The recession has changed everything for Gen Y. While we continue to embrace idealism, meaningful change is much harder.
And while young people have the best intentions to be part of the communities we live in, we’re being challenged by a number of conflicting events that contribute to a lack of involvement in local community.
For starters, disillusionment towards faith and religion has forced the institution to turn its reign over to Facebook as chief community builder. And despite the fact that our social circles are shrinking and loneliness is increasing, we choose where we live, in part, by how easy it is for us to maintain our quasi-anonymity.
Our friends “move in the same circles we do and are exposed to the same information. To get new information we have to activate our weak ties,” Albert-Laszlo Barabasi explains in his book Linked (via Valeria Maltoni).
So all of our Facebook and Twitter friends (those weak ties) are actually “critical to the creative environment of a city” sociologist Richard Florida reports, “because they allow for rapid entry of new people and rapid absorption of new ideas.”
Life and community, my friends, just isn’t the same. And nowhere is this so obvious, in-your-face and damning than the current alarm of the real estate market.
Before the economy collapsed, young people were being locked out of the housing market by astronomical housing prices and by our predecessors, Generation X and the Baby Boomers, who grew even richer.
Now that the housing market has collapsed, it means more young people are content with not owning a home. But as the prevailing American sentiment goes, if you don’t own something, you don’t have a stake in the future of our country. Young people don’t buy that. Literally.
Ownership is an antiquated belief belonging to another generation. Gen Y abandons ownership. Instead, today’s young people subscribe to a culture of services and leasing.
We subscribe to services that allow our lives to be easier – Peapod, Mint, Netflix, Pandora, Alice, and ZipCar to name a few. More and more individuals do this in order to pay less, acquire more, and change whenever the desire hits.
“Owning a car used to be the key to freedom,” one millennial marketer argues. “But now younger generations are seeing car ownership as a liability that ties them down.”
And being tied down is the last thing the transient Gen Yer wants. “Owning a home also ties workers down,” NY Times columnist Paul Krugman reports. “Even in the best of times, the costs and hassle of selling one home and buying another — one estimate put the average cost of a house move at more than $60,000 — tend to make workers reluctant to go where the jobs are.”
That’s cool with Gen Y because we plan to move in a month or two for that tech job, relish inner-city downtown life, or can’t see the sense in purchasing a home when we’re going overseas in June to work at a NGO anyway.
“Houses simply do not fit in very well with the demands for flexibility, mobility and continuous innovation in the creative economy,” Florida reports. “They cost a lot and suck up a ton of capital. They are energy sinks and most people and families don’t use or need all that space. They’re environmental disasters. There is a growing body of economics research which suggests home ownership is associated with lower rates of productivity, lower incomes, and higher rates of unemployment.”
Gen Y will certainly grow up at some point, make commitments, have a family and settle down – indeed, research shows that is our every intention. But we are doing so at a later age, and by then, it may be too late and the world too different for local community to thrive.
Changing quarters.
What do you think? Will the housing crisis and Gen Y’s attitude towards ownership change community forever? And if you don’t own a home and aren’t connected to any particular institution, will you have any reason to contribute to the local community? Does it matter?
46 replies on “Will Gen Y ruin local community?”
You raise some really good points Rebecca. I’m 25 and I have no interest in buying a house, plus I haven’t had a car for the past 18 months! I’ve got by just fine. It’s given me the freedom to be able to take everything and uproot if required. Which I’m doing in September! Europe here I come.
What impact does all this have on local community though? Well I agree with you local community in a traditional sense is dying off. Our community is no longer tied down by geographical constraints. We’ve now got the means to connect with people from across the globe. Local community still exists its just that now London is as local as the neighboring suburb!
I think we all (every person in every generation) crave meaningful connections – to other people, to a cause, to a…something. And, I agree that faith and religion suck at providing that for Gen Y.
While Facebook can’t replace community, it can create a certain type of it.
I don’t think Gen Y is ruining local community. I think it’s redefining the meaning of community. Community is now partly digital. It’s now less ownership-based.
Therefore, successful cities and communities in the future will understand this and change accordingly.
As a homeowner in a historic neighborhood that is tightly knit, I will say that the rental market is changing the notion of community. But so is the Internet – we finally abandoned our print directory for an online one…
As always, great post, great conversation starter, and great ideas…
YES, I believe the shifting preferences of young people will change community forever, but I think it will be for the better. I had two conversations recently…one with a twenty-something Selectman (woman); another with our State Rep who is closer to boomer-age and a lifelong contributor to our community. Both are great public servants in my mind and both are totally engaged in their community.
Sarah represents the future. She was renting an apartment and didn’t even have a local phone number when she ran for office. But her passion, energy, and likability won over voters and got her elected in a very traditional town. She quickly engaged with the community and is doing things to make a difference in promoting the revitalizing town center while she continues to work full time at her job in Boston.
