Marketing and it’s effect on live, work, play scenario - by Kathy DeMello

Kathy DeMello, Berkshire Hathaway Verani

I recently attended the NEREJ’s Live Work Play Seminar in Newton.  The seminar was thoughtfully presented and left me with many thoughts of my own on the subject.

One thought was how much marketing, on all levels and particularly the live, work, play scenario, is built around the Millennials.  Not hard to understand.  Their population has now surpassed that of the Baby Boomers.  They are smarter than we were.  (Yes, I am a Boomer!)  They do not want to spend their precious time commuting from the suburbs to their place of work in the city or visa-versa.  However, many of them are doing the reverse commute since there are so many offices now in the suburbs. The live, work, play concept is, in large part, the urbanizing of the suburbs.  So – what happens to these tens of thousands of small, expensive rental units that are being built for this generation when the Millennials move into marriage and families and buy homes to accommodate their growing needs.  What will the demographics be?  Will the average family have two children per family that will grow and backfill these units?  Or will we be faced with empty, decaying buildings?

I grew up in a large mid-western city that had neighborhoods – essentially, an inherent, live, work, play society.  When the highway system was built the suburbs were spawned, those neighborhoods eventually fell into decay and remained so for decades.  Many are now being “repurposed” after 3 or more decades. 

So it makes me wonder if this is a cyclical trend and what might happen to these great new communities.  Will they too, need to be “repurposed” in order to spawn revitalization?  I hope not, but I have my doubts!  Thank you for letting me share my thoughts!

On another note – NHCIBOR’s education committee has been busy finishing up the education agenda for the year.  We recently completed the year’s first quarterly meeting.  Don Marshall of Marshall Associates led a well attended class on selling businesses.  On May 12^th Bob Quinn of NHAR will be giving us an update on legislative affairs and how they affect issues critical to commercial real estate in the state.  Check NHCIBOR’s website for details.

Join us on April 26^th, from 5-7 p.m., for our After Hours Networking Event at CR’s, The Restaurant, 287 Exeter Rd., Hampton, N.H.  A big thank you to Tobey & Merrill Insurance for sponsoring the event.

Every 4^th Wednesday of the month, January – November, our Statewide Marketing meeting is held in at Keller Williams on South River Rd., Bedford, N.H. from 9 - 10:15. 

Every 3^rd Friday of the month, January – December, our Seacoast Marketing meeting is held at Pease International Tradeport from 8:30 – 9:45.  Join us for one of these great meetings!  Bring your product, network, and do business!

Kathy DeMello is the 2017 president of the NH CIBOR, Bedford, N.H.