Interesting.  According to this report (pdf download) from the Urban Land Institute, the number of familes with kids in the US is on the decline.  Childless households, however, are growing at a steady clip.

Take a look:

In the same vein,  less than half of all married couples in the US actually have kids under 18.  And single-person households outnumber married couples who have kids under 18 living with them.

What these demographic shifts mean, of course, is that there’s a growing number of households who don’t look like Ozzie and Harriet—and who might not be all that excited to live in the sprawling suburbs that attracted so many families during the baby boom years.  Which is one more reason that I’m not so concerned about the declining number of kids in urban downtowns: the rising number of singles and childless couples will still mean strong demand for downtown living.