Paul is a fixture of the community and his run for office was more of a “when are you going to run?” campaign that allowed him to run as an independent and defeat the winner of the Democratic primary. He’s been working on improving community for over 20 years.
Some people probably felt Sarah hadn’t “paid her dues,” or were worried that she was not grounded enough in the community, but I think she overcame that to win by convincing voters that she was serious about making things happen here and now.
Social media–being on Facebook and Twitter, etc. DOES make it possible to maintain the weak ties that increasingly make us effective in getting things done. Working in local community is not about going to lots of meetings–although there are plenty of them and they are all attended by older people–but young people and busy professional people are finding better ways to connect and collaborate to build their communities. That’s why I started a blog in my town–http://westwoodblog.org
I could write a ton more…but I really thing the collaborative approach of young people, the sheer size of the generational cohort, and new ways of communicating through social media are going to revitalize our local communities because they make our face-to-face interractions much more efficient and productive. As far as transiency goes…you do what you can, when you can, where you can…and the impulse of problem-solving concerned citizens will find expression through these new forms and, over time, render obsolete the old forms of interraction that are just impractical for most people today…
Rebecca – great thoughts here, and honestly I’m torn between this modern Gen-Y way of thinking and in being old fashioned.
I bought a (new) car after graduation – on my own dime- I am entirely independent financially (just brought up a similar topic today on my blog) and I take pride in ‘owning’ things – the car was/is a huge investment – but there’s a big difference in debt and investments, at least in my mind. An investment means your working toward something, your taking risks in order to achieve a goal. The ‘old fashioned’ part of me wants to settle in, move somewhere, start my own business (hopefully), and stay in one place.
But the other part of me wants to sell my car, move to the city, and be more ‘spontaneous’ – following this ‘unsettling’ mindset that many people amongst our generation have.
Overall, I think there is still a lot to be said for ‘owning’ things – owning a home for example. I hate renting because I know it’s empty money – it’s not going toward anything – you get to a point where you might as well be paying a mortgage if you’re paying so much in rent. I don’t think that virtue will die amongst our generation – but our overall attitude on life and living while we’re young and without responsibilities will certainly continue to have an effect.
I actually see local community converting to meet the needs of the Generation Y consumer. In the “urban market” of Portland, Maine (which, by the by, is only a shade above a rural urban market) there is a growing trend of our huge New England Victorian homes being converted into apartments to be sold. People try to make it sound cool and say they are “condo units” but really, it is no different than buying an apartment in NYC or LA. There’s much less attaching you to the apartment you bought, and these things go like hotcakes as long as they are priced accordingly.
As for the online/digital community, I would point to things like SXSW and Tweet-ups. Even though we “meet” others online and build relationships there, we still need to have the in-person contact to feel connected.
Rebecca, I was lying in bed last night thinking about this post. My short answer would be, yes, I think it matters.
I don’t think people can truly appreciate and connect to a city/community unless they know it intimately, that is both the goods and the bads. Just because we’re not buying houses and we’re moving around so frequently, it doesn’t mean we don’t crave connections and relationships on a deeper level.
Some of us are going overseas for 3 months to try to “make a difference” in a country that we don’t even have any connection with, because we feel we are a global citizen. But at times we don’t even fulfill the duties of being a local citizen yet. It’s true that we may live in 3 different cities in a year, so we should just continue building and giving wherever we are at the moment. People move there in the first place because they think it’s great. They reap the benefits, and it only makes sense to give back and continue to help build that community. Or else how did it become so great in the first place?
I once read a quote – community service is our rent to live on Earth. Helping to build local communities will be our rent to live in that city. A culture of leasing and service, like you said.
I agree with Sam. I think Gen Y is redefining the meaning of community. Like you once mentioned in that video game post – building a Gen Y style local community is challenging, complex, and takes time, but it’s motivating and rewarding.
Thank you for writing this. I am looking forward to hear what others think.
From my perspective, there really isn’t that much difference between the Yers, the Xers, and the Boomers. We’re all in the same boat when it comes to the economy and I think we all are considering how things from homes to netflixs affect the way we live. And perhaps more importantly, many of us from across the generations are coming to the same conclusions and dare I say seeing eye to eye.
Much like what Sam had to say, I think there are new forms of community being developed that add to the traditional sense of what we think and feel a community is. However, I think as people get older, settle down, and start a family, the roots of a local community will begin to take hold.
After all, I can unplug my computer and lose all of that in an instant, but I can’t unplug my town.
@ Adam – That’s so funny that you’re going to Europe, so many people I know – especially in my online community are traveling overseas. I love this idea that local community still exists but is just everywhere. Interesting. Thanks for the comment!
