The Future of Multifamily is Now (And It’s Not What The Jetsons Led Us to Believe)

You remember The Jetsons, right? The classic cartoon series first aired in 1962 but was set “100 years in the future” – which would be 2062. During the show’s first season it was revealed that patriarch George Jetson was 40 years old, which brings us to 2022 being the year of his birth. Internet sleuths (with perhaps too much time on their hands?) have figured out that George may have been born on July 31, 2022. Happy belated birthday, George!   It turns out The Jetsons’ imagined future was curiously prescient. They actually got many things right. For example, the futuristic world George, his wife Jane, daughter Judy, and son Elroy occupied featured items that are now an everyday presence for many: tablet computers, smart watches, drones, and flat-screen televisions, just to name a few. One could even argue that we use robot vacuums, although I’ve yet to see a Roomba that’s anywhere as efficient (or sassy) as the Jetson’s housekeeper Rosie the Robot Maid.   The apartment building the Jetsons lived in, however, still seems far-fetched. George and clan, along with approximately 2,000 other residents, lived in “Skypad Apartments”. Their building resembles—and was inspired by—the Space Needle in Seattle, raised high above the ground on adjustable stilts.    Today’s rental housing communities, thankfully, are still built on solid ground. Nonetheless, there is much about multifamily that is successfully modernizing; it’s definitely “not your grandfather’s rental housing” in the year 2022.     Here are three fascinating current trends in multifamily…