End of Suburbia?

[freebird5825]

This is a perfect place for government [-]intervention[/-] stimulus. The Dept of Health and Human Services could set up laboratories of suburbia, to study the issues. We could call it "The Labia Project" for short...

Put me down for the Boondock Report.

 

[youbet]

One by one it feels like the "new prosperities" enjoyed in the aftermath of WW2 and its postwar economic bubble are starting to unravel into unsustainability.

Suburbia.
Wage increases that beat inflation.
Pensions.
Stock markets that return north of 10% per year on average.
Costly annual vacations.
The nuclear family.
Middle-class retirement.

.

I think you should add rural living to the list. All the expenses of suburbia and more for an equivalent life style. No public transportation, expensive consolidated school districts served by high cost bus systems, high cost of bringing utilities in, etc. I'd love a rural life style but will only partake when/if I can afford it and feel it is time to stop subsidizing those folks by shifting the costs of life there to urban types via utility bills, education subsidies, etc.

 

[haha]

I'd love a rural life style but will only partake when/if I can afford it and feel it is time to stop subsidizing those folks by shifting the costs of life there to urban types via utility bills, education subsidies, etc.

If you are intersted go for it now, while the subsidies exist. Never turn down money extracted from someone you don't know, he wouldn't turn down money taken from you.

Ha

 

[FUEGO]

Call me a skeptic, but why exactly would suburbs go the way of the dinosaur? People like cheap land, nice shiny new houses, and fancy new exclusive places. And generally greenfield construction with low land costs and looser zoning/regulatory requirements equals more money and easier money for a residential developer. Urban infill can be expensive, fraught with risks and unknowns, expensive, time consuming, and expensive.

If I was the head of a struggling young family faced with limited financial resources, which would I pick? A decent house with a nice yard in a decent suburb for a low price (remember, these places are dead, empty ghost towns with zero demand ). Or a modest older multifamily unit in town where my kids won't go to the best school district and I barely have enough room in the house for all of us?

Remember gas is cheap. Who cares if you have to drive 15 minutes to go grocery shopping!

 

[Khan]

Call me a skeptic, but why exactly would suburbs go the way of the dinosaur? People like cheap land, nice shiny new houses, and fancy new exclusive places. And generally greenfield construction with low land costs and looser zoning/regulatory requirements equals more money and easier money for a residential developer. Urban infill can be expensive, fraught with risks and unknowns, expensive, time consuming, and expensive.

If I was the head of a struggling young family faced with limited financial resources, which would I pick? A decent house with a nice yard in a decent suburb for a low price (remember, these places are dead, empty ghost towns with zero demand ). Or a modest older multifamily unit in town where my kids won't go to the best school district and I barely have enough room in the house for all of us?

Remember gas is cheap. Who cares if you have to drive 15 minutes to go grocery shopping!

For now.

 

[eridanus]

People are confusing the projects with regular neighborhoods in the central city.

Suburbs would've hit a brick wall years ago if they bore their full costs. Now they'll become edge cities or die when peak oil hits (DOE has it happening in ~2025).

Remember: The British Pound was once the reserve currency.

 

[FUEGO]

For now.

That is all that matters. We, the people, are shortsighted.

 

[Walt34]

I think the forecast of the death of suburbia is premature. Given the choices outlined by FUEGO few suburbanites will move to a city unless they have no other choice. I worked with a guy who drove two hours each way every day so he could have his nice house in the country. That's too high a price for most people, but still, I'm amazed at the number of people who commute from here to the DC area, anywhere from one to two hours each way.

 

[Purron]

I think the forecast of the death of suburbia is premature. Given the choices outlined by FUEGO few suburbanites will move to a city unless they have no other choice. I worked with a guy who drove two hours each way every day so he could have his nice house in the country. That's too high a price for most people, but still, I'm amazed at the number of people who commute from here to the DC area, anywhere from one to two hours each way.

I run into many folks from WV commuting to this area. Some do it because of the high cost of housing in this area but many more love where they live and wouldn't dream of moving here.

 

[HFWR]

For me, adding an extra 2-4 hours to my work day, not to mention fuel costs, and wear-and-tear on the vehicle/driver, would likely veto any longing to live in "the country".

My commute now is 7.5 miles each way, and it still takes 20 minutes...

 

[landonew]

For me, adding an extra 2-4 hours to my work day, not to mention fuel costs, and wear-and-tear on the vehicle/driver, would likely veto any longing to live in "the country".

That was funny. If I am driving 2-4 hours a day... I'd better be a truck driver (or a cop, ext.).