Washington, D.C., and other U.S. cities have benefited enormously from the influx of millennials with high-paying jobs. This demographic is helping revitalize neighborhoods, bringing vibrancy to long-dormant commercial corridors, and demanding reliable public transit and walkable neighborhoods.
While some analysts had worried that as millennials grew older they would settle down and raise their families outside of D.C., there seems to be little evidence of that happening yet, according to a new survey, conducted by Qualtrix on behalf of ULI Washington. Many millennials plan to stay inside the Beltway and are not necessarily worried about schools and day care because they are putting off having children, the survey shows.
Speaking at a ULI Washington event, Yolanda Cole, senior principal at Washington-based Hickok Cole Architects and the driving force behind the survey, said that because families with children are an economic engine, when millennials do start families, it is important to try to keep them in the city.
The survey also found that Washington-area millennials are more educated and have higher incomes than the average millennial, but that they struggle just as much (if not more) with housing costs because D.C. housing can be prohibitively expensive. Washington’s millennial population also skews older and more female than the nationwide sample.
Cole and a panel of four millennial real estate professionals discussed the results of the survey last week at the Studio Theatre in Washington’s 14th Street Northwest corridor, an area that exemplifies the changing—and gentrifying—city. Whereas 20 years ago the corridor was plagued by drug addicts and prostitutes, today it is the site of $30-a-plate restaurants and $2,700-a-month rental properties.
Though the 14th Street corridor may be one of the most extreme examples of change in the District, it is not the only one undergoing a dramatic evolution. All neighborhoods experiencing economic benefits brought by millennials—with their college educations and high incomes—seem to be experiencing spiraling costs.
In fact, 77 percent of those surveyed said high rents are keeping them from moving into a larger or more desirable unit. Seventy-two percent of renters with roommates said they cannot afford to live alone.
“There are a lot of people in this town that are double-income families—two lawyers making well over $200,000,” said Brant Snyder, vice president of national real estate company Lowe Enterprises. “But there are also a lot of government employees” who make a lot less.
The survey shows that 40 percent of renters plan to buy a home or condominium within the next three years—though they may have to leave the District to do so. Only about one-third of those surveyed said they plan to be living in D.C. in three years; the rest expect to move to inside-the-Beltway suburbs or out of the area entirely.
Still, millennials—even those with kids—seem to be trying to make it work. “We’re willing to compromise on size,” said Rhea Vaflor, design director of lifestyles for Hickok Cole, who describes her family as “renters by choice.” “As long as you have really good closets and about 350 square feet [33 sq m] per person,” you can live in the District, she said.
The key issue, panelists agreed, will be schools. While the millennials surveyed are not yet spending much time thinking about schools—58 percent of those surveyed said they had no opinion on the quality of local schools—that may change as they begin having children.
“It really is interesting raising children in urban centers,” said Vaflor, who has a five-year-old daughter. “They just have a different experience, and it opens their world.”
“I grew up in Alexandria, which didn’t have great public schools, so there’s a level of comfort for us in mediocre public schools,” Snyder said to laughter. “I want that for my son because it made me well rounded. . . . What I’m not comfortable with is [a lack of] safety. There are maybe two public high schools [in D.C.] I would be comfortable sending my son to.”
Getting millennial parents engaged and active in the school system will be one way to improve the city’s public and charter schools, panelists said.
Another issue is parents’ reliance on charter schools and the potential to locate new schools in more convenient places. Snyder noted that many parents have to drive their children across town to attend a charter school because they are not confident in the neighborhood public school and the school their children attend may not be the nearest one to their home.
James Nozar, senior director of development for JBG, said that the Washington-based real estate company is in talks with several charter schools about adding a school as an amenity on the ground floor of a residential building, as is sometimes done in New York City. Though that will not solve the problem of residents getting a child into that particular school, District of Columbia Public Schools chancellor Kaya Henderson has said she believes charter schools should be allowed to decide whether to give admissions preferences to nearby families.
To view the report, Millennials Inside the Beltway: Optimistic Urbanists, please click here.
