If there is one thing that can be said about Millennials, it’s that they love going against the grain and they love being unpredictable. They get married later than prior generations, they choose different careers, and they prefer city living to suburban living. Or do they? Just when you think you’ve got the Millennial generation figured out, they zig while everyone else zags and change the rules and expectations again.
If there was one thing that could have been said about Millennials with absolute certainty, it is that they loved the social, walkable lifestyle provided by cities. They craved it. Except, maybe Millennials are a little more like previous generations than they’d like to admit. According to Realtor.com, only 17 percent of buyers under the age of 35 closed on urban residences, down four percent from a year earlier. This statistic comes from a report looking at housing data between July 2014 and June 2015.
So, what’s the deal? Did living in the city just become too mainstream for Millennials? Not exactly, as the biggest reason more Millennials are flooding to the suburbs has to do with how unaffordable cities are becoming. Additionally, Millennials are a massive generation at 83 million strong and almost two-thirds are married with about 50 percent having children that live with them. Meaning many Millennials are becoming desperate for more space the city either can’t provide or they can’t afford.
There are some other factors at play, too. The cheaper prices for gas make longer commutes to the city seem a little more manageable and suburbs are becoming more and more like their urban equivalents. Many of the aspects of city living that Millennials cherish are becoming available in more suburban areas, such as walkable downtowns and trendy restaurants and boutiques.
What’s the takeaway from all this? Millennials may be hard to predict, but like any generation that came before them and will likely come after them, their living patterns and desires are shaped by the all-powerful dollar.
