The question of whether the largest generation in U.S. history will maintain its lover affair with urban living is either the elephant in the room of the million dollar question.
"A number of demographers, along with economists and real estate consultants, are starting to contemplate what urban cores will look like now that the generation — America’s largest — is cresting," according to an article by Conor Dougherty.
Dougherty launches this investigation from the starting point presented in the work of Dowell Myers, a professor of demography and urban planning at the University of Southern California. Myers published a paper in 2016 noting that American cities reached peak millennial [pdf] in 2015. Planetizen covered the original analysis of Myers's research in two separate articles—one from February 2016 and another from March 2016.
Dougherty looks at rental prices in cities around the country for evidence of one of the key claims made by Myers: that over the next few years, "the growth in demand for urban living is likely to stall."
"Apartment rents in San Francisco, Washington, Denver, Miami and New York are moderating or even declining from a year ago," writes Dougherty while citing data from Zillow.
Acknowledging that the idea that Millennials might depart the city en masse, taking high rents and gentrification with them, is "full of contours and caveats," Dougherty considers a number of opinions from leading thinkers on what will happen to cities as the Millennial Generation comes of age.
Read the full story: Peak Millennial? Cities Can’t Assume a Continued Boost From the Young
Drop the Ballyhoo: Where Do Educated Millennials Actually Live?
A common narrative about Millennials: their preference for urban environments like San Francisco and New York City. To what degree is the stereotype real?
Minorities Have Dominated Millennial Urban Growth
Despite the impression that young white people have reshaped cities' demographics, research shows that non-white Millennials account for the greater part of that growth.
AIA: Demand for High-Density Development Is Down
For the first time in four years, a quarterly survey indicates “market saturation in urban areas.”
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
Boston has spent millions making the Green Line more accessible — and there’s no end in sight
While the city has invested millions into expanding and adding platforms to the Green Line to make it more accessible, new train cars set to arrive next year will be too tall for disabled passengers to board without raising the current platforms.
Idaho may see an 18% drop in federal surface transit funding — the largest estimated cut in the US
Transit systems in rural communities are much more reliant on federal funding to provide their services.
How ‘post-disaster gentrification’ alters neighborhoods after natural calamities
After hurricanes, fires or other calamities, the original residents of a community are often replaced by younger, wealthier residents.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello