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We're going to come up with an alternative to oil, and then we'll be living in our nice, spacious suburbs AND we'll be environmentally friendly. We'll come out looking like geniouses. Then the rest of the world will really be PO'd at us.
I believe I read somewhere that the Mayas had suburbs.
Plus some people actually like suburbs. I believe a study indicated people in suburbs are more satisfied with life than urbanites. Or at least it was about the same.
I think you'll see more people choose cities in the future but I don't see a complete abandonment of the suburbs. But, I do think you'll see a shift toward more wealth in the cities. This reverses a trend we have seen since the end of WWII.
What do you think? When gas increases to $5/gallon, resources evaporate, etc. will everyone move back into the cities of the US?
No. Too many people are in love with suburban living. Many if not most have jobs in the suburbs and all the conveniences that one would need. Where I live, my food store, gas station, bank, etc are all within a few miles drive. Can't ask for much better than that. Now, I do commute 100 miles round trip to work (which is also in the suburbs), but that is my choice since the cost of living is considerably lower where I live than where I work. It offsets the addtional gasoline costs by a lot and besides, this is where my friends are.
There are quite a few people who live in my area and take the Metra train downtown. Higher gas prices won't effect them much.
If everyone wanted to move into the city, the price of real estate would skyrocket and many would then have to stay put where they are. While some like to make a big deal out of moving back and are hoping this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, I'm very skeptical that many will give up the conveniences and comforts of the suburbs. Only time will tell.
I actually just had this topic discussed today in my energy resource geography class.
With the increase of the price of oil and decrease with the amount being pumped unless some alternative is found people wont have a choice. People will move into the cities, areas around mass transit stations will be more dense. We are already experiencing things like this in DC. 2-3 block areas are Virginia and Marlyland metro stations are dense with high rises. As oil prices go up people will want to use mass transit more. Some cities mass transit systems are not great so moving downtown or close to work will be the best option. IMO it will be a change for the better.
Will the suburbs become the ghettos and abandoned? No I do not think so at least not for the next 50 years. Maybe in 100-200 years this could be possible.
But for the near future 10-20 years I see less urban sprawl and more urban living and this is evident in many cities today.
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