Comments on: The Decline Of Suburbia?

Experts Predict Exodus From Far-Flung Neighborhoods Back To Urban Living

[missingamerica]

Telecommuting/results oriented work structures need to be widely adopted; this will cut down on office space cost, business travel cost, and relieve remaining commuter stress by freeing up the burden on our roads and public transit systems.

Posted by casadcoeur at 09:47 AM : Aug 08, 2008

So we adopt telecommunications, and empty out vast numbers of buildings.

In doing so, we lose the jobs associated with the cleaning and maintenance of those buildings.

We lose jobs associated with highway and roadway maintenance and the construction and maintenance of transportation vehicles due to reduced wear and tear.

We risk losing the newly telecommute-enabled jobs themselves, as recent history indicates that once it is proven that a job can be performed remotely, our oh-so-patriotic corporate titans immediately offshore it to cheap climes - either on their own initiative, or in response to the demands of any of a number of "shareholder activists" who never think beyond how much money they can get NOW.

Frankly, I believe that America has to return to an economic model that is a self-contained loop, where we manufacture those goods and services that we consume locally.

That is a problem, because far too many people of America''s "elite" - the people who control the Republicans - are geting rich from "free trade" and view America not as "their" nation but only as a source of expensive, fractious labor and natural resources to be plundered as expeditiously as possible.

[legacyabq]

GOD YES FINALLY
Down with suburbia! This blight has sucked resources, increased alienation, and looked BUTT UGLY for long enough. Good riddance, ugly ugly ugly suburbs.

The suburban dream for Americans can and will live on. We will develop alternate and cheaper gas sources to help with the gas issue, but we also need to accept industrialized age (i.e., factory)work structure is outdated for jobs that can be performed remotely. Telecommuting/results oriented work structures need to be widely adopted; this will cut down on office space cost, business travel cost, and relieve remaining commuter stress by freeing up the burden on our roads and public transit systems. We are a smart nation and we need to step back collectively to support this type of change

[missingamerica]

You mean just what the nanny-state Liberals want in the New Socialist America. [...]

Posted by smartmoney70 at 09:24 AM : Aug 08, 2008

lollll...you know what a Republican is saying when they use that phrase "nanny-state"?

They are saying that Republicans and "business" are the only people who should be allowed to suckle at the teat of the state...

But they call it "privatization".

[piercetheval]

...TAKE BACK AMERICA...SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL COTTAGE INDUSTRY...do with less and spend more for local made, local grown and local labor.
...If we all work to keep our dollars in AMERICA then the dollar will eventually become stable and maybe, just maybe return to the value it once had.

[apdepetris]

"Nichole can''t afford the $800 in gas she burned each month commuting to her job, so she''s selling her house for less than half what she paid for it."

Maybe she could just trade in her vehicle and buy a hybrid or something that uses less gas. She would definately take less of a hit on the car than she would selling her house for less than half of what she paid for it.

I mean what the heck is she driving and how far is she commuting? I have a mid-size V6 SUV and drive almost 40 miles each way to work every day and I don''t spend anywhere near that. $800 a month / 4 comes to $200 a week. I figured it up and I spend less than $300 a month. Now I don''t live in CA so maybe gas is more expensive than the $4 a gallong I was using in my calculations...

Anyway, I don''t see myself moving out of suburbia. I want my kids to have a house and a yard to run around in and a swingset. Of course I would love it if I could walk to work, but that''s not going to happen. I''m hoping to be able to telecommute at some point at least some days but who knows. I know someone mentioned that offshore people could telecommute too and honestly I think they will offshore jobs regardless of whether people are telecommuting or not. Companies want to save money with cheap labor and don''t my sacrificing quality. But these offshore countries are catching on and raising their prices.

[smartmoney70]

Soon we will all be living an American dream of a third world country. A land of two social classes, the rich and the working poor. The gotsits and the havenots.

We will all be living in substandard multi-family high rise housing so we can all barely afford to go to work and pay our bills.

Just the way the repubs want it.


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Posted by docpeter at 09:16 AM : Aug 08, 2008


You mean just what the nanny-state Liberals want in the New Socialist America. Remember or experience public housing? That wasn''t dreamed up by Republicans...

[missingamerica]

As this story observes it is likely that Americans will have to crowd ever closer together in the future.

With that in mind, note that McCain is quoted in another CBS story thusly:

[bq]
Salon quotes McCain: "I encouraged Cindy to compete," he told the crowd. "I told her [that] with a little luck, she could be the only woman to serve as both the first lady and Miss Buffalo Chip."
[eq]

Racism abounds in this election (just read the comments on CBS, or consider McCain''s quick decision to hide Bush behind "the race card"), and as the above quote makes apparent, McCain is equally quick to turn to sexist stereotypes in order to gain votes.

When the Republicans appeal to the worst characteristics of the America of yesteryear, what are they doing but fostering and encouraging such anti-social behavior?

To the point of this comment on this CBS article: What are sexism and racism, but two of the nastier of the irritants that you are thankful that you can flee at the end of the workday to your refuge in suburbia?