@ Sam – Knowing some of your background, it’s interesting to me that you make that note about faith and religion. I want to be involved in this community, but it just doesn’t happen. Anyway, I agree that we’re redefining what community means, and I’m really interested to see how it will play out over time. Appreciate hearing your fabulous perspective.
@ Dave – Thanks so much for weighing in and sharing those stories. It’s so interesting to me the dynamic between the two generations and public office. I like that public involvement is starting to mean something different as you explain, but I also don’t see it working incredibly well, at least where I live. So much of getting involved is the actual face-to-face conversation – I hope you’re right that the new way of doing things just makes those conversations more engaging and efficient.
@ Matt – Full disclosure: I bought my first home – a downtown condo – last Spring. I also had to buy a car for my new job. I agree with you that I’m incredibly proud of owning these things, but I also feel conflicted because I want to travel and do things and not be tied down. Thanks for sharing your side so I know I’m not alone ; )
@ Elisa – What a great perspective, I’m totally with you on cities trying to make efforts to respond to what Gen Y wants. I think, overall, this is a good thing. Thanks for the comment!
@ Ruby – Ha, didn’t mean to keep you awake! But I’m glad someone else was too, because I could barely sleep I was so excited to get people’s thoughts on the matter. Can I also just say that this post was inspired by you – so thanks! Anyway, this conflict of not helping your home and your local community first often bothers me. I don’t think it’s right or wrong – I think we all do the best we can in the things we’re interested in, but it does make one wonder…. thank you for sharing.
@ Lady Moxie – I really appreciate you sharing this idea because I think it’s different than most of the other comments. Is it just that world is changing and we all have to jump on the boat before we’re left behind, or does each generation contribute to the changes? I love that you think we’re seeing eye to eye more – that’s encouraging.
@ Norcross – Ah, “I can’t unplug my town” is a great image. I like that you don’t believe we’re getting rid of the traditional sense of community and rather are just adding new forms. That’s something I hadn’t considered as I was more looking at it as new forms eroding the old. But as one form gets more attention, isn’t it increasingly difficult to hold on to the old?
I totally agree with Matt. I’m on my third car now. I paid outright or took out my own loan and paid it back on each one. That feeling of ownership, to honestly and entirely say “This is mine” was and is great. I’m living really close to Chicago now and public transportation suites my needs for almost everything (short of occasional visits to friends and family). I don’t really need my car, but I’ve still got it because it’s paid off and all I really have to put into is gas and insurance (I’m not fixing it up anymore though it needs it).
Despite this, I want to go make a purchase on a house and new car right now because as a former business student I understand how the economy is affecting prices and how that could change very quickly. These prices are hard to turn down, and they would be investments as Matt stated. At the same time, do I really want to sit with a mortgage and car payment? I’ve got a good deal on an apartment lined up with a friend. Really I know I should be all over this stuff but still I’m left wondering, why should I?
This is disheartening for me and other Gen Yers. We do want to create a vibrant community and engage and create an interesting neighborhood. However, we often run into stark economic realities. Cars, houses, and life in general is more expensive and we are starting off with less money then our parents did (scale/inflation wise).
Confuses me when older adults wonder why all that we do is be online. Did it ever occur to them that this is our vibrant neighborhood/community? You priced us out of the other one.
No way. I rent my place & have absolutely no desire to buy a home any time soon… I’m not sure that has any correlation to my involvement in my community though.
Facebook & Twitter have actually made me *more* involved in my city’s community. As I began to reach out to people outside my geographic area to increase my own knowledge base, I became an expert in social media in my local community. All of a sudden, I’m founding our local chapter of Social Media Club, have been interviewed twice on local radio, and have become the go-to source for my area.
I’m more involved in my community than ever before. My Facebook friends who were just local acquaintenances are now inviting me to their dinners, their churches, and their business & political meetings.
Once-loose local ties have been strengthened by my use of social media. I think community is extremely important to Gen Y, and that’s why we choose to not sequester ourselves in our own little home & live instead with roommates & in apartments & share cars. *Because* we are community-oriented.
And I agree with Stuart to some extent – I didn’t make enough to buy a house last year. Oh yeah. And I got stuck with $26K in debt right out of college. Oh yeah. And I have bad credit because I never got to build good credit before I got stuck with said student loans. Oh yeah. And I have ridiculously high interest rates as a result, which keeps me in a cycle of debt & poor credit & paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle. Sigh.
Wow, where to begin? This is such a great, important post. I’m Gen X, so I’m responding from my own experience and perspective. I have three kids and a house that allows them to attend what’s considered the best public elementary school in town (the very town @modite grew up in!).
