4 ms·

I think it works both ways. My Millennial daughter and her friends looks at their parents lifestyle and say "not interested". Not interested in a big house in t

I think it works both ways. My Millennial daughter and her friends looks at their parents lifestyle and say "not interested". Not interested in a big house in the boonies filled with stuff you don't want and don't need. They seem to want experiences rather than stuff. That's having a positive effect on the service economy and a negative effect on the stuff economy.

Loughla 8y ago
I'm fascinated by this, because I see it as well. I'm fascinated because when did owning a home with a family become 'not' an experience? Legitimately confused by this. I have a house in a rural area (because of where I work) with a wife, kid, cat, and dog. Most of my friends are just aghast that I would choose to 'settle down' because I won't get any experiences at all. I mean, I'm not dead. . . I don't get it.
- swozey 8y ago
  A lot of us don't want kids early (if at all) and don't want the displeasure of spending $12k/yr in interest with $7k/yr in property taxes that rise $100-200/mo every year. source: Millennial trying to sell his house to go back to having less "stuff." And more liberty to go and do whatever I want. Maybe it comes from the majority of us going through our parents divorcing, or seeing our families livelihoods destroyed in the 2001 and 2008 recession. Maybe it's FOMO. Who knows. I noticed that when I did move to a cheaper COL city I had far more millennial friends with kids and houses. So, maybe it's just that, the unaffordability of where a lot of us are living leading to later children and thus lack of interest in house life.
  - Loughla 8y ago
    >So, maybe it's just that, the unaffordability of where a lot of us are living leading to later children and thus lack of interest in house life. Fascinating. I actually hadn't considered that. I live in a super low COL area, for full disclosure.
    - swozey 8y ago
      My 1970s 3/2 (1400sqft) in Austin 15 miles from downtown is worth around $400k. It's a huge factor in my family/life decisions. Not even comparable to CA/Sea of course. The neighborhood I'm in is probably 80% boomers (because of pricing, it's a gorgeous place people would love to raise a family). When I moved to Dallas (significantly more affordable housing) I found that a lot more of my coworkers have families/homes. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/26/millennials-are-flocking-to-cities-where-they-may-never-be-able-to-buy.html https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/26/millennials-are-flocking-to-...
      - Loughla 8y ago
        Oh wow. Midwest - nearest town is 150k (so we lack some cultural opportunities, but Chicago is within a day's drive). 1900-2000sq ft 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car attached garage with 800 sq ft woodshop, on 52 acres was $140k. And we paid what I thought was too much for the property when we bought it. The lives people in this country lead are so startlingly different sometimes.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- juyz 8y ago
  Buying a house and settling down with your wife, kids and dogs is a death sentence. It literally means "I will [most likely] die here". Something to avoid.
  - Loughla 8y ago
    That's the attitude I don't understand. Can you flush that out a little more? It's like you only see point A and point Z. There are so many experiences to be had with a family that fills the middle. I would argue that moving around constantly to travel keeps you from developing real, long-term relationships, and that those relationships are vital to being a successful, fully-realized human. Further, I would argue that while you may see some neat things, it is a death sentence to die alone. See how ridiculous that sounds? Same thing with a family and house framed as a death sentence. It's not a lack of experiences to settle down, it's a different set of experiences. Why the values judgments?
    - juyz 8y ago
      I don't know, actually. What you're saying makes sense. Maybe it's what the media has pushed on us? I'm scared of commitment, just like everybody else.
    - brianmc21 8y ago
      As someone who is going to be childfree I think it is a preference thing. While I don't understand why someone would want kids I still accept it as a value in society. People often look at me like I am crazy when I express my intent not to have any children so it goes both ways.
    - intrasight 8y ago
      You can enjoy the freedom to move around and still make lasting, deep relationships. In fact it's possible that you will have more relationships with a more diverse set of people. I've heard settling down in a house described as "building one's coffin". Many people die alone in the coffin they build.
  - nickthegreek 8y ago
- intrasight 8y ago
  I agree - owning a house and raising a family has been a terrific experience for me. But in talking to my daughter (senior at Yale) about this, I am coming to understand that the next generation may pursue happiness through different experiences. Things like co-living come up in these conversations. Things like Uber come up. So I ask: "Are you not, then, going to buy a house or a car?" Her answer is "correct". If such shifts are widespread, it will definitely reshape our economy.
- ip26 8y ago
  Family, house, kids, those things are fine. I think it's best understood as a rejection of materialism, bigger is better, owning stuff that doesn't make your life better, "keeping up with the Joneses". It's a trap many saw their parents fall into, spending their lives to buy stuff they didn't need. A big house and big lawn means a lot of your life spent mowing, cleaning, raking, doing repairs. If you've got seven children maybe that's worth it- but for most of us, a big house is a lot of additional overhead for little additional return. Also as home ownership becomes unobtainable, there will naturally be a reaction of "fine, I didn't want a house anyway" Last thought, there's a cultural realization that if you have kids and settle down at eighteen, many doors close to you for good. So there's a push to delay settling down at least a few years.