So what happens to our levels of stress if people can no longer flee to suburbia - if they have to pass the source of their discontent both in the corridors of work and the halls of the mega-apartment building they all call home?

How explosive will our society be, when Republican policies have forced us to live cheek-to-cheek, while still retaining the anti-social traits of sexism and racism that the Republicans need to win?

[xmanborg]

Maybe Suburbia will get a new life when the large gas sucking SUVs are not in the driveway. A small 40mpg car might just revive Suburbia.

Good Ridance to the Gas Pigs. Its time that Americans put the word conserve in their vocabulary. I drive a Honda Fit and and it costs me $39.93 to fill it up last Friday and I go 2+ weeks on one tank of gas.

[docpeter-2009]

From the above article, "Author James Howard Kunstler has been predicting the decline of the suburbs for more than 15 years.

"I think the project of suburbia is over," he says.

Kunstler says housing far away from job centers won''t survive."
_______________
Soon we will all be living an American dream of a third world country. A land of two social classes, the rich and the working poor. The gotsits and the havenots.

We will all be living in substandard multi-family high rise housing so we can all barely afford to go to work and pay our bills.

Just the way the repubs want it.

[tootall10142]

GREED IS HAVING ITS LUNCH . THE DESERT IS SUBURBIA!

[omega39-2009]

Nichole can''t afford the $800 in gas she burned each month commuting to her job, so she''s selling her house for less than half what she paid for it.

Of course in the actual news story it showed her commuting in a big old SUV..

[missingamerica]

Just another consequence of Bill Clinton and his "free trade" actions - and his supporting cast of Republicans and U.S. Chamber of Commerce members, of course.

What is really bad - even if it is ironic - is that the energy demand from "free trade"-enabled China, India, et al that is so affecting our lifestyles now is also destined to hit the wall of dwindling oil supplies.

Those nations have or are rapidly replacing their subsistance farming economic model with the high energy consumption model Clinton et al enabled our corporations to export in the name of profit.

The likelihood of a "real" energy crash coming in the not-so-distant future with the likely result that things like petroleum-based fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides as well as the transportation of foodstuffs internationally will become probitively expensive under current economic models begs the question:

Will Clinton, the Republicans, and the corporations shed a tear for the world''s starving billions?

Or will they just retreat to their secure gated communities and drink champagne while wagering on the magnitude of the day''s death toll?

[excoachken]

Between Bush economic policies and the Supreme Court''s decision that every person with the mentality of a 5 year old has a right to bear arms, we will be moving back into the woods. Oh yes, there are no woods because Bush has eliminated Environmental protection. Oh well, there''s always a cave. No those are already occupied by red neck survivalists. Oh well.

[alphonsoc]

Home sweet home! Some times renting makes more sense. But who is going to get the most Bops!!!!!

http://www.bop-o-rama.com
Your Bops Really Count!!!!!

"Bop early and bop often." --Alphonso Carponzo

[rob416]

I beleive the end of suburbia that has been predicted by some experts is premature. While many empty nesters, baby boomer are opting for an urban lifetsyle over suburbia it may have less to do with the costs, but more with the convieniences.

These experts also are not taking into consideration the ever expanding telecommuting (work at home) and home based businesses. I contend, while some due to the high cost of gasoline will not choose to live in suburbia, for others it will still be the American dream.

[formrusmcsgt]

Like oil, the building and real estate industries chose to keep raising prices and build bigger for more profits. Some of those homes are nothing more than high priced junk.

Posted by r9119111 at 05:46 AM : Aug 08, 2008

Builders and real estate agents do not determine the market value of a property - the market itself does as demonstrated recently by a fall in property values.

As for quality, that depends on design, local code and builder competence.

I have been a builder for many years and what amazes me is that buyer''s priorities are all about amenities, rather than structural integrity.

Most would rather have a cardboard house as long as it has granite counter tops than a better built home with tile tops, for example.

We build what people want to buy, just like any other industry.

[r9119111]

There was a huge difference in the homes built in Levittown, N.Y., compared to the suburban home shown above. The Levittown homes were much smaller and therefore more affordable. I consider the recent building boom such an awful waste of materials. Like oil, the building and real estate industries chose to keep raising prices and build bigger for more profits. Some of those homes are nothing more than high priced junk.

I wouldn''t buy a home today unless it was built within the environmental efficiency standards necessary for the 21st Century -- solar, green and energy efficient.

[whatithink-2009]

brianbwb,

Totally agree with you. Me think property values will be declining sharply in many of these surburban areas and those who created "restrictive covenants" unfortunately didn''t plan for the end of cheap oil.

[jeannec3]

brianbwb...... I totally agree with you. I bet they didn''t feel all that bad when the elderly lost the only small home they had for 30 yrs of paying on it. And I can wage a bet. After their parents spent money on putting them through college. Not many offered their parents or in-laws to live with them ! I was lucky to have a wonderful daughter and son-in-law to help me. But I''m sure there aren''t many like mine.