This is the third house I’ve owned, and I will say this: Owning a home in a neighborhood does change how you feel about your community—how you interact with it, how you invest in it, and committed you are to the people, parks, etc. In the few years before I bought my current home, I was feeling extremely restless and unhappy about circumstances I couldn’t change. Buying the house represented a turning point for me—it symbolized a deliberate decision to embrace where I was. The thought of an entire generation of people not doing that really worries me.
Another thing I’ve been thinking about is how Twitter has affected how people give to non-profit organizations and causes. This is something I’ve been wanting to write a blog post about for a while. Actually, I think I just might write that post today, rather than ramble on about it here. :) Thanks for the great, thought-provoking kick in the butt!
Rebecca, when you brought this up yesterday I couldn’t help but wonder about this question.
I have to agree that ownership and locking myself into a commitment sometimes makes me weary. Is that bad? I don’t think so right now, because I am 100% committed to my job and VERY much in the moment for where I am. However, I know that traveling, moving, etc. is still on my plate and I want to do it before I do settle down and have more ties.
To your point for local community, though…I think that even if I were to reside in a place for two months, I would dive in to learn about people, be friends with locals and give back. I may not buy a house, but I’m probably renting, I pick my favorite local eateries, I learn of organizations I can work with on the side and I attend local events. It helps us feel as one, because being anonymous (to me) is lonely. I like to share, learn and grow from whatever moment or place I find myself in.
I recently added a nonprofit conference and one thing the keynote speaker said really stuck with me. He said “treat everyplace you live as if you are going to live there for the rest of your life. It doesn’t matter if you’ll be there for a month, a year or longer. You will be amazed at the connections you make with people and how those connections will follow you for the rest of your life.”
I’m a genXer. I’ve owned a house and now rent. I have no desire to buy a house again anytime soon even though I plan to stay in Madison for a long time. Owning a house is to much work, responsibility and money for me to handle by myself. I don’t think being connected in your community has to have anything to do with home ownership. I’ve never seen some of the people in my neighborhood who own homes. I’m a renter, yet I’m a member of my neighborhood association as my area rep. and do other volunteer things that are located within a mile radius of my house.
I think it’s up to the indivdual. I work hard at being connected and involved on many different ways.
@ Sean V – I love the contradiction in your thinking. As I mentioned to Matt, I bought my first home (a condo) last Spring and I love it, but sometimes I wonder if it was the right thing to do. It feels great to own, but the “why should I” part comes up quite a bit too. Thanks for the comment!
@ Stuart – Your last paragraph made me chuckle. I feel the same way. So many young people would prefer to live in the vibrancy of downtown, but it’s so expensive. I live downtown in Madison, but had to take one of the smallest units available to make it work with my budget. Yeah, economic realities do suck. Thanks for stopping by : )
@ Holly – I like your perspective because I think it does show that there is hope that Gen Yers can give make and have community involvement with the typical “ownership” rules of the past. I’ve noticed that you are involved in local social media a lot and that’s very cool. I wonder if – or maybe it’s obvious – that Gen Y is meeting and building community in a different way. Would love to hear your thoughts on this on your new blog. And I’m with you on all the debt… ugh.
@ Kristen – Haha, your first paragraph made me smile real big. I’m glad you shared your perspective as a Gen Xer and homeowner. While I do feel restless often, I agree that owning my condo has made me feel like I actually belong in Madison. Or that I have a real say in what goes on. When people ask me where I live, I’m proud to tell them. Will buying a home be the deliberate decision to embrace community for Gen Yers when they’re ready? This is something I’ll look forward to observing.
@ Grace – Thanks for helping me talk out some of the inspirations of this post on your blog : ) I’m going to argue that you – and probably most of my readers – are more dedicated to their community than most Gen Yers though… The whole thing just makes me nervous, you know? Which is why I wrote the post. I think life is changing so much more than we will ever know and when we’re 50, we might just sit back and go, “Whoa.”
@ Mary – So excited to read your perspective. It’s interesting to me that you’ve owned a house and wouldn’t do it again. That’s a great example of how society is changing I think and gives me hope that while we may not be doing things in the traditional way anymore, that community is still alive and well. Great quote too by the way, thanks for sharing!
I don’t believe at all that Gen-Y will destroy local community, and I actually think that the exact opposite will happen. I’m also a little confused as to where this post comes from, having yourself just left a job as the executive director of a young professional organization (early 20s through mid 40s) focusing on “attracting and retaining talent in the greater Madison area.” Local community was what you preached as part of that job. You helped organize events that were aimed at benefiting the local community and driving economic developtment in the city. You also used to say that the best way to get involved is, in fact, to get involved. You even went on to say on a radio show, “it’s not about giving a person the best job or the highest salary, it’s about them making relationships with the people and ideas here in Madison that are unique to Madison.” Yet, your last post preached about the manner in which you got your “cool job.”
