More than 30 percent of American households now rent rather than own, and the number of apartment households is growing at more than twice the rate of total households. Almost 40 percent of respondents in national housing surveys say that renting is their choice and that buying a home is not an important priority.

Demographically, apartment households are becoming older, more affluent, and more educated. Two of the fastest growing age groups during the next decade will be young adults in their mid-20s and empty nesters who are over 50. Both groups say they are likely to select apartment living over home ownership. Traditional families- married couples with children- have been declining as a percentage of the population for more than 25 years and now represent only one fourth of all U.S. households. In the last decade, single adult, single-parent, and childless-couple households accounted for more than two-thirds of all new households. Statistically these are the household types most likely to embrace apartment living as a choice.

Apartments cost less. They simplify your lifestyle by orders of magnitude. They increase your mobility and your flexibility and the amount of free time you enjoy. Maintenance and mowing and snow blowing become someone else's job. Sociologists say apartment communities offer significantly increased opportunities for socialization over single family homes. And the amenities commonly available to apartment households, such as swimming pools, fitness centers, and playgrounds, are out of the price range of most single family home owners.

For a highly mobile workforce with frequent job changes and relocations, apartment living is much less burdensome than buying and selling a home. Apartment communities also use existing infrastructure effectively, combat suburban sprawl and intercity decay, help to address the challenge of affordable housing, reduce pollution and congestion, and create pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods.

If finding a great apartment is the new American dream, it's no wonder that the demand for apartments is growing much faster than we can develop and build new apartment housing.