Next steps for millennials and towns: How can they have a happy future together - by Carol Todreas

Carol Todreas, Todreas Hanley Associates

Millennials: do you want them, can you get them, and if so, how?  According to Pew Research, *millennials have now surpassed the number of baby boomers. In Boston in 2013, millennials were 24+% of the population and the share has grown since then. Marketeers and others court them because they spend many billions of dollars each year on goods, experiences and services.

Now millennials are starting to pair-up, have children and think about forgoing city life especially since, inner Boston has become increasingly unaffordable. Nevertheless, they still want the urban lifestyle. So they seek residences in locales where some sense of “urban” character exists: a walkable live/work/play environment, zero or one car, places to meet and socialize outside the home, and small local stores to shop, eat, and dine in.

Millennials are a major new market for many communities that decide they want them and take steps to attract them, especially suburban towns, and gateway cities ripe for an overhaul and desirous of transforming their commercial centers into a vibrant and attractive 21^st century haven. But note: not all towns will make the cut.

Those most likely to succeed will have as starters, proximity to public transportation, then:

• A post high school educational institution and a major employer;

• Affordable residential & commercial real estate compared to Boston and Cambridge; and

• An aged commercial center in need of revitalization, and most important

• A desire to market to the next generation, not the last one.

If your town or suburb has these elements, and you want to go ahead, the first step is transforming the commercial center into an urban-esque environment. While this does take time, here are some basic steps to start with that clearly show transition:

• Change the zoning to allow mixed uses and smaller apartment units

• Decrease parking requirements;

• Make a clear and well-lit path to public transportation and connect to nearby parking lots;

• Reconfigure streets and sidewalks for pedestrians , cyclists, and outdoor dining;

• Permit liquor licenses, a variety of entertainment concepts, and new types of transit.

The retail face is the heart and soul of the commercial center. Millennials value small local specialized stores where they can have a friendly and community-minded shopping experience. Therefore, it is key to assist landlords to rent to qualified independent retailers.

Millennials are entrepreneurs. Many want to start stores. If their initial rent is not too high they have a good chance of succeeding and what could be better for our future?

*Millennials are the generation born between 1980 and 2000, now -from 16 to 36 years of age.

Carol Todreas is a principal at Todreas Hanley Associates, Cambridge, Mass.