I’m still a part of that organization and I’m curious if this is the message that you want to send your peers and colleagues. Or is this post your way to practice what you preach in regards to “burning bridges?” And yes, I’ve read through the majority of the comments related to those posts. This is in fact what most people consider burning bridges.
Regarding home ownership, I bought a house at 25. Almost all of my friends are in their twenties and own houses. In fact, there is a trend across the nation of increasing job sprawl and people moving out of metropolitan areas (http://www.jsonline.com/business/42610867.html). People aren’t scared of the housing downturn right now either, it’s a perfect opportunity for younger people to get into home ownership at a younger age. I don’t disagree that they’re an environmental disaster but it’s impossible to argue that more young people aren’t looking at this as an opportunity, especially if they’re married.
It’s hard writing this comment because I know I’ll see you at the bars here in the near future and it’ll probably be awkward. I really have to ask myself, however, what your intent is with these last few posts. Ignoring your past and promoting only your future is a sure way to doom it. Not everyone lives for themselves, and I think that there are a lot of people that want the place they live to be as fantastic as possible. You grew to personally know a few hundred of them here, so what is your message to them now?
Wow. There are a lot of really interesting ideas in this post. My contribution is that I don’t think the collapse of community is a uniquely Gen Y shift. Trends point to a much deeper movement from the public-gathering space of the community to much more private and intimate settings.
Last month Jason Kottke linked to a 1975 (before we were born) study by Richard Thomas called “From Porch to Patio” which details this trend. It looks, to me, like the recession – along with increased speeds of communications and local infrastructure – has just helped this process along a bit, or, perhaps, forced its hand.
Money Quote: “The patio was an extension of the house, but far less public than the porch. It was easy to greet a stranger from the porch but exceedingly difficult to do so from the backyard patio. While the porch was designed in an era of slow movement, the patio is part of a world which places a premium on speed and ease of access.”
For all that our communities are digital and more amorphous, in the end I’m still going to need to make friends with my neighbors so when I go on vacation someone can come by my place, bring in the mail and check on my cat, and all for the price of some cupcakes or a return of the favor when they go on vacation.
That when it’s pouring out and I’m waiting for the bus, my neighbors will offer me a ride if they drive by a see me.
for as much as it’s nice to keep in touch with people on line, the physical community will always be there, because there are tangible benefits to having a community you know and are a part of.
@ Dale – Thanks for sharing your thoughts, but I can honestly say I’m not sure where your comment is coming from, especially because I think we’re on the same page about stuff.
It’s because of my last job working for a young professional organization that I see these issues as so important and worth talking about. I still very much value the organization and continue to be involved.
As I mentioned earlier in the comments, I too own a home and bought mine when I was 24. I also pointed to research in the post that says Gen Yers are indeed optimistic about the housing market.
The point of this post is definitely not to ignore your past, but to build community wherever you are – and tries to ask, what does community mean nowadays? It tries to pull at larger themes, look at them and saying, hm, I wonder how this is all going to play out.
I guess I’m confused on how to reply because I feel like we’re on the same page. I shot you an email and hope we can continue our conversation there.
@ Zack – Great perspective, and thanks so much for sharing that knowledge on the study. I love, love that quote on the patio vs. the porch. Design is so indicative of the themes of our culture. I agree that it’s been moving this direction and the recession has quickened the process.
@ Voice in the Crowd – Haha, definitely! That’s a great practical way to look at it, and so true. Those tangible benefits of having people to support you in real life, and even the human touch are important – a good reminder that that will never go away.
After rereading your post and these comments, I think that we have a lot to learn when it comes to the balance between digital and ‘analog’ community. This is clear when reading most of the above comments.
Perhaps Gen Y’s legacy will be in how it balances and unites the two. We won’t be shut in our houses tweeting all day. But we also won’t ignore a tool that could build something meaningful.
How we navigate the neighborhoods and Facebooks will be key. If anyone can do both, it will be Gen Y.
@Rebecca I’ve responded via email, but wanted to point out to the readers here that my main reason for responding in this way was that I think that there’s a missing perspective here. You state that these posts are in the interest of generating dialogue but that missing perspective is one that you have represented yourself for a long time. I’m trying to provide that perspective and show that there are organizations out there, mostly made up of Gen-Yers, who are working towards the explicit purpose of building local communities. Having been a leader in one such organization, I would think that you would have a particular belief, making the point of this post somewhat superfluous. The dialogue is interesting, I don’t doubt that. It just needs to be complete.
