Re:Let's Build a Traditional City and Make a Profit
by waterfowl on Thursday July 31, 2014 @01:02PM
(#8115350)
Except now the closer in suburbs(and urban housing) are for the rich. I live in DC, and pretty much everywhere in town is pricey, and the close suburbs that would be somewhat convenient(bethesda, arlington being the exemplars) to "town" are extraordinarily expensive. The (outer, not as nice, inconvenient) suburbs are the new hotbeds of poverty, and I've only been here for ~8 years but even in that time a lot of affordable neighborhoods have priced longtime residents(who don't own) out.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/05/23/p...
Re:Let's Build a Traditional City and Make a Profit
by bkeroack on Thursday July 31, 2014 @01:40PM
(#8115681)
Exactly. Cheap energy (and therefore, cheap transport) allows one to live in a relatively low cost-of-living area where land is cheap (suburb), but work/shop/recreate in a higher COL area (city). The rich can afford to live in the more expensive areas like Manhattan, while the working class have to live hours away from where they work (New Jersey, upstate NY, etc).
In the modern era of stagnating wages, this is the primary way a working family can give themselves an effective "raise", by living in a cheap area and working in an expensive area. It should come as no surprise, therefore, all the megacommutes people are doing as a result.
When the day comes (inevitable, in my opinion) that energy prices make it impractical for the average person to transport themselves 20+ miles a day to work, school, shopping, etc, the dynamic will change. All but the closest suburbs will become for the wealthy only and urban housing will become dense by necessity.