Many urban dwellers today value their disposible income and treasure their disposible time. This has contributed to the new or renewed demand for downtown living being witnessed around North America.

Disposible time refers to time not needed for necessary tasks like earning a living, sleeping, grocery shopping, bill paying, etc. In the same way that many individuals and families use disposible income to enrich their lives , people do the same with disposible time.

All the disposible income in the world can’t enrich your life much unless you have time to use it. Over the past few decades, ever increasing numbers of individuals, couples and families have much more income than required for basic necessities (yes there is also a widening gap between rich and poor, which will be discussed in another blog entry; this one is about the double impact of increased disposible time and income).

Slowly people are getting past the “more is better” approach to income and are bargaining for more disposible time in their lives. (One Source)They may do this by negotiating for more vacation time instead of a higher income, or for more flexible hours. Penelope Trunk often discusses this in her blog. Individuals and families are also seeking more disposible time through the living choices they make. A big house in the suburbs is often not desirable if it uses up valuable disposible time to do things one might perfer not to be doing — whether mowing the lawn, cleaning the gutters or commuting to the city.

Disposible time — both obtaining more and doing more with it — is also increasing the demand for medium and high density urban housing, particularly in downtowns. There are several reasons for this:

• First, with disposible income people want to enrich their lives through attending concerts, the theatre, and movies as well as by enjoying meals at fancy or fashionable restaurants and cocktails at the latest trendy lounge afterwards. A wide variety of restaurant and entertainment amenities are available in greatest quantity and variety in dense urban areas where myriad customers from diverse backgrounds hang out. Most suburbs offer few real choices.
• Second, many people have limited disposible time. Living downtown means that there is no driving time required to enjoy urban amenities. And if you work downtown, then the commute can either be a refreshing walk or a very short transit or car commute.
• Third, condominium living often saves disposible time. Most condominiums don’t require as many home maintenance chores. If one would rather be at the theatre, hiking, cycling, kayaking, painting, playing with the kids, or doing any other favorite pastime, a condo in the city may make more sense than a house in the suburbs.

Disposible time is the new goal for the 21st century family. Condominums and other higher density living can help people preserve their disposible time — for this reason this is not a fad. Like the suburban diaspora of the 1950s through 1980s, this one will define several generations.