When A.J. Robinson, the president of Central Atlanta Progress, cut the ribbon on the Atlanta Streetcar in December 2014, he bluntly stated that the transit project was built not for the elder statesmen who opposed it but for up-and-coming generations. Indeed, the city of Atlanta has been working diligently to provide the coveted Millennial generation—generally those aged between 22 and 34—with the public transit options and live-work-play environments they desire. But some wonder whether those Millennials will stay in the city when they start having children, and whether all of this urban planning for young professionals will be for naught.
Time Is Treasured
As reported in the Harvard Business Review last week, global professional services firm EY released findings from a survey about work-life challenges among 9,700 of today’s professionals. Not surprisingly, Millennials still say that they want flexible work arrangements; more startling, however, is the finding that, to gain that flexibility, Millennials are willing to relocate (even to a foreign country), to give up a promotion, to move closer to extended family members, and/or to take a pay cut. Millennials are facing increasing demands both at work and at home; time has become their most valued commodity. Hence, they want to keep their commute time to a minimum and to be able to access restaurants, grocery stores, and other amenities quickly and easily.
With its public transit options, walkability, and numerous amenities, Atlanta’s Midtown submarket has become a hot spot for many Millennials. The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) claims that Millennials comprise 38% of Midtown’s population, causing mixed-use, live-work-play communities to pop up all around the area. As of the first quarter of 2015, five new multifamily projects were under construction or recently completed in the Midtown area, GlobalSt.com reports. And as this blog detailed earlier this year, companies like WorldPay and NCR are relocating to Midtown, too, as they seek to attract Millennial workers.
School Systems and Affordable Housing
But what happens when these Millennials start having children? Many Millennials are heavily saddled by student-loan debt and may not be able to afford a three-bedroom house with a yard in Midtown. Moreover, like generations before them, Millennials will begin to look at school systems as they start their families. Atlanta’s beleaguered public education system is likely to come up short when compared to suburban counties like Cobb and Gwinnett. As a compelling piece by Thomas Wheatley in Creative Loafing recently pointed out, 25 Atlanta public schools—along with schools in Fulton, DeKalb, and Clayton Counties—were included in a list of troubled schools that Gov. Nathan Deal says could be taken over by the state. No Cobb or Gwinnett schools made the list.
Wheatley and others maintain that reforming in-town public schools will require a Herculean, collaborative effort among numerous entities, including the City of Atlanta, community improvement districts, school systems, civic leaders, regional and local planning commissions, and, of course, parents. Others contend that improvements will happen gradually and organically, as dilapidated areas revitalize, property values rise, and parents become involved in their local schools. But that kind of renaissance cannot happen without affordable housing options, some say.
Competing Submarkets
Another thorny issue to consider is whether competing suburban submarkets with top-performing school systems—e.g., Alpharetta, Marietta, and Roswell—can lure Millennials away from Midtown by building the pedestrian-friendly environment they crave. It is much easier to build a live-work-play community than it is to reform a school system. Moreover, such developments have already emerged; Avalon in Alpharetta is a prime example.
If Millennials do indeed stay in the city, will they remain committed to their walking/cycling/public transit lifestyle? Or will they opt for cars when their kids come along? If they do the latter, will Midtown have adequate parking? In March, the Midtown Alliance issued an RFP (request for proposal) for a “Midtown Atlanta Parking Assessment and Action Plan” that will assess the parking situation in Midtown and recommend an implementation strategy for improvements. The plan is expected to “enhance the pedestrian realm” and to “support existing investments in transit infrastructure” while also addressing “on-street and off-street parking challenges.”
Seeking Input
Perhaps in an effort to answer some of these questions, the ARC has created an advisory council of Millennials to seek younger generations’ input into its planning and policy. This effort comes on the heels of the ARC’s public meetings and 2014 study about what Millennials want to see in metro-Atlanta.
As they invest public and private money into urban planning in Midtown, the ARC, the Midtown Alliance, and others must consider all of the questions raised here, complex as they may be. But as with any young, trendy generation, when it comes to Millennials, it’s hard to read the tea leaves.
Blog contributed by Brooks Morris, Vice President, Cresa Atlanta. Brooks specializes in representing office tenants in the Midtown and Downtown Atlanta submarkets. For more information, please contact Brooks at 404.446.1564 or bmorris@cresa.com.