Yes, officials in Oak Brook, IL are wringing their hands. Some are possibly rending their garments as well. The news is not a shocker, well, at least not for anyone who writes books and watches trends from afar.
For those who haven’t heard, McDonald’s is taking over some/all of Harpo Studios. Yes, Oprah’s old studios. While there is great angst in Oak Brook, every suburb around the country should be worried. I read some quotes about wanting to attract a younger top tier workforce, but they stopped short of spilling the beans.
Here is the reason. It is the same reason the automobile industry will shrink to one third its current size and that America will once again re-urbanize.
Millennials don’t buy cars.
Most don’t even have a desire to get a driver’s license. I was speaking on the phone just this past week to a former manager of mine. Her son is about to become a sophomore in high school. Has expressed no interest in getting his license or owning a vehicle. His high school has done something drastic though. Obtaining a driver’s license is a requirement for graduation. Yikes! Talk about trying to force a market!
One of my cousin’s has a son now away at college to become a teacher. The only reason he got a driver’s license was he needed it for some part of the college ID process.
Another friend of many years now has a daughter away at college. She got a license for a different reason. There is an expiration date on your learner’s permit. She had to take driver’s ed in school to graduate, but she put off getting the license until the last possible moment.
If you know millennials or parents of them you hear the same story over and over again. Culturally the millenials have some common traits:
- Millennials won’t pay for cable or satellite television, only an Internet connection.
- They don’t care to get a driver’s license unless it is forced on them via some other desire like graduation or enrollment.
- They don’t buy cars.
- They spend their money on “life experiences” with friends and the latest idiot phone.
My generation had parents who grew up in the 50s. That was the era when horsepower ran free and gas was pennies per gallon and America had a love affair with the automobile. Muscle cars could near drain a 20 gallon tank running a quarter or half mile but man it felt good. They transfered this love of cars onto us just before emissions controls and massive traffic congestion hit. Adding insult to injury our roads and bridges are crumbling leaving everyone with the feeling of a dice toss when they drive on a bridge or overpass.
According to some my 2006 Toyota Avalon with a V6 needs more digits than the 160 MPH speedometer has. I don’t know. Given the bankrupt municipalities around the world I tend to set the cruise control at 1-2 under the posted speed limit so I’m not asked to make a donation to the state/city/county charity. While I love the car, I do not have a love affair with automobiles anymore. The Avalon is an old man’s ride.
Millennials grew up seeing news reports about our infrastructure, actually riding on the chewed up roads and watching their parents dish out vast fortunes on vehicle repairs due to poor road maintenance. They also had news reports of massive vehicle recalls sent straight to their idiot phones. Is it any wonder they don’t care to own a ride?
The fact they won’t pay for cable or satellite television is no shocker either. No matter what you get for a teaser deal, they lived in households who quickly learned both types of television did everything in their power to jack your monthly bill past $100/month. That is over $1200/year to be a couch potato. (Yes Mr. Quayle, I left the e off.)
So, if you have no desire to slog through rush hour traffic into a major city like Chicago and you want to have ample life experiences with friends, what do you do? You move to a major city where walking a few blocks or taking a short Uber ride gets you to where your friends wanted to meet. In order to live in that city you need a job. Rather than trying the failed experiment of yesteryear called “reverse commuting” you seek a job in the city, preferably walking distance from your apartment or condo.
These millennials will become parents. They will instill in their children the office working walk everywhere city life with summer vacations in the country. These children will grow up watching over the air television or shows on their various devices. The higher income office workers will cause a gentrification of formerly nasty urban areas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentrification This is already happening in Cabrini-Green where the Candyman and Child’s Play movies were set.
Corporations who need tech workers and aren’t into playing Patriot Act roulette by using visa workers will now be forced to move back into cities or let their wonder kids work 100% remote. We are witnessing the end of White Flight. This migration will need a new name. Perhaps the Gentrification March?
