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As the baby boomers retire and housing prices continue to be excessive in some of the larger cities that have tons of amenities how will the smaller cities in fairly close proximity do? I think these cities will boom because they are small cities close to far out sprawl.
Alot of these cities have very reasonable housing costs and a small city setting but are close enough to major metropolitan areas so you dont feel isolated and can take a small road trip on the weekend to have a taste of urban energy.
Cities like Cumberland, Maryland with its not too far proximity to Washington DC.
Or Scranton/Wilkes Barre, PA with its close proximity to NYC.
Fitchburg, MA with its proximity to Boston
Moline, IL with its proximity to Chicago
Bakersfield, CA/ Los Angeles, CA
Modesto, CA/ San Francisco, CA
Grays Harbor, WA/ Seattle,WA
Scranton/Wilkes Barre, PA with its close proximity to NYC.
This is already a given. As you cross the border from Lackawanna County (Scranton) into Monroe County (Poconos), you enter "commuter territory." My ex-boyfriend lives in a planned community in Coolbaugh Township, the closest Pocono community to Scranton, and many of his neighbors commute daily to work in either North Jersey or even all the way to NYC. His neighborhood is only a half-hour south of Scranton via I-380. It's kind of SICK to think that some people commute four hours or more round-trip on a daily basis from the Scranton Area to NYC/NJ for employment concerns, especially if they are trying to raise young children, but given our scarcity of white-collar employment in NEPA, most local college graduates are forced to either drive long distances or tele-commute. A lot of middle-class people are moving out of NJ/NYC due to the overcrowding, sprawl, high cost-of-living, taxes, traffic congestion, etc. and are inadvertantly bringing these same ills to Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA). We're not quite as crowded as, per se, Long Island (yet), but give it a few more decades, and I think you won't be able to tell where NYC ends and Scranton begins as all undeveloped land between Lake Hopatcong, NJ and Lackawanna County, PA "fills in." Just wait until we get the new high-speed commuter rail link in about 7-10 more years; we'll have commuters coming out of our rear-ends!
As of right now though, the real estate market in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is what I'd consider to be "tame"; it's shown modest gains on a regular annual basis with very little in the way of extreme fluctuation. I think Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is at the point now where the Lehigh Valley (Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton) was perhaps back in 1990---still a somewhat "independent" area getting by on its own. Since then, the Lehigh Valley has seen tremendous growth pressure from both NYC and Philly, pushing its real estate values over the edge (I believe the median home sales price in much of that area is now near $250,000!) In contrast, the median here in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre remains in the low-to-mid $100k range, which is affordable by most standards. I believe the same will happen here as well---our housing prices will rise sharply in 10-15 years, our population will begin growing again after years of steep decline (it's already beginning to stabilize), and crime and racial tensions will flare up a bit as has been occurring in the Allentown area.
We're currently "lucky" here in Scranton to be so near to everything yet so "far apart" (We've not had a single homicide here since mid-2005, and traffic congestion is only hairy perhaps an hour or two per day). A lot of locals have grown "complacent" by this, and I worry that we may not be well-equipped at all to handle sudden population growth in the future in terms of police staffing or road widths. We have all sorts of big-city amenities (Philharmonic, art galleries, museums, professional sports, etc.) without all of the big-city problems (yet). As the Lehigh Valley is devoured by the ever-expanding BosWash commuter corridor, I fear that Monroe and Pike Counties in PA will soon follow, and then Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is the next logical step.
I agree. A hidden gem here in NC is Hickory, NC. VERY nice town/small metro, but it's only an hour from Charlotte. People are starting to discover this place.
I live 30-45 mins. south of Wilmington, NC in Brunswick county. This is a fairly large county geographically, yet the number of people per square mile is rapidly growing everyday it seems. The things you are saying about NY, NJ, etc. mirror what is going on down here. In my town (Bolivia) where I was born and raised it is no longer the small hick town it used to be 10/15 years ago. People (dare I say mostly retired, people from the north) want the perfect small town feel of home...in the middle of the swampy, wetlands of the coast. So they move down here, but where do they live? They cut down all (excuse me...most) of our trees and build these giant multi-home communitys where the houses sell for 50-100 grand a pop. Now they are living in paradise... yes?(thats what all the billboard signs say) NO, Twenty years from now those beautiful ugly homes that are being built behind my house are going to be vacant and probably in the ground, because the elderly can't keep up those kind of homes properly and young familys dont understand the land they are living on, the ones in between they just cant drive on our small roads. Now all of our roads are going to be four lane with a traffic light every five miles. I have rambled on just to say this, Brunswick county is turning into Wilmington or even Myrtle Beach, which just south of BC and yes I DONT LIKE IT. It may be selfish of me to say this but it is how I feel. Thank you for letting me quickly vent, I must return to work.
