Photo by Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash
URBAN EXODUS BY MELANIE ROBITAILLE SR. STAFF WRITER & GRAPHIC DESIGNER
As more and more people fly their city-sized coops for greener pastures, the concept of unplugging or downsizing is no longer a phenomenon reserved for empty nesters or senior citizens alone. “I’d like to re-coin the phrase to ‘rightsizing’,” explained Ellen Butters, Broker of EXIT Cornerstone Realty in Madison, VA, who witnesses first-hand how this trend speaks to anyone tired of the cost of living or whose mindset is about getting back to basics. “Most 20-30-yearolds who buy are starting small, but I also see buyers consistently looking for a more efficient space that can be used for multiple purposes. The specifications are as unique as the people.” Some would attribute this shift to the potential dawning of a new era as our deepening reliance on technology brings us ever more into what’s being dubbed as the Digital Revolution.
Some would attribute this shift to the potential dawning of a new era as our deepening reliance on technology brings us ever more into what’s being dubbed as the Digital Revolution. In the 2013 online article Toward a Digital Urban Exodus by William van den Broek, Cofounder of the France-based coworking space, Mutinerie he suggests, “In the same way as the Industrial Revolution moved the source of allowable values from agriculture to industry, the Digital Revolution has moved the values of industries toward intellectual production. However, intellectual production is not dependent on complex material infrastructures that we usually find in cities, but relies more on an ecosystem, whether it’s urban, rural or even virtual. The economic advantage of cities, which was decisive during the industrial era, now has a lesser meaning.” At the forefront of this Digital Revolution is the Millennial generation, set to surpass one of the largest generations in history, the post-war Baby Boomers. Their sense of home is one where they don’t want to work to live in a place in which they never spend time. So, they’re trading
24 Volume 9 Issue 1
