Up Sucker Creek

Up Sucker Creek
Photo Courtesy of the Lake Oswego Library

Friday, May 1, 2015

What the kids want

In spite of Metro's claims that Millenials want to live in the city - presumably forever - and will need enough multifamily housing for 80% of all new construction - that's not what young people want.  This has been proven over and over, in surveys and data about where people move to, that everyone ought to know not to believe all the noise about Smart urban lifestyle.

Young people (wait..) still want houses (wait for it..) in the suburbs or small towns!  Who would have thought.

Sorry, I didn't mean to scare those of you who are still in the dark about such things.  Seeing a bright light must be frightening, but don't retreat now.

Here are a couple of event articles to get you thinking about how Metro and the State can step out of the way and let cities decide their own fate - like they used to - when suburbs were created.  Including a few new twists for modern life isn't a bad thing, but if we divide up our lots into tiny-house, cheek-by-jowl living, people will still want the good life, only not in Lake Oswego.

So... If Lake Oswego is serious about attracting young families to live here, the city must remain a small, suburban town, and older housing must be preserved as the most affordable.  No skinny lots!  Tiny houses and expensive apartments are not the "American Dream" young people want.  If you have been told otherwise, you've been snookered.


The Portland Tribune, April 23, 2015 By Jim Redden
Study: Most Millennials want to live in burbs, small towns
Findings noteworthy as Metro plans for future growth 
Don’t believe everything you hear about millennials — they’re not all edgy urban hipsters.

In fact, according to the most recent research, only 37 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 34 want to live in cities.

An almost equal number, 36 percent, consider themselves suburbanites. And 23 percent want to live in small towns and rural areas.

Those were among some of the findings revealed at the 10th Annual Real Estate Conference presented by Portland State University’s Real Estate Center. It attracted around 860 real estate professionals to the downtown Marriott Hotel on April 15.

... Both discussions currently assume that about 60 percent of all new housing units in the region over the next 20 years will be built in Portland. The discussions also assume that up to 80 percent of the new units in Portland will be multifamily housing — as many as 98,000 new apartments, condominiums, duplexes, town houses and row houses. This will shift regional housing construction to 60 percent multifamily buildings and 40 percent single-family homes between now and 2035, the opposite of historic trends.


Wall Stret Journal, May 1, 2015
Young Adults Going for Jumbo Loans

Low interest rates and loosening credit qualifications are helping young-adult buyers qualify for mortgages—and, in some areas, jumbo loans

Slightly more than one-third (36%) of renters aged 18 to 34 said they expect to buy a home within the next year, according to a renters’ housing-confidence survey released by real-estate website Zillow.com. Nearly two-thirds of young adults said they think that owning a home is necessary to live “the good life” and the “American dream.” The findings, released in September, were based on more than 10,000 interviews across 20 different metro areas.






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