Joel Kotkin’s article “Suburbia’s Not Dead Yet” was of great interest to me since I just got back from a 5000 mile road trip cross country to see the state of the heart land so to speak.
With gas prices soaring (I saw prices as high as $4.23 for unleaded regular with no ethanol), with talk of “peak oil production” causing the neo-Malthusians to get to work, the theory being advanced these days is that suburbia will implode and become a wasteland. The urban downtown core will be revitalized and the cities that are emptying out will be rejuvenated.
But as Kotkin points out, there’s no real evidence for the demise of suburbia.
As my 5000 mile journey revealed - at least to me - motorcycles are everywhere and E85 capable “Flex Fuel” vehicles are cropping up everywhere too along with the refueuling stations to support them. In the midwest, E85 was selling for $3.39 per gallon when 10% ethanol gasoline was selling for $3.98
But also, the prevalence of working at home - full or part time - is a serious mitigating factor that is against the “collapse of the suburbs” theory.
kilo on July 10th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
working from home online is the way to do it, and I’ve done it for years. cheers to you