Children Rarely Want What Their Parents Want
The fact that Generation Y isn’t interested in McMansions is hardly surprising. Strikes me more as human nature, and something the real estate/construction market should have considered. From music to technology we draw generational lines. It’s a given. And this generation’s offspring will probably rediscover the McMansion. Such is life.
The question is: Can the real estate market bounce back quickly if what they’re selling doesn’t appeal to their new consumers?
Here’s what Generation Y doesn’t want: formal living rooms, soaker bathtubs, dependence on a car. In other words, they don’t want their parents’ homes.
Much of this week’s National Association of Home Builders conference has dwelled on the housing needs of an aging baby boomer population. But their children actually represent an even larger demographic. An estimated 80 million people comprise the category known as “Gen Y,” youth born roughly between 1980 and the early 2000s. The boomers, meanwhile, boast 76 million.
Gen Y housing preferences are the subject of at least two panels at this week’s convention. A key finding: They want to walk everywhere. Surveys show that 13% carpool to work, while 7% walk, said Melina Duggal, a principal with Orlando-based real estate adviser RCLCO. A whopping 88% want to be in an urban setting, but since cities themselves can be so expensive, places with shopping, dining and transit such as Bethesda and Arlington in the Washington suburbs will do just fine.
“One-third are willing to pay for the ability to walk,” Ms. Duggal said. “They don’t want to be in a cookie-cutter type of development. …The suburbs will need to evolve to be attractive to Gen Y.”
Outdoor space is important—but please, just a place to put the grill and have some friends over. Lawn-mowing not desired. Amenities such as fitness centers, game rooms and party rooms are important (“Is the room big enough to host a baby shower?” a millennial might think). “Outdoor fire pits,” suggested Tony Weremeichik of Canin Associates, an architecture firm in Orlando. “Consider designing outdoor spaces as if they were living rooms.”
KTGY Group residential designer David Senden christened the subset of the generation delaying marriage and family as “dawdlers.”
Dawdlers? Because they aren’t buying what he’s selling? Perhaps instead of name-calling and blaming Mr. Senden can explain why he wasn’t savvy enough to spot the inevitable coming. After all, kids rejecting their parents’ lifestyle choices is hardly uncommon.
Mr. Pandora and I live in the city and I wouldn’t be the least surprised if my children chose not to… because that’s what kids do. They forge a new way – which may have more in common with grandparents’, and great-grandparents’, way. It’s a cycle, and one the real estate/construction industry should have planned for.
Tags: Generation Y, Housing
I’ve been realizing more and more that my generation (millennials, gen y, whatever) will be responsible to fixing the problems caused by the Boomers who squandered the wealth earned by The Greatest. no offense to the probably many Boomers here. I’m sure you were all responsible and all. I just look at all the CEOs and politicians who are ruining this country by overspending (not just government, but a culture where having massive debt is not just accepted, it is encouraged as a good way to live) and i see one thing in common. They (you) were all given a very rich, powerful, and influential America. That doesn’t exist anymore. The poor are poorer, the rich are richer and everyone in between is vanishing. If i (we) want my (our) grandkids to live in a better country, I (we) absolutely cannot live the way my parent’s generation has lived.
I agree that many of your generation feel this way, but I’d say that a lot of Gen Y’s decision on where (and how) to live may be based on the experience of constantly getting into a car to go anywhere.
And I am not saying that your generation isn’t motivated by creating a better environment. I think Gen Yers are more aware of their impact than previous generations. What I’m saying is that this is a pretty big trend and it’s encompassing more than the environmentally, politically informed crowd. I’m also saying, that on certain basic levels, it was predictable.
My brother lives in the heart of Cambridge, MA. Every time we visit I get big city envy!
In other news, people now prefer macaroni instead of steak. In other words, it is about the economy.
High density living is fine until you have to put your kids in school. If you want to live in a city you usually need to factor in the cost of private school. Outer ring high-density housing doesn’t always work well either; check out the Smalleys Dam area.
The biggest factor? No kids, and having them later. When we are young, every generation prefers a smaller place closer to the action. But when they have a family they want a place with good schools and an extra bathroom with a bathtub.
