Millennials Are Redefining Cities
Millennials, or Generation Y, are eighty-seven million strong. They are the largest living generation and are the largest segment of workers since 2015. Millennials include people that were born in the eighties all the way to those born in the mid-nineties. Some experts include those born up to the year 1999. Despite being characterized as “lazy, spoiled, and technology obsessed,” millennials are actually growing up. Older millennials are getting married, having families, and buying houses.
But Millennials in America are struggling. Despite being on track to be the most educated generation yet, millennials still have a looming debt crisis. They are labeled as lazy, technology obsessed, and unreasonable. As they age, enter the workforce, and have families, they are faced with challenges their predecessors did not have to face. Millennials need new solutions. They are figuring out ways to redefine what the American Dream means. With $2,700 as the average monthly rent price in any major city, chasing the American ideal means forfeiting your white picket fence, substituting a car with a rented bicycle, and foregoing your two perfectly planned kids.
In order to buy a house, millennials often need to move to the suburbs or find a different resolution to achieve their dreams. Some millennials are thinking beyond a typical white picket fence. Beyond being incredibly affordable, the average tiny home costs $23,000 to build. Plus, tiny houses are also very environmentally friendly. Not only can you trick out your tiny house to have eco-friendly additions, tiny homes can decrease your carbon footprint by simply being smaller. Although it seems crazy, 15 percent of eighteen-to-thirty-four-year-olds said that they would definitely live in a tiny home and 19 percent of the same age population said that they would definitely consider it. Tiny homes also allow for more outdoor living. They focus on nature and the greenery of the space around them. Unlike the generation before them, millennials are looking to get exactly what they want even if they have to make compromises on size.
And they have so much more flexibility to do so. From freelance work to tele-commuting the internet allows millennials to work from wherever they want, even if where they want to work is in Hawaii. Today’s world allows for so many more options and flexibility.
Given all this, millennials are the perfect generation to redefine what American cities look like. They can restore America’s struggling cities back to their thriving state. These struggling cities often offer millennials so much of what they can’t find elsewhere — a cheap cost of living, an ability to shape the communities around them, and a new, albeit challenging adventure.
This is an excerpt from my book, Millenials and the Resurgence of the American City. I hope you enjoyed this post — if you want to connect, you can reach me here via email gkim9779@gmail.com or connect with me on social: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Also, you can find my book on Amazon — here is the link to buy it: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KPCBJDR
