Younger people in their 20s moving-into cities and people in their 30s/40s married with a kid or two moving-out was happening before the pandemic and it's expected. I do think some married Millennials with kids wanted to find some way to make downtown or major city life work, before COVID-19 pushed them out. It was inevitable, though. Downtowns and major cities haven't done much to encourage families to stay. And Generation-Z is waiting to take their place. We should also add empty-nester Boomers, too. I have heard there are many Boomers in downtown Winston-Salem apartments, which I'm sure surprises many. However, they have money, free time, no kids, and want to enjoy good food, art, pedestrian/bike infrastructure, they like yoga in the park, and the street festivals. As Boomers collect their "equity lottery" money from Millennials wanting a suburban house, some of them are looking at the maintenance-free downtown apartments and condominiums the Millennials are leaving behind. I think what will be new is this new generation of suburbanites will love downtown and will return often for a date night (when they can find someone to watch the kids) or to take the kids to festivals/arts events/sports. There is some talk that a lack of immigration and immigrants returning home resulted in a decline for our nation's cities?
Cities like Winston-Salem do offer sizable homes in the city limits with back yards and the walkability many Millennial families want. They often have the historic character Millennials want. I think this is why cities like Winston-Salem are seeing growth. I think many are buying these older homes and renovating and expanding them. Millennials moving out of major cities or downtown areas are looking for walkability. A buzz word often used to describe real estate in Winston-Salem. This city has a lot of nice neighborhoods!
Lauren and I looked at apartments close to work (Sandy Springs area) and apartments in Midtown, before we had Noah. Now, we plan to stay in our suburban house. I don't think I could do rural living. I grew-up in a somewhat rural area of ex-urban Asheville and I remember well pump issues, neighbors having to drill a new well, septic overflows / pumping, dirt/gravel roads, talking with the neighbors to regravel the road, the struggle to get high-speed internet or gas or street paving in the area, no sidewalks, the neighbors had ostriches/horses/cows, and don't forget the road washing-away and sometimes rutting. Narrow rural roads were also an issue during emergencies. Add to that the need to drive... I had to ask mom and then maybe dad to take me everywhere or get friends parents to do the driving. You'll also discover some businesses just don't go to or deliver outside certain areas. Asheville back then was also off the radar of chains, jobs were in medical or hospitality, the Civic Center couldn't host many events or minor league sports without major upgrades, and even the movie theatres seemed outdated. Greenville seemed like civilization. Things have changed now, but back then... I wanted to move to a big city. Actually, things changed when the sounds of nature were replaced with the sound of trucks and hammers, echoing through the mountain valleys, building new sprawl low-800s. The first thing you notice when moving from the rural mountains to a sizable city is... the loud sounds of nature are gone. Yes, I said loud (bugs, frogs, a stream, etc.). When I moved-away for college, it was actually quiet at night in Athens, GA.,. We have the light sound of trucks and a train in the distance in Johns Creek, GA.,... still quieter than the rural mountains at night. The sound of storms in the mountains is amazing, though.
I agree on the declining birthrates. With more people living in cities or suburbs, they are waiting longer to have kids and not having as many. You don't need 14 kids to run the farm. The farm is likely owned by a conglomerate. The impact on the economy should be interesting... I guess we are sort of seeing it now, with worker shortages, increased pay, and employers that have to give employees what they want (work-from-home) to keep them? I would also agree that people are getting married later in life or not at all and having kids later in life or not at all. I got married in my 20s, but we waited until our mid-30s before having a kid and we only want one.
- Year - Births - Deaths 2000 - 4,058,814 - 2,403,351 2007 - 4,316,234 - 2,423,712 2019 - 3,747,540 - 2,854,858 2020 - 3,613,647 - 3,389,100 2021 - 3,600,000 - 3,428,549
We need more immigration to bring these numbers up. I think Canada may have immigration where it's difficult to immigrate to and work in the trendy cities, like Montreal or Toronto or Vancouver, but it's much easier to immigrate to and work in places like Regina or Winnipeg or London or Windsor or maybe Edmonton? I think they did something like that, but I'm not 100% sure? I seem to remember hearing about it. It would be interesting to do something like that here, where it would be easier to immigrate to the Triad or Roanoke or Montgomery and difficult to immigrate to Washington D.C., or Atlanta or Dallas or Miami. It could lead to more employers locating here and make smaller cities more international.
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