsibility, and means "commitment" that isn't always easy to get out of. The severity of the crash nearly 10 years ago that went on for several years, isn't going to be that easy to shake off for some.
2) They're far more "mobile" focused than previous generations. The world is a lot smaller than it used to be.
3) They're in the early formation years of their lives now as they transition into adults, and "jobs" become "careers". Meaning, they might not be ready in general. I'm 43, and when I was 23, the last thing I wanted was a mortgage in general.
I have two kids, both under the age of 10. Urban living to me, doesn't sound appealing. Take the kids out of the equation though, and sure, my wife and I would be in a nice condo in downtown DC and the minivan would be a BMW or Porsche. Dinners out, nightlife, museum tours on the weekends instead of soccer games and horseback rides. Which brings up another elemental shift that is going on for housing.
Several of these newly constructed luxury apartments around the country aren't targeted for the hipsters at all. Instead, they're targeted for the older crowd that are downsizing, kids are grown and gone, and they see retirement in their eyes in a few years. They're dropping the lawn mower for the roof-top pool while they're setting up their retirement exit from wherever they've been living for the past 20 years.
But, not all sectors of the country are slow, in terms of new housing stock being built. Raleigh, Nashville, DC (as always), Atlanta, Austin, etc... All booming with new housing starts. It is starting to find it's way into other areas now too, that not all that long ago were considered dead-zones, like southern florida, areas of Arizona, and Las Vegas.
A lot of good points here.
I was 21 when the housing market tanked and my dad lost his job. Unwilling to sell (and maybe unable for awhile), he had to take whatever he could get. His pay was cut by about a third, commute doubled, and had to start paying for 4% in state income tax to Virginia when he was paying none in Tennessee.
Ten years later, he's still in the same job. Still working in Virginia and not in Tennessee. Still hasn't found anything at even $15-$16/hr in Tennessee to replace his $18/hr or so Virginia job. He has an elementary education degree but hasn't taught since the early 90s.
They're dug in with a large house on a large yard (about an acre) on a hillside. Won't downsize and still won't move at 60. Weekdays are spent commuting (hour each way) and weekends are spent mowing and catching up on household chores not done during the week. Mother is absolutely no help with anything around the house - won't even do laundry or get groceries during the week, yet she works just a couple miles from the grocery store. House isn't getting the maintenance it needs due to no money or time. He had to get a title loan on his car through a local credit union to pay for a $2,000 riding lawnmower - apparently doesn't have credit cards or his credit is so bad he can't get them.
I wouldn't want that lifestyle at any age, much less at 31. Life is spent doing chores and coming home from work, with no motivation or energy to even go get a sitdown meal or go to a movie occasionally, sitting addled in front of the TV. Weekends are spent at Walmart and on the riding mower. I can't remember the last time they went somewhere, even for a long weekend. I don't know any Millennials who want to live like that.
I was stuck in low end junk jobs here for three years after college before relocating to Indiana. I gained skills up there that allowed me to get a good job back here, but we have a shaky local economy and this metro has the lowest average weekly wages in a low wage state. Part of me wants to buy, but after having so much trouble here for years here, why would I want to hitch my financial well-being to a poor, isolated town? If something happens to my current job, I need to be able to go where the jobs are.
The Boomers and Gen X were fine with strip mall sprawl and perpetuated it even as urban design experts kept trying to promote new urbanism. The chickens are coming home to roost.
LOL, if Millennials are the chicks, you could argue the opposite is true--they'd be coming home to roost (raise their families) by returning to the burbs. But I get your point.
I still think that as time passes and Millennials start raising families, things like new urbanism won't seem as important as having a yard and a grocery store next to a Rite Aid with parking in front. But only time will tell.
LOL, if Millennials are the chicks, you could argue the opposite is true--they'd be coming home to roost (raise their families) by returning to the burbs. But I get your point.
I still think that as time passes and Millennials start raising families, things like new urbanism won't seem as important as having a yard and a grocery store next to a Rite Aid with parking in front. But only time will tell.
Except that Mueller in Austin and Stapleton in Denver, along with other New Urban communities, have already proven you wrong. Thousands of families with kids choose to live in these New Urban communities because they value the things they offer, including close proximity to the things that a city offers.
Look, I'm not saying that the suburbs are dead. Just that these pronouncements that as soon as people have kids, they will want to leave the city is wrong. There is room for both types of environments, so people can choose what they want. It's GOOD that families can opt for a single family home in the city and not be forced to choose between living where they want or in the type of housing they want, just like people can choose to live in the suburbs, if that's what they want.
As land becomes scarce for building, the renovation of deteriorated urban neighborhoods will become a necessity to provide maximum utilization of living space.
The problem begins when this gentrification starts to displace the low income occupants who now have no affordable alternatives to migrate to.
LOL, if Millennials are the chicks, you could argue the opposite is true--they'd be coming home to roost (raise their families) by returning to the burbs. But I get your point.
I still think that as time passes and Millennials start raising families, things like new urbanism won't seem as important as having a yard and a grocery store next to a Rite Aid with parking in front. But only time will tell.
People are always going to have different preferences.
My first office in Indianapolis was mostly guys in their mid 20s - mid 30s. Preferences ran the gamut. One of the H-1Bs from Mumbai thought Indianapolis was a small town, lived downtown, and drove up to Chicago most weekends because Indy didn't offer enough for him.
One guy grew up on a farm in southern Indiana, and lived outside the metro in a rural area on a hobby farm. I think he was just 26 or so when I met him. He had a barn with large scale brewing equipment and needed lots of space.
I lived in the suburbs. I had well over a dozen restaurants, sit down and quicker options, within a mile of me. There was a Walmart, Target, three high end grocers, and a high end Kroger within a mile of my apartment. I could walk to some of those restaurants via the municipal greenway system. I rarely locked my doors - crime was a complete nonissue.
A buddy of mine lives in a hip urban neighborhood in a smaller 50s home on a smallish lot with an excellent walking system.
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