In America we may overplay the distinction between generations. Perhaps one thing we all have in common is that we believe our generation has a unique perspective and a unique experience.

Cultural shift happens. "Millennial" Americans are people currently ages 18-28, and their behavior suggests some departures from those of us who are older. Reports the Pew Research Center, this group is substantially less likely than previous generations to be married; they are more ethnically diverse; they are more metropolitan (urban and suburban). On Thursday, I moderated a conversation for the Urban Land Institute Minnesota exploring the future of where we live: Our region, our neighborhoods, our homes. The panelists – Molly Culligan of M. Culligan Associates, Joe Grunnet of Downtown Resource Group, John Guerra of Target, and Aaron Renn of the Urbanophile – could each have filled the hour alone, with their insights on the subject. The attitudes of younger people appear markedly more urban, inclined to public transit, environmentally conscious, savvy with technology. But even in Ramsey County, Minnesota's most urban county, younger people are just as likely to drive alone to work as anybody else, according to 2006-8 data. Is this a mismatch? We design our places to suit our values, using available resources. In the postwar years, shared values focused on physical symbols of independence like larger yards and single family structures. We built an immense and complicated web of infrastructure to serve that development pattern and the values to which it referred. And for a range of reasons, we could afford it: Of the forty years between 1945 and 1985, gross domestic product (in constant dollars) increased 7.5% or more in 24 of them. Between 1985 and the present, there has been one such year. Today, cultural shifts may happen more swiftly than ever. Younger Americans may demand the kinds of living spaces discussed on Thursday – urban places with amenities – and they will shape the market. But the fact that our growth rate has slowed will complicate efforts to reflect changing attitudes with physical changes to our places. Photo used with permission of Megan Dobratz of Studio Tart.