Agenda - Council - 08/27/2019 - Laserfiche WebLink

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DEMOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS • As households progress through their life cycle, housing needs change. The proportion of renter households decreases significantly as households' age out of their young -adult years. However, by the time households reach their senior years, rental housing often be- comes a more viable option than homeownership, reducing the responsibility of mainte- nance and a financial commitment. • In 2017, the ACS estimated that 52% of the Ramsey's households between the ages of 15 and 24 rented their housing, compared to 16% of households between the ages of 25 and 34. Householders between 35 and 84 were overwhelmingly homeowners, with no more than 19% of the householders in each 10-year age cohort renting their housing. • The higher homeownership rates in Ramsey (87%) compared to Anoka County (80%), and the Metro Area (68%) reflects the suburban character of the City and was originally devel- oped as a single-family housing community. Household Type Table D-7 shows a breakdown of the type of households present in Ramsey in 2010 and 2017. The data is useful in assessing housing demand since the household composition often dictates the type of housing needed and preferred. • Between 2010 and 2017, Ramsey experienced an increase in all household types besides married with children households, which decreased by 6%, and roommate households, which contracted by 23%. Married families without children grew the most, adding 645 households (23%). The increase in households married without children can be attributed to couples waiting longer to have children, and the baby boomers aging into empty nester years. • The differences between Ramsey compared to Anoka County and the Twin Cities Metro Area reflect the demographic changes that were seen in Table D-2 Population Age Distribu- tion. The aging of baby boomers is increasing the Married without child category and de- creasing the Married with Child category. The Other category (Single -parent families, un- married couples with children) is also increasing at a higher rate in Ramsey, but is catching up to a similar distribution of Other households as compared to Anoka County and the Twin Cities Metro Area. Roommates are accounting for smaller percentages in all areas which shows that economic conditions are changing in the area for households with more house- holds seeking living alone options and more households are considered family households in Ramsey in 2017 than there was in 2010. MAXFIELD RESEARCH AND CONSULTING 22