For decades, Americans have trickled steadily out of cities into suburbia -- and then into exurbia. But with gas prices high and likely to stay there, the wallet-conscious are now poised to trickle back in. In 2003, the average suburban household spent $1,422 on gasoline annually; in April 2008, that had leaped to $3,196 per year. "Before it was 'we spend too much time driving,'" says Phil Boyle, who commutes nearly an hour into Denver, Colo. "Now, it's 'we spend too much time and money driving.'" A recent survey of 903 real estate agents found that 78 percent of prospective home buyers cited fuel costs for their inclination toward city living. Though sprawl has become as American as a flag lapel pin, experts say the trend to move inward has the potential to revamp the look of the U.S. city.
source: The New York Times, Associated Press, CNNMoney.com
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Comments
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Delay And Deny Posted 12:39 pm
25 Jun 2008
The NYT article says that prices are dropping precipitously in the suburbs, but that city values are still high.
That means that business will continue to exude from the center cities and into the cheaper suburban centers or turn into Internet business.
A far more likely scenario is not for people to "move to the cities" but for the cities to turn into suburbs. You can see that as a scenario for my metroplex of Seattle. The present problems in traffic come from Seattle proper being far too concentrated. By moving focal points (such as the new Sonics stadium) into places like Renton, and with the arrival of the Kent Events Center, people will not have to "go to the city" to find a job, but be able to commute 5 or 10 miles locally in a dynamic grid of local jobs and businesses.
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DannyGirl Posted 4:48 pm
25 Jun 2008
That said, what I have long noted is that the American urbs and suburbs were in the process of moving from the 1950s quintessentially American pattern -- cheap land, cheap oil, jobs & poor located in cities, well-off lived in suburbs and trek in via personal automobile -- to the European model -- expensive land & oil, jobs & well-off located in cities, poor live in suburbs and trek in via mass transit.
Check out the Paris suburbs ("les banlieux") where the poor live while the chic, well-off live in town. Check out New York or San Francisco... note any similarities? It's a matter of time.
That's assuming anyone, anywhere can afford any kind of transportation relying on an internal combustion engine. Go to developing countries and the 'suburbs' are shanty towns where the dirt poor live encircling the comparatively well-off city-dwellers.
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Solar John Posted 10:00 pm
25 Jun 2008
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joeburge Posted 12:15 am
01 Jul 2008
Sure, I can't grow my own food, but who can these days? I have do stockpiles of food, a secure storage area, and the ability to cook without grid energy. I don't know what the future will bring, but it's going to be a wild ride?
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Island Press Posted 3:38 am
16 Jul 2008
And check out his book, The Option of Urbanism: http://islandpress.org/bookstore/details.php?isbn=9781597 ...
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