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CHAPTER 5 HOUSING 97 • HOUSEHOLD TRENDS The number of housing units in New Brighton is expected to increase gradually through the end of the century despite a decrease in the average size of households. (See Figure 6). A total of 9,000 housing units are projected for New Brighton in 1990 and 9,500 housing units are forecast for the year 2000. The average size of households, however, has steadily declined from 2.86 in 1970 to 2.61 in 1986. (See Figures 7 and 8). Therefore, the increase in housing units is expected to be offset by the decline in the average number of persons per household, maintaining a stable population base of 25,000 through the year 2000. EMPLOYMENT TRENDS The 1980 Comprehensive Plan made little note of employment characteristics of New Brighton residents. Employment has become a more pressing issue with the increased emphasis on economic development. New Brighton's employment stood at 8,300 in 1980. (See Figure 6). Employment in New Brighton was expected to peak in 1990 at 10,000 jobs, and hold at 10,000 jobs through the year 2000. However, that forecast could prove to be too conservative based on Metropolitan Council regional forecasts which.show the north suburban area adding • employment faster than the metro region as a whole. In fact, employment growth in the north suburban area in the first five years of the 1980's has exceeded what was the original Metropolitan Council projected absorption rate for the decade. This growth in employment could be further triggered by any redevelopment activity along the Highway 8 Corridor. New Brighton has been able to hold a relatively constant 7.9% share of the total metropolitan area employment. At the projected peak of employment of 10,000, New Brighton would hold about 8.8% of the total employment in the Metropolitan area. For the period 1980 to 1985; New Brighton increased employment in manufacturing by 5% and increased employment in trade 10% with no growth in the area of office or service oriented employment. It appears New Brighton has not held onto service oriented employment which is the fastest growing area of employment in the region. The mix of occupations by New Brighton residents is shown in Figure 9. Not totally unexpected is the large percentage of employment in managerial and professional occupations. AGE DISTRIBUTION New Brighton's population age characteristics are quite similar to those of other • communities in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area with the notable exception of the increase in the number of elderly residents. (See Figures 10 and 11). New Brighton's population is still primarily young families (ages 19-35) with young children. However, the elderly