MM: Utility Work on E. Ponce, MARTA Losing Millions and The “Cheapest” Generation
Decatur Metro | December 15, 2014 | 2:32 pm
- Utility work begins on East Ponce this Wednesday [The Decatur Minute]
- MARTA to lose $46 million due to “birthday tax” change [WABE]
- Eagle Eye Books receives James Patterson donation [AJC]
- Google car spotted in Medlock area on Saturday [MANA]
- Hagar’s House needs volunteers [Decaturish]
- The Cheapest Generation: Why Millennials aren’t buying cars and houses [The Atlantic]
“But it’s highly possible that a perfect storm of economic and demographic factors—from high gas prices, to re-urbanization, to stagnating wages, to new technologies enabling a different kind of consumption—has fundamentally changed the game for Millennials.”
Well, if the futures market is any indication, you can scratch high gas prices off that list. Peak Oil appears to have been delayed yet again.
My wife works with quite a lot of Millennials–well paid ones–and almost all of them are Uber devotees who live in urban areas (mostly Midtown) and avoid driving whenever they can. Having spent some time around them, I get the sense they don’t care if gas is two dollars a gallon or five. Doesn’t mean they don’t own cars; they just don’t care much about them. I believe this is a real cultural shift, not just a temporary change brought on by the economy. As for living space, condos are definitely their preferred abode, but this is likely due as much as to the delaying of marriage and children as it is to anything else.