Earlier this week I attended the Denver Metro Association of REALTORS® 2015 Economic Trends presentation with nationally-acclaimed Economist, Elliot Eisenberg and Patricia Silverstein, President & Chief Economist of Development Research Partners of Jefferson County, CO.
Patty Silverstein’s presentation theme was particularly insightful, “Changing Faces: 2015 Economic Forecast for Metro Denver,” addressing Metro Denver’s new growth path in 2015 with changing demographic trends influencing business expansion and real estate development. Recent press has put Denver Millennials and their lifestyle in the spotlight. Millennials are the largest population group in Metro Denver, numbering just over 833,000 in 2014. While the Generation X (632,700 population) and Baby Boomers (701,600 population) dominate the labor force today, the Millennials are making their mark on the workplace today and will represent the largest component of the labor force within 10 years. The time is now for businesses, developers, and local governments to prepare and respond to the region’s changing demographics.
“Denver has many of the tangible things young people want, economists say, including mountains, sunshine and jobs in booming industries like tech. Perhaps more important, it also has the ones that give cities the perception of cultural cool, like microbreweries and bike-sharing and an acceptance of marijuana and same-sex marriage.” – NY Times
If you haven’t read the full NY Times article, “Where Young College Graduates Are Choosing to Live,” I highly recommend it.
A few more highlights from the presentation included Millennial’s love for sharing – cars, bikes and housing. Denver embraces sharing so companies like Bcycle, Denver’s Bike Share program, and Car2Go, a popular Smart Car car-sharing program, are thriving. Millennials are also about reusing and repurposing, inspired by thrift and do-it-yourself projects and frequent visits to Goodwill.
- 27% of Millennials are self-employed
- 2.6% Workforce telecommute; Telecommuting rose roughly 79% from between ’05 – 2012
- Millennials are the most educated workforce (Pew Research Center)
- 1/2 – 2/3 of Millennials have Entrepreneurship interests
Did you know 25% of Coloradans are Sole Proprietors? If you haven’t visited, come see what Colorado cool is all about!
For more on this DMAR Event including graphs and statistical data, check out the full review on Inside Real Estate News