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Kurt Johnson
Let’s go for a Sunday drive.
That was a routine outing in my family growing up, cruising through our small town and sometimes out into the country to see what we could see. Most of the time the conversation centered around who was building that new house, who was moving in or out, what jobs brought them there, local family ties, etc. My folks knew who called every house their home, at least it seemed to me, and if not they found out before the next community tour. That’s just what the Johnson clan did in small-town Nebraska.
Tracking housing trends and trying to discover and remember who lives where has therefore always been a fascinating challenge to me. I’m not nearly as efficient in that category as I once was, but still enjoy the game of connecting the dots. One of my high school friends lived in a house for 20 years, yet was always frustrated that most people knew it as the “Willhoft house” because of an active family who lived there previously for many years. We had that same experience living in the Streeter house for 18 years, as you could tell a local person’s age by who they remember living there when they were growing up. Fun memories, which stirred lots of wonderful conversations during our time as caretakers of that big yellow house.
That whole process flooded my mind as I listened to a report last week on modern day housing trends. A lot has changed in the last decade or so, and I’m told we Baby Boomers are partly to blame. Nearly 70 million of us Boomers, age 58-76, are looking to or have already pulled the trigger on downsizing, seeking less lawn, less snow removal, less cleaning, and in general less responsibilities around the house. That was certainly a good move for Paula and I, who embraced the empty nester concept and still have plenty of room to host visiting family and friends in our new digs.
What I didn’t realize until the stats were dialed up in front of me is just how much that trend is impacting communities large and small, including Aurora. Not long after World War II, “nuclear families” with moms and dads and a few kids living under one roof represented 43 percent of American households. Today that’s not so much the norm, as younger generations are waiting longer to get married and have children, while we Boomers have lots of room to spread our legs in our empty nest. Traditional nuclear families now only occupy about 20 percent of American homes, which means a lot of seniors and younger folks are living in homes with three or more bedrooms, perhaps bigger than they need.
Housing demographic experts say that has translated into a severe housing shortage, all tied to a rolling housing inventory that hasn’t kept up with the times. There are reportedly millions of seniors who are “trapped” in their three-bedroom homes because they can’t find a way to downsize.
All of which leads me back to that Sunday drive. If you take the time to cruise around Aurora these days there is a whole new neighborhood of single-family homes and townhomes going up on the west edge of town in the Streeter Subdivision, with plans coming together to expand the North Ridge Subdivision as well. There is also talk of building apartment rentals, all based on filling the needs of our changing demographics. That’s exciting stuff, and a very positive sign for A-Town.
It will be hard to connect all those dots in the next few years of who is living where, what they do for a living, if I know someone in their family, etc., but I look forward to the challenge.
KURT JOHNSON can be reached at kjohnson@ hamilton.net