[…] The post that revved me up today was this one, by Rebecca Thorman at her blog Modite: Will Gen Y ruin local community? […]
[…] The post that revved me up today was this one, by Rebecca Thorman at her blog Modite: Will Gen Y ruin local community? […]
I bought a 1930 house in suburban New Jersey at 24 and sold it last week at 27. It sort of made sense when I had a salaried job in Manhattan and assumed I was going to stay in the area forever, but owning it made very little sense after I started my own virtual business.
Owning a house is a big hassle, and (depending on where you buy) very expensive. In spite of what the National Association of Realtors touts about deductibility of property taxes and interest, it’s still cash out the door each month. My property taxes (on a low-mid-range house in a working class city 10 miles from New York) were $5,500 a year!
Stuff breaks, and you need to buy maintenance equipment…$900 for a new water heater, $700 for a new refrigerator, $400 for a snowblower, $300 for a random plumbing problem… And utilities are often higher — when I bought, I could only afford a 75-year-old house that had no insulation, no central air, and peeling paint throughout. Owning also facilitates accumulating “stuff” you don’t really need.
I sold the house for $60,000 less than I paid. If you include the Realtor commissions, transfer taxes, moving expenses, and staging expenses, I lost almost $100,000. And (according to my little spreadsheet), if I’d continued renting that 2BR apartment, I’d have come out $140,000 richer. My former therapist called that “tuition in the school of life.”
It was an expensive lesson-learned. Now I’m living in a smaller, newer rented townhouse in North Carolina, with nicer amenities than I had before, for only $650/month. Including housing and insurance, moving and downsizing will save me $20,000 a year. I also got rid of half my possessions and find I’m much happier.
Mark Twain said a cat that jumps onto a hot stove won’t jump on a hot stove again…but s/he also won’t jump onto a cold stove. That might be true, but I have no desire to buy a house again any time in the near future.
I recently heard a couple (in their early 30s) discussing house-hunting in a nearby upscale suburb. They were talking about granite countertops and cherry cabinets and great rooms, and I’m thinking, “That isn’t going to make you happy.” I used to be like that (not that I could afford a place with granite countertops), and it just sounded so banal to hear it now.
Think twice about whether owning really makes sense for you. I’m much happier now without the responsibility and the baggage.
I think your post makes some great points Rebecca, but I don’t feel I’m seeing the connection that ties all this research together to come to a satisfying conclusion.
Personally, I own a home (bought at age 23), own a car (bought at age 25), ride public transit most of the time, relish in inner-city life, am disillusioned by religion, have a good sense of community online and offline, get lonely sometimes, and plan to move within three years. I imagine that just about every other Gen Y’er out there has some mix of the qualities or lifestyles you’ve mentioned in this post, including yourself. And I know plenty of Gen X’ers who live in Chicago and lead similar lifestyles to me, even with kids and a car, etc. So I guess I’m wondering who this would realistically apply to.
That said, in terms of the housing market and Gen Y, research shows that Gen Y views ownership as an investment rather than a permanent, 30-year stake in the future of a local community. (Parallel to Gen Y in the workplace.) I wholeheartedly relate to that concept, because I bought my condo in 2007 with the purpose of making money off it since the area I live in is appreciating quickly. Yet, even though I don’t plan to stay in Chicago forever, I’m still involved in my local community.
Of course, like you said, that can’t go on forever. Personally, I intend to settle down, start a family, and build a business after our next move. Overall, I don’t see a specific trend that would lead to Gen Y ruining local community, just changing the length of time you spend in one community.
@ Sam – I love this comment, “perhaps Gen Y’s legacy will be in how it balances and unites the two.” That’s exactly it. Thanks!
@ Dale – Right on, I totally agree. Having been the leader of such an organization, that IS exactly why I believe it’s so important to talk about this stuff. So many people get involved – and indeed they -were my sole reason for getting up in the morning at my last job – but so many people don’t for some reason or another. I wonder why that is a lot.
The world is changing and community is changing. One such solution or idea is a young professional organization, another is to buy a home and get involved, another is to redefine what community means, go to tweet-ups and bring your online community offline, etc. I’ve done all of those. And probably loved them all equally. This post doesn’t try to offer solutions (the commenters are great at that!), but just tries to put up the questions and ideas to talk about.
@ Karl – Wow, thanks for sharing you story. It’s great to hear of the experiences of others, but I must admit makes me a bit nervous since I just bought a condo last Spring! It also makes me wonder if we’re just buying homes because that’s been the prevailing sentiment in America for years upon years (as Krugman argues) or if it’s actual worthwhile. Thanks for weighing in!
@ Monica – I’m with you, I don’t think there is a satisfying conclusion because we just won’t know what will happen and how the different trends and events will affect local community for a few years down the road. How it all plays out will be something I pay close attention to, for sure.
