Will Gen Y Ruin Local Community?

My wife and I each have a car and we have considered selling one off. I wouldn't mind getting a moped to get around town. As for the house issue, we all know that there are benefits and disadvantages of buying. I live outside Seattle, have no plans of leaving, so we purchased a house last week. Our mortgage+insurance+taxes will be 200 more than our current rent. Sure, there are numerous expenses associated with ownership, but it's the right decision for us. I totally respect people who have no interest in buying though. It's definitely not for everyone.

I am most concerned about the seeming lack of ambition from many in this crowd, and what impact a consumption adverse generation would mean for our economy in general.

If GenY throws in the towel on owning cars, homes and other material things simply because it means hard work (or harder now that the economy is bad), the engine that drives our economy will run out of gas.

Being a young adult in the early 80s, I also saw housing costs soar out of the range of our meager earnings as we started out, discouraging us initially. But our drive to own homes and cars ultimately created upward mobility for us, and we eventually acquired these things, started families, etc. - we did not give up - the strong not only survived, they succeeded.

Many GenY folk have apparently decided to give up. I suspect it will not be long before many parents of GenY decide that their children don't have the right to wait until they are in their 30s to get off of the XBoxes and their couches and decide what they want to do with their lives.

Community has no hope in this kind of environment. No matter how many "friends" or "followers" you have in the virtual world, at the end of the day it is what you bring to the table - what you actually accomplish in life - that provides any basis for community to thrive.

Great post. My husband and I were just talking about this last night that we felt we were the last of our group of friends to do all of the things you discussed. I personally get uneasy every Spring and basically chalk it up to 22 years of an educational system which makes me look forward to spring break and summer vacation. The thought of accumulating more stuff always freaks me out, but we did just move into a new house so I guess I'm getting over it.

The thing I worry about, being in the nonprofit sector, is how do we find those communities and integrate our mission into those when Gen Y is nomadic and virtual? It will be interesting to watch in the years ahead. Thanks for the post today!

@ Angie - I never thought about why I get antsy in the Spring, you're totally right. The challenges for nonprofits are especially difficult and important - I've worked for several, and while many Gen Yers, and just people in general, are excited to get involved at first, it's hard to get the next wave and the wave after. I totally agree that this will all be fascinating to watch. Thanks for the comment!

@ GenXpert - I love this kind of story. It's the kind that I'm familiar with - I used to run a young professional organization myself, but it still does my heart good to hear that others are taking such initiative towards involvement and community. And I love the idea that community isn't ownership, but quality of life. Thanks for sharing.

I can't speak for the whole country, but I know that in our Lodge and in our State, Gen Y has been joining in record numbers, and contributing to the communities in a vibrant fashion. As each new generation contributes to the shape of our Lodges (AF&AM), the whole of our organization grows stronger.

Great post! I agree that GenY's are less of the "joiners" except in small circles. There's almost an elitist quality to it. Being a GenX'er myself, we were brought up to value ownership and stability and by planting "roots" so to speak - whether it be from buying a house, having a car, or staying at a job for more than 5 years - these were all signs of success. Those measures of success have definitely changed and in a time of instant gratification and you are only as good as your last project, the time lines for commitment to these now passe measures of success have been shortened greatly.

When I first started recruiting in 2002 - if someone changed jobs every two years they were seen as a job-hopper. Now, it's almost the opposite in the digital advertising world. It's if you haven't changed jobs - why not? Are you not good enough to be recruited away? Or why is this person not expanding their experiences and portfolio by changing jobs, they must not be that ambitious.

@KateNonymous Yes, in 2002 it was considered job-hoppy by most agency standards if you switched agencies more than once in a 5 year period. When i graduated in '98 it was drilled into our heads that if you dont stay somewhere for 3-5 years it's career suicide, so it's amazing to me that the trend now, only 10 years later is 12-18 months!

This is a great post and has me thinking from several perspectives. Speaking of perspective, I think that we have to change our perspective of what community is as out world changes. Community itself is becoming larger. No longer should we think of community as simply our block, area, or even city. Community, especially for Gen Y takes on a whole new meaning but that doesn't mean that one shouldn't or wouldn't want to participate in contributing to their immediate surroundings.

Secondly, I think community is about experience, not owning or material things. Sure, our economy could be boosted short term if we all just replicated the same obsessive collective material mindset that got us into overextended debt and bought stuff. But that's short term.

I think Gen Yers see that and want to create something bigger and longer term. I also think that the later generations actually are beginning to understand that life is about experience and sharing, about relationship and community (no matter how large) over owning stuff and always chasing the dream to have more stuff. And isn't that what almost every spiritual doctrine on Earth says is a better path? Isn't that what numerous sages over the years have told us? Shouldn't we think it's good that finally a generation is listening?

I think such a mindset actually supports community more than destroys it.

All that being said, I also think there are challenges that come with identifying with a sense of community that includes such a large share of the virtual world. It can steal motivation to go out in the 'real world'; it can create a seeming lack of interpersonal skills on the face-to-face level; it can generate the opportunity for loneliness...

These are challenges that have not been faced before and we have to use our creativity and leverage the wisdom of previous generations to surmount them.

I believe that Gen-Y will eventually become less nomadic as they settle into careers around their passions, have families, and form their own personal close face-to-face communities. And I think that is great!

I too am a boomer who really didn't know any of my neighbors, save for one house next door. When Xers and Yers started moving into my neighborhood, things go so much more lively and social - and I love it! I welcome them into my community!!

Thanks for a great and thought provoking post!!

I'm not entirely convinced that GenY is that adverse to consumerism. Most of GenY have $1000 phones, $500 ipods, $500 digital cameras and a wardrobe that could feed a family of ten.

Maybe it's the fact we no longer pay attention to slick salespeople because we have access to a vast range of unbiased information from the net. When I buy a digital camera, I already know the exact specs of the exact model I want, along with the exact accessories - and completely ignore the salesperson.

Rob said: "Maybe it's the fact we no longer pay attention to slick salespeople."

I'm not so sure. An awful lot of you voted for Mr. Hope&Change based on nothing more than slick marketing...