Loughla 8y ago

I'm fascinated by this, because I see it as well. I'm fascinated because when did owning a home with a family become 'not' an experience? Legitimately confused by this. I have a house in a rural area (because of where I work) with a wife, kid, cat, and dog. Most of my friends are just aghast that I would choose to 'settle down' because I won't get any experiences at all. I mean, I'm not dead. . . I don't get it.

swozey 8y ago
A lot of us don't want kids early (if at all) and don't want the displeasure of spending $12k/yr in interest with $7k/yr in property taxes that rise $100-200/mo every year. source: Millennial trying to sell his house to go back to having less "stuff." And more liberty to go and do whatever I want. Maybe it comes from the majority of us going through our parents divorcing, or seeing our families livelihoods destroyed in the 2001 and 2008 recession. Maybe it's FOMO. Who knows. I noticed that when I did move to a cheaper COL city I had far more millennial friends with kids and houses. So, maybe it's just that, the unaffordability of where a lot of us are living leading to later children and thus lack of interest in house life.
- Loughla 8y ago
  >So, maybe it's just that, the unaffordability of where a lot of us are living leading to later children and thus lack of interest in house life. Fascinating. I actually hadn't considered that. I live in a super low COL area, for full disclosure.
  - swozey 8y ago
    My 1970s 3/2 (1400sqft) in Austin 15 miles from downtown is worth around $400k. It's a huge factor in my family/life decisions. Not even comparable to CA/Sea of course. The neighborhood I'm in is probably 80% boomers (because of pricing, it's a gorgeous place people would love to raise a family). When I moved to Dallas (significantly more affordable housing) I found that a lot more of my coworkers have families/homes. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/26/millennials-are-flocking-to-cities-where-they-may-never-be-able-to-buy.html https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/26/millennials-are-flocking-to-...
    - Loughla 8y ago
      Oh wow. Midwest - nearest town is 150k (so we lack some cultural opportunities, but Chicago is within a day's drive). 1900-2000sq ft 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car attached garage with 800 sq ft woodshop, on 52 acres was $140k. And we paid what I thought was too much for the property when we bought it. The lives people in this country lead are so startlingly different sometimes.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
juyz 8y ago
Buying a house and settling down with your wife, kids and dogs is a death sentence. It literally means "I will [most likely] die here". Something to avoid.
- Loughla 8y ago
  That's the attitude I don't understand. Can you flush that out a little more? It's like you only see point A and point Z. There are so many experiences to be had with a family that fills the middle. I would argue that moving around constantly to travel keeps you from developing real, long-term relationships, and that those relationships are vital to being a successful, fully-realized human. Further, I would argue that while you may see some neat things, it is a death sentence to die alone. See how ridiculous that sounds? Same thing with a family and house framed as a death sentence. It's not a lack of experiences to settle down, it's a different set of experiences. Why the values judgments?
  - juyz 8y ago
    I don't know, actually. What you're saying makes sense. Maybe it's what the media has pushed on us? I'm scared of commitment, just like everybody else.
  - brianmc21 8y ago
    As someone who is going to be childfree I think it is a preference thing. While I don't understand why someone would want kids I still accept it as a value in society. People often look at me like I am crazy when I express my intent not to have any children so it goes both ways.
  - intrasight 8y ago
    You can enjoy the freedom to move around and still make lasting, deep relationships. In fact it's possible that you will have more relationships with a more diverse set of people. I've heard settling down in a house described as "building one's coffin". Many people die alone in the coffin they build.
- nickthegreek 8y ago
intrasight 8y ago
I agree - owning a house and raising a family has been a terrific experience for me. But in talking to my daughter (senior at Yale) about this, I am coming to understand that the next generation may pursue happiness through different experiences. Things like co-living come up in these conversations. Things like Uber come up. So I ask: "Are you not, then, going to buy a house or a car?" Her answer is "correct". If such shifts are widespread, it will definitely reshape our economy.
ip26 8y ago
Family, house, kids, those things are fine. I think it's best understood as a rejection of materialism, bigger is better, owning stuff that doesn't make your life better, "keeping up with the Joneses". It's a trap many saw their parents fall into, spending their lives to buy stuff they didn't need. A big house and big lawn means a lot of your life spent mowing, cleaning, raking, doing repairs. If you've got seven children maybe that's worth it- but for most of us, a big house is a lot of additional overhead for little additional return. Also as home ownership becomes unobtainable, there will naturally be a reaction of "fine, I didn't want a house anyway" Last thought, there's a cultural realization that if you have kids and settle down at eighteen, many doors close to you for good. So there's a push to delay settling down at least a few years.