Interesting…reading the comments…my earlier comment was based on the idea that I don’t see a “balance” of digital and analog communities. Digital tools make analog work better. The great thing about social media that is different from the web 1.0 world of chatrooms, forums, and “communities” of members like “laughingboi57” is that social media smooths the transitions. Twitter connects me to real people I see in person. Facebook makes it possible to keep in touch with people I met in person once and found a great idea in common…I’m Gen X so I can’t speak for what Gen Y feels here, but it seems to me we are all finding in new media, a way to connect better.
Wow, the feedback you got on this post is pretty awesome. I’m with Monica in that I don’t see our Gen Y tendencies as causes for ruin in our communities. In some senses I’ve become more involved with my community by not being “attached” to a home, because I don’t harbor any resentment or regret toward making that kind of investment. I don’t force my involvement, I do it because I enjoy it and because I want to love where I live no matter how long I’m there.
Whether we love or hate where we live, and whether we’re committed to staying there or picking up and leaving, I think the tangibility of our neighbors and real life communities is enough motivation to keep is involved. Eventually we all have to come up for air and we want that air to be good and refreshing.
Rebecca-
It is interesting that you raise this topic because I am writing a book related to this very topic. I think you will find that Gen Y will actually increase local community, if something like that could be measured because of its housing preferences as a group.
Research shows that a majority of Gen X and Gen Y prefer urban community settings within walking or short commuting distance to work and shopping, and would prefer a smaller home to get that. Gen X, to a degree, and Gen Y overwhelmingly prefer communities that are comprised of diverse ethnicities, races and ages. These factors will work to increase local community, even if Gen Y is connected globally through technology. Denser communities create what Jane Jacobs called “eyes on the street” — a 24 hour community where people interact with each other.
I also think that social media has raised the stakes on community — it demands a level of authenticity because it is increasingly difficult to “escape” your online presence. When you connect with someone at Facebook or through your blog, what do you want? Do you want a “lurker”? No — you want someone who has something to contribute. I think these technologies will actually increase the quality & connectedness of relationships. We are so distracted today by our lives and media channels that a relationship will have to provide something of value or it will not be maintained.
Finally, I would not get to overwhelmed by the collapse you are witnessing in the housing economy, unless you own a home that you are about to lose. Housing affordability has been on the decline for twenty years and current circumstances will result in housing becoming more affordable for everyone.
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Rebecca – this post is crafted so beautifully and intelligently. It has me thinking and I worry sometimes about the transient nature of our generation. Where do we call home when we aren’t searching out stability? Will we ever feel grounded? Will we ever stop being restless?
I wonder if, like Holly said in her comment, the new communities aren’t local, but we build pockets of communities across the country. We don’t really have “home base” but we’re finding a way for that to work. We aren’t limited by ownership and can accomplish goals without being tied down to location.
I’m thinking out loud. I may have to come back tomorrow after I’ve had time for this to brew. What a great post.
I disagree that religion is bad at creating community for Gen Y. Being Catholic, it has been a gap for those in their 20’s and 30’s because there is NOTHING for them. However, I’ve started a group at my church for us who maybe feel displaced which I think has created a stronger sense of community in our church at least. Our faith is what helps us connect. But that’s just my experience but I think you’re right in that people can feel disillusioned if they don’t have an outlet like that created for them. I guess it just means we need more people to step up and be leaders – not just in the church sense, but in general.
I’m totally the same way about the ownership/leasing ideas too. And yes, I think it’s changing community but I don’t know if it’s for worse. I live very close to my neighbors but I don’t know them very well. But maybe because I feel disconnected from my neighbors, I feel more need to get out and network through my church group or maybe some of the meetups on Twitter. It has made me find community besides just a neighborhood.
But you raise excellent questions and as always got me thinking! Thanks Rebecca! :)
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If you wait too long to grow up, there’s a risk it might never happen.
Sense of community? Is that, “I’ll take advantage of all the stuff everyone does for free, as long as it benefits me”? Or how about, “No, I don’t have any money to donate, because I spent it all on my new house, Blackberries (plural), the three foreign trips I take every year, going away every weekend. And I can’t help with that community project because I’m too busy (see above). And my neighbors are such idiots for shovelling my sidewalks for free so that they don’t slip and fall while I’m on my trips; I’ll let them keep on doing it for free if they want to be such idiots.”
Your closing question both excites and scares me. While I look forward to a future full of opportunities for people from all over the world to connect and conduct business, I am also fearful that there are many social consequences at the local level. Part of the reason why neighborhoods and roots and communities are so wonderful and necessary is to continue to produce caring and socially conscious citizen in our children. Schools reside at the heart of any community and our move away from supporting them and having attachments to any particular geographical area puts these schoos (and children) at risk. I fear that they will grow up knowing only of online and virtual communities, living in isolation and never really feeling connected to what they are working toward. I am torn.
