'Hiving' is all the buzz

Americans are becoming more like honeybees, trend-watchers are saying.

People in suburbs across the country are practicing "hiving," a return to the home fueled by a desire to reconnect with family and friends.

"We were looking for an appropriate metaphor to summarize the phenomenon we've been seeing, and we thought of a beehive," said J. Walker Smith, president of Yankelovich Partners Inc., a Chapel Hill consulting firm.

"There has been a shift in American values from materialism to intangible satisfaction," he said. "People are focusing on other things."

Smith said the concept evolved from the "cocooning" trend of the 1980s, which was characterized by a return to the home in search of isolation.

"We don't actually see cocooning anymore," he said. "People are certainly returning to the home, but it's about interaction with others."

Examples of hiving are the recent boom in board games and a growing interest in home-centered media, such as the Food Network and Better Homes and Gardens magazine, he said.

Even technology is catering to "hivers" - family cell phone plans from companies such as T-Mobile and Cingular have enjoyed widespread success.

"Everything else is secondary to family and friends," said Greg Currens of Style Interior Design in Irvine, Calif. "We get those out of proportion sometimes."

Currens is often credited with coining the term; after consulting with Smith, he gave a presentation about "hiving" at a 2003 Urban Land Institute conference.

He said the trend emerged from a period of isolation and personal dissatisfaction.

"Everything was impersonal, and that makes people want to get more personal," he said.

Smith said the phenomenon surfaced in his data in the mid-1990s - the peak of the dot-com boom.

In addition, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, sped up the reconnection process.

"The trend would have emerged more slowly if not for 9/11," Smith said. "9/11 initiated steps toward priorities that people had already felt were important."

Currens echoed the theory.

"September 11 placed a whole new set of values on people," he said. "The people on those cell phone calls (from the hijacked planes) didn't call the office. They called family and loved ones."

But hiving has yet to reach its peak in the market, he said.

"I don't know that it is prevalent yet," he said. "People may be doing stuff as far as interaction, but hiving hasn't become uniform yet."

He added that the trend hasn't infiltrated the interior design industry. While his company creates commercial spaces that are pleasant for groups, many competitors have yet to follow suit.

Some trend-watchers even have not embraced the term.

"I haven't heard of it," said Setha Low, professor of environmental psychology at the City University of New York and author of several books on public space.

"There is a phenomenon of creating denser communities, but the problem is, suburban America is so huge," she said. "I don't think the term is a very good way to describe the Northeast, but maybe it works for the South."

Low said the term comes with alternate connotations. "When I hear 'hiving,' there is also the notion of a queen bee, or a leader involved," she said.

The term might also follow political lines, she said. "I think it characterizes a certain subset," she said. "Especially after the election, our country is divided.

"'Hiving,' I think, characterizes one side that wants moral values."

But Smith said the concept transcends both social and age differences.

"We definitely see this interest among Generation X the most," he said. "But even baby boomers are rediscovering the notion of community."

He said the biggest "hivers" might develop in a few years.

"The strongest manifestation will be in people under 25," he said. "Generations behind the baby boomers grew up in the mess that baby boomers made, like broken homes and divorce rates."

New generations of hivers will reverse dismal family trends, he said.

Bill Rohe, director of UNC's Center for Urban and Regional Studies and city and regional planning professor, said people's desire for interaction is not a new idea.

"For the elderly, the young and the poor, interaction in their neighborhoods was always important," he said. "They needed it for emotional and material support."

Material support meant rides to work, for instance, he said.

Interaction today exists in physical communities - such as Chapel Hill's Meadowmont, which fosters connection with its close houses and walkable shopping areas - and technology, which loosens geographic boundaries, Rohe said.

Regardless of its beginning, "hiving" is a trend with legs, Currens said.

"Everything always evolves, and how we interact will evolve," he said. "Trends are trends, but everybody wants interaction.

"I think this is an idea that will stay for a while."

Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.