By Jonathan Chevreau

Further to this morning’s guest blog about Boomer downsizing by realtor Linda Evans comes a poll by TD Canada Trust that shows wide generational differences in housing preferences.

While aging baby boomers are more likely to prefer small towns (21% do) or rural settings (18%), given the choice a third of Canadians would prefer to live in the city (aka “urban environment”) while almost as many (31%) lean to a more suburban environment.

As you might expect, it seems the younger you are the more you wish to be in the downtown core, while the older folk tend to flee to the burbs or the country. Thus, 38% of Millennials and 36% of Generation X lean towards urban settings, but Gen X is almost as likely to choose the suburbs (33%).

No doubt this breaks down into those with and without children: you’d expect young singles to congregate where the action is downtown, while those who have met “the one” and started to raise families would prefer a larger home further away once they have to accommodate kids. Downtowners typically have short commutes and easy access to public transit and can get by easily without bearing the expense of vehicle ownership. As most parents in the suburbs well know, one or even two cars are almost a necessity outside the downtown core, and a long commute will likely be another price they pay.

Boomers gravitating to small towns and rural settings

Indeed, the TD survey found 39% of Canadian parents and prospective parents would prefer to raise a family in the suburbs, while 26% would choose a more urban environment.  Continue Reading…