Young people overwhelmingly prefer single-family houses, which represent 80 percent of home purchases nationwide for people under 35. If millennials continue their current rate of savings, notes one study, they would need 28 years to qualify for a median-priced house in San Francisco—but only five years in Charlotte and just three in Atlanta. This may be one reason, notes a recent ULI report, why 74 percent of Bay Area millennials are considering moving out in the next five years.
Regional planners and commercial chambers should indeed look to California as a model—of exactly what not to do. The state’s large metro areas are no longer hot growth spots for millennials, who are flocking to suburbs and exurbs elsewhere. Since 2010, the biggest gains in millennial residents have been in low-density, comparatively affordable cities such as Orlando, Austin, and Nashville. Ultimately, the battle for California’s future—and much of Blue America’s—will turn on how these regions meet the challenge of providing housing and opportunities to a new generation of workers and young families. A California that works only for the wealthy and well-established is not sustainable.
Something that can’t go on forever, won’t.
This is hardly surprising. It is just a re-run of what happened a couple decades back. Bachelors live in the cities but when they wanted to start a family then they move to the sticks and now the cycle repeats again with the next generation.
The main issue with California is that houses are too expensive because there’s a lot of demand and not enough supply. The way to solve that is to relax zoning restrictions.
A lot of problems in Comifornia would improve if goobernment got out of the way.
The Freedom Ship was championed by Norm Nixon and others coupla decades ago. Pretty sure it’s on wiki, dunno about it’s website, anymore. I had questions about accommodations for the workerbees that would be needed to staff the shops, (shoppes?) restaurants and other facilities. If I’m flipping burgers for minimum wage at the MickeyD’s on deck 7 you’re gonna havta cut me a deal for the wife-unit and I to live there. That bargain basement 50k apartment ain’t gonna cut it. Never did deign to reply. Don’t think the blue-staters have figured this out, either.
Their website exists, and says they will have a major announcement on May 29th.
It contains a lot of information about the excellent lifestyle people can expect in this community, but I don’t see the economic base to support it. I don’t understand what is going to create the wealth to maintain and operate the ship and pay it’s 30,000 member crew and all of the other people living on the ship. There is also absolutely nothing about how the community will be governed. Who will make the laws? How will they be enforced? How will disputes be settled. There is a long passage about the school system. How will the curriculum be determined? Who gets to decide its academic standards? Utopians often leave out these little details.