Residents Flock to Urban Areas But Supply Lags

No other neighborhood better illustrates Seattle’s tech boom than South Lake Union with The Spheres.

SEATTLE—Population growth rates in urban areas are approaching suburban growth rates for the first time in decades. Today, more than 29 million Americans live in urban neighborhoods. This figure represents 17% of the total population in just 1% of the land area in the 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas, according to a study from ULI.

While the 1% increase in urban population is well below the 13% population growth in suburban places, the urban and suburban places grew at roughly the same rate between 2010 and 2015. During this time, denser urban locations grew significantly faster than more residential neighborhoods, suggesting that new urban residents are demonstrating a preference for mixed-use environments, says ULI. However, three-quarters of these urbanities still live in somewhat dense but predominantly residential neighborhoods.