This is already a given. As you cross the border from Lackawanna County (Scranton) into Monroe County (Poconos), you enter "commuter territory." My ex-boyfriend lives in a planned community in Coolbaugh Township, the closest Pocono community to Scranton, and many of his neighbors commute daily to work in either North Jersey or even all the way to NYC. His neighborhood is only a half-hour south of Scranton via I-380. It's kind of SICK to think that some people commute four hours or more round-trip on a daily basis from the Scranton Area to NYC/NJ for employment concerns, especially if they are trying to raise young children, but given our scarcity of white-collar employment in NEPA, most local college graduates are forced to either drive long distances or tele-commute. A lot of middle-class people are moving out of NJ/NYC due to the overcrowding, sprawl, high cost-of-living, taxes, traffic congestion, etc. and are inadvertantly bringing these same ills to Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA). We're not quite as crowded as, per se, Long Island (yet), but give it a few more decades, and I think you won't be able to tell where NYC ends and Scranton begins as all undeveloped land between Lake Hopatcong, NJ and Lackawanna County, PA "fills in." Just wait until we get the new high-speed commuter rail link in about 7-10 more years; we'll have commuters coming out of our rear-ends!
As of right now though, the real estate market in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is what I'd consider to be "tame"; it's shown modest gains on a regular annual basis with very little in the way of extreme fluctuation. I think Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is at the point now where the Lehigh Valley (Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton) was perhaps back in 1990---still a somewhat "independent" area getting by on its own. Since then, the Lehigh Valley has seen tremendous growth pressure from both NYC and Philly, pushing its real estate values over the edge (I believe the median home sales price in much of that area is now near $250,000!) In contrast, the median here in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre remains in the low-to-mid $100k range, which is affordable by most standards. I believe the same will happen here as well---our housing prices will rise sharply in 10-15 years, our population will begin growing again after years of steep decline (it's already beginning to stabilize), and crime and racial tensions will flare up a bit as has been occurring in the Allentown area.
We're currently "lucky" here in Scranton to be so near to everything yet so "far apart" (We've not had a single homicide here since mid-2005, and traffic congestion is only hairy perhaps an hour or two per day). A lot of locals have grown "complacent" by this, and I worry that we may not be well-equipped at all to handle sudden population growth in the future in terms of police staffing or road widths. We have all sorts of big-city amenities (Philharmonic, art galleries, museums, professional sports, etc.) without all of the big-city problems (yet). As the Lehigh Valley is devoured by the ever-expanding BosWash commuter corridor, I fear that Monroe and Pike Counties in PA will soon follow, and then Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is the next logical step.
Well, in theory they could be. But I've observed that a large number of smaller cities/towns outside of larger cities just end up being sprawling suburbs. And that's certainly NOT more attractive.
If they embraced smart growth plans and try to maintain an urban flavor, but on a smaller scale than big cities, then they can definitely become quite wonderful places. But unfortunately, that is rare, and they often just add one subdivision after another, with an endless maze of cul-de-sacs and strip malls.
Remember, the United States is currently undergoing a third-world-like population explosion. In the ten years between 1990 and 2000, according to the Census Bureau, our population increased by over 11%, or 32.6 million people, and I don't think that includes illegals. Last year we passed the 300 million mark (if we hadn't done so already) and by 2050 we'll have a population of 450-500 million. All of these people have to live somewhere, and everyone wants to have a 2000+ ft house and half-an-acer of land, though I doubt most families will be able to afford that.
I just wish there was a way to control population. We have to stop this population explosion before all the desireable areas are filled up. Once people inhabit an area, only a disaster or war can cut the population. And with the anger building in some areas I wonder if we could have another civil war style conflict here.
You get the best of many World's. Cheaper living costs, more control of your life, less crime, etc, etc.
But be in position to go to the bigger city for shopping, social, or what else is attractive to a larger city.
Then we get into this mindless game of what is "Best". That answer will undoubtly be NC, TN, ID and all the vibrant places that are the next places to run from.
It is all self correcting because many of the players will die at age 62 of heart attack.
Where do you bury the ones who did not win? In the old or new place? Can the hearse even get to the graveyard in a lot of them "New" Hot places. H,mmm seems like a bit of a cycle could be formed there.
Can't even dump them along the road like road kill, need to be in a low stress location to do that number.
Got to pay more, more stress, more heart attacks, more die, h,mmm I feel another cycle coming on here.
Not many, which is why so many people commute such long distances. I'm a bit optimistic about this upcoming "Wall Street West" movement though, in which NYC-based financial firms are being encouraged to locate satellite locations in places like NEPA so that they can be far enough away from Manhattan to not be shuttered should another terrorist attack occur, yet still close enough to NYC for easy transit. This might be a boon to the region in the upcoming years. As for now, good-paying jobs are hard to come by.
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Just wait until we get the new high-speed commuter rail link in about 7-10 more years; we'll have commuters coming out of our rear-ends! 
A lot of locals have grown "complacent" by this, and I worry that we may not be well-equipped at all to handle sudden population growth in the future in terms of police staffing or road widths. We have all sorts of big-city amenities (Philharmonic, art galleries, museums, professional sports, etc.) without all of the big-city problems (yet). As the Lehigh Valley is devoured by the ever-expanding BosWash commuter corridor, I fear that Monroe and Pike Counties in PA will soon follow, and then Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is the next logical step. 
