The leader of metro Atlanta’s top planning organization on Oct. 24 told a group of Baby Boomers that the region is changing, and the way people think about problems needs to change, too.
Douglas Hooker, executive director of the Atlanta Regional Commission, and a member of the Baby Boom generation, told members of the Buckhead Business Association that his generation’s children – the Echo Boomers – have different priorities than their parents.
“Part of what attracts them are having the kinds of amenities and lifestyle close to where they live and where they work, having a ‘cool’ factor,” Hooker said. “We’re less likely to move some place because it’s ‘cool.’”
Hooker said it’s essentially a new spin on the “live, work, play” concept.
“Millennials, by and large, the trend is they’ll find the places they’d like to live,” Hooker said. “A lot of them, especially the educated ones, work in the fields where their talent is very portable. … They are tending to go to the places that are ‘cool’ communities, and employers are following them.”