Bay Area Warned: Millennials Will Leave if Housing Prices Don't Change

A survey by the Urban Land Institute has found that millennials in the Bay Area are less likely than their peers around the country to believe that they will be able to buy their "dream home" in the next five years. Marielle Mondon of NextCity reports that this has a potentially significant consequence for San Francisco: "Seventy-four percent of millennials surveyed said they are considering a move in the next five years, largely because of concerns over being able to eventually afford a home in their desired neighborhoods."

The ULI report "Bay Area in 2015" notes that the survey results should be a "wake-up call" to the city's tech companies, which rely on a large millennial employment base. It also showed that the millennials were the demographic group most likely to give high priority to a quality environment, public transportation and bike lanes, but conversely are "the least likely of the generations to have easy access to safe places for outdoor physical activity and active transportation systems such as bike lanes."