In the competition in property, there’s a new king in the game. The suburbs aren’t just living, they’re flourishing, and this is all due to the game-changer called the flexibility of work. What’s the need for a towering view when the office is your living room and your commute just a stroll from your bed to work?
“We expect the ability to WFH to remain an incentive for young families to seek out more remote suburban and rural markets where housing may be more affordable,” the latest Bank of America report suggests. It’s like relocating from a sardine-can city dwelling for a more comfortable and spacious house. The process is not complicated. it’s just how you can make your work do the work for you.
The five-day work week, as well as the dodo, is on the verge of disappearance. Lawrence Yun, the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, declares, “A little bit of a longer commute is not a hindrance” If you’re not at work Monday through Friday 9-5. It’s not a problem when you have the freedom to choose which days and times you work. Why do you have to endure the urban rush when you could sometimes take a break and enjoy the tranquil suburban pace?
Related: A New Remote Work Trend is Helping Employers Retain Talent Amid Labor Market Pressures
Millennials: Not so urban after all
We used to think that young people were urban slickers with their Uber trips and breakfast habits. They’re now embracing the suburban lifestyle like an infant savoring the last pizza slice.
Hyojung Lee, who is a professor of property and housing management in Virginia Tech, humorously notes, “We’ve always talked about millennials as urban people… But it turns out they’re not that cool anymore.” In fact, around 45 percent of millennials intend to purchase houses in suburbs, according to an earlier Bank of America survey. This is an increase from 33 percent in 2015. It’s possible that it’s not all so much about becoming “cool” anymore but about being “smart.”
The Gourmet Exodus A revolution in the culinary world of suburban areas
This latest suburbanization is not only about houses and workplaces. It is also changing the culinary landscape. The number of vacant retail spaces in the urban area surpasses suburban ones in 2022 in the first instance since 2013, According to Wall Street Journal. Like ants at a picnic, the restaurants and shops are flocked to these vibrant towns.
Think about the salad chain Sweetgreen. A staple of the downtown area, it’s making the suburbs the main stage, with half of its stores located there. This isn’t just about salads — big-name chefs are settling in suburban cities to take their subsequent culinary journeys. It’s like Suburbia has been transformed into”the new” Manhattan for the world of restaurants.
The appearance of Suburbia is changing, too. According to a Brookings Institution analysis, once thought to be homogenous, suburbs are now exceeding the national average in terms of the diversity of their racial groups. The image of the white fence is gradually changing to a lively collection of cultural diversity.
The city is still standing. The City is still standing: A reality check.
Despite this boom in suburbanization, however, the downtowns are still deciding whether to give up for the moment. Yun points out that many people are returning to urban centers regardless of the new era of hybrid work. While suburbs near cities are growing, the demand in the outlying suburbs has decreased substantially since the pandemic’s peak.
In this great game of real estate, it’s not about losing cities or suburban areas winning. It’s about acknowledging that the field is shifting. With the freedom that technology provides, our lifestyles change as well. As I inform my clients, who I helped figure out how to plan their return to work and hybrid plans for work, it is essential to follow where your employees are instead of trying to enforce a top-down command and control structure. At a minimum, to keep your top employees.
Related: You Should Let Your Team Decide Their Approach to Hybrid Work. A Behavioral Economist Explains Why and How You Should Do It.
Cognitive biases: Hidden factors that influence our decisions
In our decision-making processes, cognitive biases frequently run the show. They’re like puppeteers who subtly influence our choices and decisions. Two significant tendencies that could be behind this suburbanization include the status-quo bias as well as that of anchoring.
Let’s first consider the”status quo bias. We tend to want things to remain the same by not doing anything or sticking to our current or prior decision. When the epidemic began, the status quo was challenged, requiring us to adjust to an entirely different “normal” — working at home.