Multi Gen Housing!!! 
New Trend or old tradition.......

A new trend or the reawakening of an old tradition?  Over the next several newsletters, I will explore this “Trend”.
 
This Newsletter looks at what this is, and a little about who. Next, we will look at design issues and solutions. Lastly, we will look at the Arizona angle and what is happening across our country.
 
What is Multi Gen Housing? In a nutshell it is several generations of the same family living under one roof.
 
On the surface I will wager many of us could think of reasons why this wouldn’t work, but according to the Pew Research Center, 57 million Americans, 18.8% of our population, think it is a good idea. And with those numbers, this issue bears another look.
 
At Renovations we have completed several projects along the Multi Gen scenario over the last few years, and are currently working on such a project.
 
This reawakened, or new, phenomenon is not just the more familiar “Mother-in-Law” quarters, although it can be that. We are finding that young families are moving back in with parents for a variety of reasons. The recent economic turndown, losing employment, increased student debt loans that make it hard to buy on your own, and divorce are among the plethora of reasons for generations moving in together.
 
Also, we “Boomers” are reaching 65 at the rate of 11,000 per day (Holy Smokes!), and we like the idea of being close to our grandchildren and having the added benefit of being able to live in our own homes longer with the added help.
 
In this part of Yavapai County, we are seeing several design approaches to meeting the sometimes conflicting needs of the different generations.  As you might imagine, a millennial family just starting out with small children has a different daily cycle than we boomers who might be coming from several years of being empty nesters. I bet we all have different schedules for meals, relaxation, family time alone, and family time together. Couple this with each generation wanting some alone time and you can see some creative solutions have been implemented.
 
Next month I will discuss some of those solutions as well as some of the different rules each political jurisdiction has.