There are more Millennials then there are boomers or Gen. Xers, which may be one reason we in the real estate industry are so laser-focused on engaging them.
One point that should be noted about Millennials that the National Association of Realtors reported was that “millennials prefer walking over driving by a substantially wider margin than any other generation.” They surveyed 3,000 adult Americans in the 50 biggest metro areas.
The National Association of Realtors writes, “Millennials are also shown to prefer living in attached housing, living within walking distance of shops and restaurants and having a short commute, and are the most likely age group to make use of public transportation.”
That doesn’t mean that they can only live in the most walkable cities such as New York or San Francisco. The whole country has gotten hip to the upsides of walkability – better for health, better for the environment and more fun! Famously sprawling cities like Atlanta and Miami, and their suburbs, are being reinvented as more walkable and transit friendly.
The specific millennial demands offer developers a strict guide to follow. The report says, “Forty-eight percent of respondents reported that they prefer to live in communities containing houses with small yards but within walking distance of the community’s amenities. And while 60 percent of adults surveyed live in detached, single-family homes, 25 percent of those respondents said they would rather live in an attached home and have greater walkability.”
What does walkability even entail? Well, sidewalks for one thing : 85% of those surveyed said that particular amenity was a positive factor in home shopping; 79% said being within walking distance of destinations was important. For most of them, the real goal is to have options : to take the transit when they wanted, to bike sometimes, and when need be, to get behind the wheel. And guess who wants walkability most? Women (60% of them).
So if such development isn’t on the rise, it should be.