I don’t think Gen Y will be the ones to destroy local community, because I feel like sense of community in most places has already been destroyed. I grew up in a small town, and it always surprises me how distant everyone in cities and suburbs seem to be to one another. Even home ownership, in my opinion, doesn’t do much to help people get to know their neighbors or to develop deeper ties to their area. Part of this may very well be the increasing reliance on the internet and other devices that stilt or limit interpersonal communication. Part of this probably has to do with our reliance on cars, and our tendency to spend most of our time ALONE in them, without ever interacting with another human being unless it’s to flip them the bird. I think the break down of family relationships also has something to do with this–as people move further from their families, further from their place of origin, they struggle more and more to make new ties. When you live in an area where your parents lived, where your whole family is, where you have a long history of relationships with other families in the community, a feeling of community is inevitable. We just don’t deal with people on a 1:1 level anymore. We live, travel and communicate in such a way that those bonds simply do not happen.
I think we need to separate the argument about community from home ownership. While home ownership might be one small reason for a lack of local community, it certainly isn’t the only one. I think it’s also important to ask if we can replace LOCAL community with some other sense of community. In some cities or in some neighborhoods within some cities, you see a very strong sense of local community. I lived in Austin and in the Ballard neighborhood in Seattle, and in both places, I felt the local community was very strong. However, I’ve lived in other cities–Minneapolis and the suburbs of Portland–where I feel like a sense of community is utterly lacking. I feel in these different places, in a lot of ways, a sense of community is divorced from the notion of home ownership, and perhaps home ownership in some places even encourages people to separate themselves from the community and instead to focus on THEIR home, THEIR family, and to ignore what is outside it. Perhaps what we think of as local community is changing, and is less about neighborhoods of people who live close together but rather groups of people in a local area who share common values, ideas and interests.
Anyhow, provocative topic. I just feel like 1) it needs a more in-depth treatment, 2) community and home ownership should be treated as separate entities, and 3) we need to look at where “community” is growing and how we can encourage more localities to model themselves after those areas.
I loved Matt’s comment about the difference between an investment and debt. Working hard toward something that *you choose and earning is something that crosses generations.
Every generation brings a different focus because it grows up seeing a different picture of the world/environment and the changes that are occurring as they grow up.
Yet, I say learn as much as you can, everywhere you can, regardless of what generation it’s from.
E.G.
I have learned so much about online connections and yet I still love meeting people face to face.
I travel all over US for my business yet I also have ties to my local community.
I work hard toward things that I want as I was taught yet my niece Mary Kate has taught me many things from her Gen Y view.
If we all stay open to the talents of people in all ages — we can soar.
@KateNasser
I must say that the reference to real estate caught my attention on this one. As usual your writing has inspired thought and opinion on all sides of this issue based on the comments that follow. I have posted my response on my blog.
http://joshlavik.blogspot.com/2009/04/ownership-improves-our-community.html
[…] Will Gen Y ruin local community? […]
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basically people from generation y dont have the benefits of previous generations. Such as: enough jobs, and job security, previous generations had plenty of jobs to choose from, college wasnt as expensive, and you didnt need a college degree to get a job. People now cant even count on having a job for more than a yr so buying a home doesnt even enter into their mind. Its sad, also girls now are too pre-occupied with making money and taking guys jobs, that they dont care about getting married and raising a family. this also contributes to a lack of desire for home ownership. hope this helps!
“Gen Y will certainly grow up at some point, make commitments, have a family and settle down”
True, but it’s also not a requirement to own a home in order to be “settled down” – you can raise a family in a rental just as easily as you can in a home – with the added bonus that you can rent in areas with very good school districts often at much less than owning in that area would cost you.
Just found your site and really like what you present. I will admit I am chronologically Gen-X, but land all over the board in the attributes used to describe Boomers, Gen-X & Gen-Y. I have owned a home but found it to be a huge burden on career and life choices so I sold it. I choose to not have a car; getting around with mass transit primarily and ZipCar when I need personal conveyance. I tend to go where the work is interesting, rewarding and available. I have started and sold several successful companies through the years and have worked for many other very interesting ventures and charities. Reinventing my career on a fairly constant basis has been one of the secrets to my happiness and financial stability.
Strangely enough, I do have a family and have infused my children with the same wanderlust and acceptance that community can involve the entire world and can be conducted via Facebook, Skype and text messaging when you can’t be there face to face. Home truly is where the heart is and not an address and zip code. The challenges come with keeping the kids engaged in school when they know that learning comes from all experience.
Thanks for your insightful commentaries! I look forward to reading more. :-)
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