Why America’s Young And Restless Will Abandon Cities For Suburbs

Forbes ^ | 07/22/2011 | Joel Kotkin

[SeekAndFind]

For well over a decade urban boosters have heralded the shift among young Americans from suburban living and toward dense cities. As one Wall Street Journal report suggests, young people will abandon their parents’ McMansions for urban settings, bringing about the high-density city revival so fervently prayed for by urban developers, architects and planners.

Some demographers claim that “white flight” from the city is declining, replaced by a “bright flight” to the urban core from the suburbs. “Suburbs lose young whites to cities,” crowed one Associated Press headline last year.

Yet evidence from the last Census show the opposite: a marked acceleration of movement not into cities but toward suburban and exurban locations. The simple, usually inexorable effects of maturation may be one reason for this surprising result. Simply put, when 20-somethings get older, they do things like marry, start businesses, settle down and maybe start having kids.

An analysis of the past decade’s Census data by demographer Wendell Cox shows this. Cox looked at where 25- to 34-year-olds were living in 2000 and compared this to where they were living by 2010, now aged 35 to 44. The results were surprising: In the past 10 years, this cohort’s presence grew 12% in suburban areas while dropping 22.7% in the core cities. Overall, this demographic expanded by roughly 1. 8 million in the suburbs while losing 1.3 million in the core cities.

[KCengineer]

I am buying investment property in Peachtree City GA.

Family Circle says it is the second ranked “best city for families in the US”.

Once I get them ready, my average time on market for renters is 2 days. Young couples wanting trees, safety, good schools, our world renowned golf cart paths, nice neighbors....

I agree with the article, especially since the City of Atlanta schools made my investments even stronger.

[LS]

Kotkin is right, esp. when you consider (duh) that 65% of college grads move back in with their parents according to a recent study!!!! Who the hell wants to live in crime-infested, congested, corrupt, smelly inner cities just so you can go to a bar twice a week?