A study just released by the Boston Foundation suggests that how much you believe dense housing developments make a community better or worse might depend on how old you are.
The Boston Indicators study shows that millennials in the Greater Boston area believe small apartment buildings or town houses or small homes clustered together improves the overall feel of a community by a nearly two-to-one margin.
On the other hand, folks who are baby boomers and older tend to feel it makes a community feel “worse,” although by a smaller margin.
The same study showed that all age demographics support building more affordable rental units but particularly millennials.
Fascinating. My own experience is different. My Father grew up in a high density Somerville and left to escape it at the age of 17. He married and moved above a pizza shop in high density Cambridge and disliked it enough as well that by the age of 24 decided to move to this place called Newton. Lived here for 34 years. Retired to Maine and visited last week. Said it took him half-hour to drive from Watertown to West Newton, couldn’t believe the new amount of traffic and said he didn’t miss this ever-growing density at all. Point is, the man, even at a young age, saw no value in people crammed together from his own experiences and fled from it every chance he got. Others, of course, have different viewpoints and then write books about it, like “A Tree grows in Brooklyn” or “I Remember Mama” or even “The Honeymooners”. Your results may vary.
Based on the data, all that can be concluded is “how much you believe dense housing developments make *THE COMMUNITY YOU CURRENTLY LIVE IN* better or worse might depend on how old you are.”
The question asks “If there were more dense housing developments in your community…” And many (most?) millennials are living in already somewhat dense environs where increasing the density will have a very different impact than increasing density in a quiet, leafy suburban neighborhood that the residents chose for those attributes.
This is supported again by the sharp uptick in “…will make the overall feel of my community worse” responses among millennials making $75K or more, which is likely to include a greater share of older millennials with young children, living in lower-density suburban areas (i.e., for the yards and schools).
This study doesn’t say that millennials think more density makes any given community better – and shouldn’t be used as a “get with the times” cudgel to push for density where it doesn’t make sense.
It seems I rarely agree with the majority of baby boomers. I am generally the odd woman out and experience change by keeping calm and carrying a towel. Even if I didn’t enjoy Lip sync battles with my children and grandchildren and play a mean air guitar or hadn’t cried at the end of Logan and cheered at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy, it is the 45 and under crowd’s feelings on what creates a community that matter most. There will continue to be more of them.
I grew up in a suburb, raised my family in a suburb and downsized 9 years ago to Newton convinced by my son that I would like a more urban feel which I do now. When choosing a home with my family, I looked for kids playing and neighbors chatting.
My grandkids are growing up in a suburb and walk to school but, when they visit often, enjoy even more than I do being able to walk, bike or take public transportation to get places.
Finding a community is easier living close together – in suburbs, it is easier to build community living in cul-de-sacs. Instant friends.
I grew up in Toronto where high density apartment growth was very common. My aunt lived on the 70th floor at Bloor and Yonge Sts. In a 2 room unit. I myself lived at various times in high rise dwellings. I never questioned about that type of life style until I moved to Newton in 1979 and began to enjoy the numerous green parkland and children’s playgrounds. Since that time I have witnessed many new commercial and residential developments. All were built in reasonable locations to the benefit of the occupants. Not so with Austin St. and Washington Pl. as these projects brake from high standards of past projects. Both are ill suited to the heart of a historic village center. Both fail to serve well either the potential renters or the broader residential community. They destroy the lives of adjacent abutters and disrupt village life if construction were to occur.
I’m a boomer, but grew up in Manhattan. I’m with the millennials – don’t want to live in Manhattan-style high rise density, but feel most comfortable with the level we have right around the village centers or even a little more. Small apartment buildings, town houses, small homes clustered together are what make me happiest. When I was married, I lived on 2 wooded acres in a suburb west of 128 and hated it – felt so isolated, hated not being able to walk to stores.
love love love the fear-mongering..
Newton probably had the exact same discussions 100 years ago:
tear down farm land to put 20-30 houses in its place.. the horror, the destruction of the town!
I’m sure many old timers left in disgust and well, new people moved in and the sky didn’t fall…
I believe there used to be a huge golf course in North Newtonville which was replaced by a huge number of houses about 60 years ago… how did Newton ever survive that apocalypse!??!!
@Mark: I believe you are confusing density with traffic. No one like’s traffic, including millennials (who this same survey rated rank living closer to their work as a higher priority than other age groups).
