Our cover this month is an architect’s rendering of the twin towers of King Blue, 44- and 48-story condominium residences at the intersection of King Street West and Blue Jays Way in the heart of Toronto.

It’s also at the intersection of a worldwide trend that can be called urbanization, a demographic shift of living locale from rural and suburban to big-city urban. While fueled by the Millennial generation (Gen Y), it’s by no means limited to that group. The other main group interested in living in cities, or within easy reach of cities via mass transit, is the Baby Boomers.

These are the two largest demographic cohorts, and the most responsible for change. The Boomers’ American Dream was to own a detached home on a large lot far away from everything; we became a suburban nation. Now, with the growing influence of the Millennials, we are becoming an urban nation. It’s happening right now, and it’s happening rapidly.

Nowhere is it happening faster than in Toronto.

Our writer Lisa Readie Mayer, in an article entitled “Livin’ the Life,” tells us there were 132 high-rise residential towers under construction in Toronto in 2012, and 95 percent were sold during pre-construction.

That’s similar to what developers of King Blue are experiencing right now.

King Blue is located in the heart of the city, or at “center ice” as the developer calls it, right in the entertainment district. Once completed, its two towers will contain 800 residential units and, in January when Readie Mayer conducted the interview, 80 percent of the development’s first tower had already been sold (construction won’t begin until the end of this year; owners will not be able to move in until 2017).

Why is a trade magazine for the hearth, patio and barbecue industries writing about residential condominiums in Toronto? Because, while Toronto may be at the epicenter of this lifestyle change, it’s also occurring in and around every major city in North America – and it will affect your business, for better or for worse.

When you hear someone in the hearth industry say that the future belongs to electric hearth appliances, don’t laugh and cavalierly dismiss it as the ravings of a fool – they may be right. If you haven’t yet picked an electric horse (manufacturer) to ride, do so. Or pick a couple, because this trend will be with us for a long time.

The Salt Lake City HPBExpo

For the past year – the lead-up to the HPBExpo – we’ve heard incessant moaning about the Salt Lake City venue, the difficulty of getting there, the expectation of fewer manufacturer and buyer attendees, and other rationales for not going. We hear such laments every year, don’t we?

Well, enough. If you think so little of your business that you can’t devote three or four days to it once a year, then say that. Say that you’re burned out, too busy or cash poor.

It’s not difficult to get to any city of size in this country, and hasn’t been for years. Worried about diminished attendance, are you? If you’re a retailer, why do you care? Fewer people means greater and easier face time with your manufacturers.

If you’re a manufacturer, you could be weighing those pre-registration figures and questioning the ROI if retailer or distributor numbers go down. Well, the Salt Lake City Expo just demolished that excuse. Attendee numbers were the lowest in recent history and the show was one of the best (on the way out, one manufacturer told us it was his best Expo in over 30 years).

We didn’t hear one complaint about the quantity of traffic or quality of buyers. We did hear the following line, over and over again: There are no tire kickers here; these folks are here to buy!

In a perfect world, that would put an end to the moans, groans and litany of other fabricated excuses for not going to the HPBExpo. Sad, but given human nature, it won’t.

To those who didn’t attend the HPBExpo: You missed something worthwhile.