In the 2000s and the 2010s, cities made a big bet on millennials — and for a while, it worked. But now, there’s a problem: Those same millennials are getting older and having children, and there isn’t enough housing for families. So they’re leaving, and Gen Z won’t be enough to fill the gap.
Cities are waking up to the problem, reports Rachel Cohen Booth, but it’s not a quick fix. Still, local leaders and real estate developers are starting to think seriously about how to make cities places where families can thrive — and how to help the cities keep thriving, too.
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—Angela Chen, senior politics, policy, and ideas editor