When I think of density as it applies to Newton and Greater Boston. I think of people walking, biking, busy restaurants, small shops, live entertainment, cultural events. In other works, density equals community.
I grew up in a 1050 sq ft Cape style house, 1 bathroom, 2 parents, 7 siblings. That was dense housing!!
It is definitely time to push our legislators to adequately fund and maintain public transit. At the same time as we want to see decreased car use, we are seeing decreased reliability and service on the T and commuter rail. There are many people who would be willing to forego driving to work if commuter rail ran adequately frequently, stations were handicapped-accessible in Newton, and there weren’t daily train breakdowns on the T.
James,
We live in a cape cod style house. . . . 1,000 square feet. . . . 4 people. We all share the upstairs bathroom.
To the Group in General,
It is hard for the next generation to know about kids and space. They might feel like they want it right now, being single and kid free. . . . . but put another 10-15 years of experience, some might feel different.
City life is exciting! I love city life, but I also love living with a small plot of land and grass. I like having the kids in my yard with their friends. I love being able to see the sky without large buildings in the way. I love being able to walk to the Village Center.
Not all of the next generation plan to have kids. If they are, many are having them at a later age, meaning more years to be satisfied with apartment or townhouse living. Some may be happy living in apartments with kids – I loved growing up in an apartment in Manhattan, as were my friends and sibling (who raised his kids in Manhattan).
I live in a house that was turned into 2 condos about 25 years ago. I have a yard, I can walk to the village center, and I love having someone else to share dealing with house emergencies. I rented a townhouse in W. Concord for a year, and if I could have found a similar setting in Newton I would have been very happy to continue living in a townhouse development with shared courtyards for kids to play in. To many of us, the “in between” level, with small home, small or shared yard, walking distance to playground and shops and T, is perfect.
This goes deeper than just “when I was that age I….”
Richard Florida writes a lot about the return to the city and what it does for both innovation and jobs. In The New Urban Crisis, he points out that most of the VC investment that used to go to places like Route 128 and Silicon Valley have shifted to Boston/Cambridge and San Francisco. Zip codes with the highest investment correlate to places with the highest use of public transit and biking as primary transportation modes.
This goes to the type of life millennials want to live. Frankly, I live in Newton BECAUSE of its density. I grew up in a house on an acre of land and was forced to rely on a car. I like having the freedom to jump on a bus or a bike to get where I want. I like being close to cafes and coffee bars. My 1800 square foot house is 6 feet from my neighbor. My neighborhood is filled with two-family homes and spaces that are 1200, 1400 or 1600 square feet.
Better still, this density is what will help drive the innovation economy that creates a commercial base. I keep hearing people say that we need more commercial development here, but just building it won’t attract businesses. We need to approach the problem in a much more holistic way, density is a key part of that.
@James Cote – You had a house? 🙂
We has 1 bathroom, two parents, 7 kids in one floor of a three decker.
Who’s next? I heard that there once was an old lady who lived in a shoe …
From a very Newton-centric perspective, one of the things I particularly appreciate about my neighborhood in Upper Falls is the density. Because of it’s history (built as a mill village before zoning regs) the houses are packed a little tighter than the rest of the city. I think it gives the neighborhood a more neighborly feel. The same is true of Nonantum.
I’ve always been struck by how when you ask people they tend to say they want more space but real estate values often contradict that. It seems that the very high density small towns that were built before we spaced houses out (Provincetown, Newport, etc) are highly desirable. The densest urban areas (Manhattan, downtown Bostn, etc) are highly desirable.
We all like to complain about our neighbors in close proximity but we all like to have them too.
Rental units and Apartments are small scale commercial enterprises. Tax them as such.
@Jerry: The densest urban areas (Manhattan, downtown Bostn, etc) are highly desirable.
– and gentrified and not affordable.
@Councilor Sangiolo: Building market rate apartments can drive down overall rental prices
@Amy Sangiolo – Yes, that was my point
@bugek I agree with your characterization. Newton has been in a constant state of growth since its 60ish original families. At one point in our history we actually came together to build up Oak Hill Park for returning Vets. Have a look at this map prepared by the Urban institute in April. There is need in almost every county for affordable housing and I include in this housing for middle income folks. This shows that the problem is not someone else’s it is everyones. Surely we don’t want to encourage folks to go live in their cars.