Is Migration Away From Urban Areas A Trend Or Here To Stay?

By SCOTT KIMBLER With Americans working from home since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, some densely populated areas of the United States are losing residents as people move to the suburbs to escape city life, and those watching this trend say landlords shouldn’t hold their breath hoping a younger generation of renters will replace them. Elizabeth Rose of Mortgage 300 in Dallas, Texas, says there are a variety of reasons why people are moving out of big cities and isn’t sure if this migration to the suburbs and rural areas will continue after the pandemic ends. “We are seeing a trend in my area of people moving outward and there are a few factors driving this,” Rose said in…

Renters Now Outnumber Homeowners In Big City Suburbs

Renters now outnumber homeowners in previously owner-dominated suburbs, and more communities are set to flip soon, according to a report from RentCafe. Over the past ten years, 103 suburbs have flipped their majorities from homeowners to renters. Many of the communities are in suburbs around Miami, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. Suburbs in the U.S.’s 50 largest metros gained 4.7 million people in that time, of which 79% are renters.  About 21 million people rent suburban homes in those metros, 3.7 million more than in 2010. The number of renters grew 22% between 2010 and 2019, while the number of suburban homeowners grew by only 3%. Fifty-five percent of renters are under 45 years old with median household earnings around…

Trump Tweets: “GOODBYE SUBURBS!” Under Biden

President Trump once again warned Americans on Wednesday that the suburbs will be destroyed if former Vice President Joe Biden is elected next month. The President Tweeted, “Biden supports Cory Booker’s Bill that will force low income housing in the Suburbs, which will lower property values and bring crime to your neighborhoods. If Dems win, GOODBYE SUBURBS!” Biden supports Cory Booker’s Bill that will force low income housing in the Suburbs, which will lower property values and bring crime to your neighborhoods. If Dems win, GOODBYE SUBURBS!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2020 Sen. Booker’s HOME Act would require states that receive community development block grants to create “an inclusive zoning strategy” to attract more affordable housing and “create…

Trump, Biden Spar Over Suburbs In Debate

The future of suburbs briefly took center stage Tuesday night in the first 2020 presidential debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden – continuing a months-long dispute on the issue between the two. Following up an exchange about crime in American cities, Trump brought up the issue by saying, “By the way, the suburbs would be gone.” Biden: “You wouldn’t know a suburb unless you took a wrong turn …” Trump: “… I know the suburbs.” Biden: “Suburbs are by and large integrated. People driving their kids to soccer practice are black and white and Hispanic in the same care more than at any time in the past. (Suburbs) are dealing with Covid. They are dying…

Suburban Home Demand Surges Post-Lockdown

The Great Re-Suburbanization of America is underway. “In one of the most seismic shifts to the U.S. workforce since the introduction of the Internet, many U.S. workers now have the flexibility to work remotely and choose where they want to live,” realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale said. “Data shows in our post-COVID world there’s a strong preference towards a suburban lifestyle with its bigger houses, backyards, and quiet streets. But American cities are not becoming ghost towns anytime soon; in fact, they are also seeing an uptick of homebuyers. It’s just not as strong as the surge we’re seeing in the suburbs.” New data from realtor.com shows that Americans are looking for more space and affordable homes in the suburbs. The…

Trump, Carson Vow To “Save Our Suburbs”

President Trump again vowed to “save our suburbs” from the “crime and chaos in Democrat run cities,” this time in a joint op-ed with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson published in the Wall Street Journal. “We won’t allow this to happen,” Trump and Carson wrote. “That’s why we stopped the last administration’s radical social-engineering project that would have transformed the suburbs from the top down. We reversed an Obama-Biden regulation that would have empowered the Department of Housing and Urban Development to abolish single-family zoning, compel the construction of high-density “stack and pack” apartment buildings in residential neighborhoods, and forcibly transform neighborhoods across America so they look and feel the way far-left ideologues and technocratic bureaucrats think they should.”…

NJ AG To Trump: Prove Affordable Housing Dangerous

As President Trump again warned of the dangers of affordable housing to the suburbs, the New Jersey attorney general challenged the Trump Administration to provide evidence that affordable housing leads to increased crime in communities. Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal filed two Freedom of Information Act requests seeking the administration to provide “any factual information it has to support the President’s recent inflammatory and unfounded claims that the presence of affordable housing in communities leads to increased crime.”  “Divisive appeals to prejudice with unfounded statements blaming desegregation for crime are detached from the reality here in New Jersey and across the country,” Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. “As a prosecutor and now as New Jersey’s chief law enforcement officer,…

Trump: Suburbs Will “No Longer Be Bothered” By Low-Income Housing

President Trump said Wednesday that his recent action to rescind an Obama-era housing rule will keep low-income housing out of the suburbs. “I am happy to inform all of the people living their Suburban Lifestyle Dream that you will no longer be bothered or financially hurt by having low income housing built in your neighborhood,” Trump Tweeted, follow it up with: “Your housing prices will go up based on the market, and crime will go down. I have rescinded the Obama-Biden AFFH Rule. Enjoy!” …Your housing prices will go up based on the market, and crime will go down. I have rescinded the Obama-Biden AFFH Rule. Enjoy!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2020 Last week, Trump rescinded President Obama’s…

What Is The Future Of Business Districts?

Although downtown business districts are struggling due to continued economic lockdowns and questions about safely reopening offices, the long-term outlook for these areas appears to be in good shape. Business districts are likely to look different, though, as employers adjust to technological advances and a desire from employees to shift away from the traditional model to one that allows more flexibility for telework and work from home. A report from CBRE, a real estate firm that conducts significant research in its sector, indicates that people will want more flexibility with remote work but that at some point, employees will return to a traditional office environment.  “The pandemic has created unprecedented opportunities and challenges for commercial real estate occupiers that likely will usher…