Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Trends Favor Core

Funny, that's not what the folks at Reason, most of New Geography, or Cato tell me.
Most demographic and market indicators suggest that growth and development across the country are moving away from the suburban and exurban fringe and toward center-cities and close-in suburbs.
But why?
What's behind this shift? Empty-nesters don't need the big house and don't want to mow the big lawn. High gas prices are making long commutes less practical. The urban renaissance in big cities ranging from New York to Portland, Ore. — and the revival of charming, vibrant downtowns in small cities like Missoula, Mont. — is making the bedroom suburb and the strip mall seem positively dull.

2 comments:

crzwdjk said...

I think this is to a significant extent a demographic trend. In the golden age of suburbanization in the 50s, a much larger proportion of the population was families with small children (what with the Baby Boom and all). The demographics have shifted away from it, but the housing market and zoning codes haven't quite caught up. Once they do, I don't think we'll see a disappearance of suburbs, as there are still many people who prefer them, but there will definitely be a shift in the more urban direction, since many more people would rather live in a city.

Dave Reid said...

I saw that article too, but what seemed lacking was the statistics to back in up. Is it more hope by those of us who believe city living is better, or where are the stats....