Elizabeth Warren speculates that housing costs (long term, not the current bubble) are driven higher by parents shopping for schools. So if education quality were more homogeneous, perhaps housing would be cheaper.
oh i understand completely.
The one thing i want (other than good health and to put food on the table and send my kids to college without selling one of em and all that good stuff) is to be able to walk to a grocery store, a drug store, and at least one type of entertainment establishment or good restaurant.
That’s a taller order than you’d think nowadays. Suburban sprawl is one thing id really like to see end. Getting into an SUV and driving 3 miles out of some development to get milk sounds less appealing than falling to sleep to sirens every night.
to be able to walk to a grocery store, a drug store, and at least one type of entertainment establishment or good restaurant.
I can think of many areas in NCC that fit this description, and they are not appealing. Be careful what you wish for. You don’t want to walk through a gang of thugs or dealers to get to the store. I am having trouble thinking of politically correct ways to keep street-level social problems out of high-density development.
well, it has to have those percs, plus be safe. Yeah, there are a lot of places in inner city Wilmington, and north philly, and the like that you can walk to a lot of places and get shot along the way. Ive been to a few cities and area in the country in my time and not counting Dallas, we have some of the worst suburban sprawl ive ever seen. Its all huge roads you can cross safely and strip-malls ploped into a hard-to-walk-to notch of confusing developments. It’s like it is designed to be horrible inconvenient for people who aren’t from that particular sub-urb. Not to mention Manhattan-like traffic on a 2 lane road in Wheverversville because again, you cant really walk to anywhere.
It is interesting however that my Boomer parents cant wait to retire to South Philly where they are hoping to drive MAYBE once a month.
LOL, Ben! Mr. Pandora (he hates that name, btw) and I plan on
retiring in a city! When we need a car we’ll rent one!
Thank you for posting that story. I was unaware that Gen Yers preferred urban settings to suburban ones. That’s a great sign. It means less sprawl and more refurbishment of existing properties and new development on existing lots and less destruction of “green” areas and farm land. It could also result in improving inner city schools.
The price of gasoline is going to play a huge roll in future real estate development. For a while in the 90’s I lived in England and petrol was over $4 per gal and a lot of that was tax, on purpose. I lived in a village, not a city, but everything was in walking distance, and there were safe sidewalks. The post office/convenience store was in a 400+ year-old stone building, ditto the NatWest bank branch and two pubs. I did have to drive once a week to the Sainsbury’s supermarket because it was more convenient to haul a major grocery-shop home in the car.
I have a solution for De. We should pay developers not to build houses
Growing up in the suburbs
my buddies and I needed cars.
Usually with big-blocks that sucked down gas.
We’d shove a few gallons in and go burning dinosaurs.
Aimlessly wandering with no destination.
But we were determined to get there fast.
Donviti, best idea I’ve ever heard you propose.
A flat cash grant to prevent new development of every square foot in the state. Permission to knock down for same footprint available for straight cash, like medieval indulgences, cash to be on record and paid into county tills. A permanent loss of franchise for builders of new buildings, similar to that for felons.
And a certification process that’s annual and includes a swimsuit competition… maybe we could get the Miss America people to run that.
We reward people for causing us problems. It’s insane.
Hi Pandora – I thought I would respond, since you called me out. So, here’s the deal: what I spoke about at the international home builders show was simply one slice of the gen y population. Obviously, it is impossible to generalize 80 million people. I use the term dawdlers, not as a slur, but as description of an ever-growing segment of society that delays marriage and children. This phenomenon is not completely new, but the number of people falling into this category has been growing steadily. It has finally reached a point where developments can be geared toward this group. Rather than being considered odd, delaying family and children is a legitimate life choice.
You seem to believe that choices in ones living situation are based on spite aimed at the previous generation and that somehow there is a pendulum that swings back and forth. While I wish it was that simple, it is not. The average house size, in America, had been steadily growing since WWII until just a couple of years ago. There has also been a steady flight from the inner city. Even now, moving downtown in many cities is a pioneering act. It has also been shown, contrary to your beliefs about children making choices to spite their parents, in fact, most children make choices very similar to that of their parents. That’s what makes all of this so interesting…