Changing Local Demographics

Changing Global Demographics are an ongoing theme at HS Dent.  Yesterday, I got a first-hand look at Changing Local Demographics.

Driving through the old neighborhood in suburban Dallas where I grew up, I noticed that the batting cages where I spent many a summer day swinging (and often missing) at cheap rubber baseballs was no longer standing.  In its place was a brand-new retirement community!

There is something symbolic here, and it is playing out in cities across the country.  This is not to say that the United States is facing a dearth of young people.  Nothing could be further from the truth, as birthrates are near all-time highs.  But the distribution of where the young people are located is different.  As the parents  that raised my generation are now empty nesters, there is a noticeable lack of youth in their neighborhoods, except when the grandkids come to visit.  But, in the case of my old neighborhood, drive 15 miles north, and you see children everywhere.

As investors and small business owners, we need to keep an eye on these trends.  Changing demographics are neither good nor bad; they just “are.”  And by understanding them, we can better position ourselves to  profit from them.  As the owners of my old baseball haunt can attest, an area that was good for kids yesterday might be better for seniors tomorrow.

Charles Lewis Sizemore, CFA
Co-author of the recently-published Boom or Bust: Understanding and Profiting from a Changing Consumer Economy

Read the original story at H. S. Dent