Census shows Stittsville growth as older millennials move in to nest  

Millennials may think that home ownership is just a pipe dream, but many are trading the city for the less expensive suburbs.

Ottawa suburban areas like Stittsville have seen growth in their populations between 25 and 75 per cent, according to the latest census.

 

This is contradictory to the belief that millennials aren’t buying homes.

Instead, young homebuyers are flocking to Stittsville to purchase affordable condos and townhouses.

Ward 6 Councillor Shad Qadri says that building more compact residential homes has helped drop the cost of living in the suburbs.

“Now that we have higher density, houses are worth significantly lower,” Qadri says. “Up until eight years ago I was hearing from people who grew up here who said they couldn’t stay because they couldn’t afford it. But now they can.”

Many high density developments are popping up all over Stittsville, including the proposed Blackstone and 5618 Hazeldean Rd. projects.

But some young families are looking to move from high density townhouses to starter homes with a bit more room. While the new Potter’s Key development will offer some single family homes, many of the other proposed projects lack the space many seem to be looking for.

Valerie Hollyer moved to Stittsville three years ago after renting in the city for years. For her new family, she was looking for room to grow.

“It came down to getting more bang for your buck,” she says.

For Hollyer, it was also a return home. She grew up in Kanata and wanted to move close to home.

“A lot of my friends did that to go back to their roots,” she says. “And as they start their new families, it’s nice to have their own family nearby.”

More and more millennials are starting their families. A recent article in Housing Policy Debate notes that in 2015, the peak millennials (born in a small boom around 1990) turned 25, when may settle into careers and marriages. With the economy and jobs back on the rise, a perfect storm has been created for millennials to start buying property.

 

There is also evidence that the notion that millennials dislike the suburbs is a misnomer. A recent study by the National Association of Home Builders says that 66 percent of American millennials would prefer to live in a suburb. Only 10 per cent of respondents said they’d prefer to live in a city centre, despite the commute.

“It doesn’t outweigh having a big house and a backyard,” Hollyer says of her commute to work.

Fellow Stittsville resident Courtney Dauphinee agrees, saying she doesn’t mind commuting on transit.

“The mortgages aren’t too outrageous, and public transit is great,” she says. She jokes that she “may be retired by the time LRT makes it out here,” but adds that the light rail expansion towards Stittsville will be helpful for parents who work in the city.

Dr. Christopher Stoney, a public policy professor at Carleton University, says that better commuting solutions may be a factor in millennials finally making the move to the suburbs.

“From an urban planning perspective it could also be that they are anticipating being able to commute further and more cheaply through Uber services, or the LRT that will soon be open,” Stoney says.

Stoney also notes that this trend could undermine attempts to reduce urban sprawl by making it easier and cheaper for people to live outside the downtown core.