Rapid Rise In Fuel Prices Lead Many To Abandon Distant Suburbs For New Inner City Homes

by architek, Thu Jun 26, 2008 at 07:48:25 AM EST

The New York Times today has another article
"Fuel Prices Shift Math for Life in Far Suburbs"
about the housing shifts due to increases in gas prices, this time its about how the rise in gas prices is driving many to abandon life in distant exurbs and more back into the cities, where warehouses and former slums are being renovated, and new condominium housing is being built to address this rapidly rising need. They use Denver as an example, but these changes are occurring in many American communities.

Many are selling or even giving away old or even fairly new (sometimes large) fuel-inefficient homes and larger gas guzzling cars in the distant, low density exurbs, and moving in, closer to jobs and public transport, displacing the traditional residents of inner cities.

If gas prices stay high, this trend may accelerate.

Its simple economics, supply and demand.

"Many low-density suburbs and McMansion subdivisions, including some that are lovely and affluent today, may become what inner cities became in the 1960s and '70s -- slums characterized by poverty, crime and decay," declared Christopher B. Leinberger, an urban land use expert, in a recent essay in The Atlantic Monthly.

Most experts do not share such apocalyptic visions, seeing instead a gradual reordering.

"It's like an ebbing of this suburban tide," said Joe Cortright, an economist at the consulting group Impresa Inc. in Portland, Ore. "There's going to be this kind of reversal of desirability. Typically, Americans have felt the periphery was most desirable, and now there's going to be a reversion to the center."

Will this mean an exodus of inner city residents to the now less desirable exurbs, as some are predicting?

No, I don't think so, because the urban residents who are being displaced cannot afford the gasoline costs of living in the far outlying areas any more than those fleeing them can. (if anything, they can afford them less.)

What I see is more pressure on a shrinking base of affordable rental housing, people being forced to live in substandard living situations or into homelessness.

What do the two Presidential candidates, both with ties to large housing developers, have to say about urban displacements, condominium conversions, etc?

We will have to wait for the inevitable debates..


Poll
Which of the following categories are you in? (check all that apply)
Urban dweller, own home, or mortgage paid up, healthy finances
Suburban "Exurban" or rural dweller, own home, or mortgage paid up, healthy finances
US resident, but currently outside of the US, so this does not apply to me.
Urban dweller, own dwelling, struggling.
Suburban, "Exurban" or rural dweller, own dwelling, struggling
Urban dweller, rent, feel secure
Suburban, exurban or rural dweller, rent, feel secure
Urban dweller, rent, feel insecure
Suburban, Exurban (or rural) dweller, rent, feel insecure, gas prices are big part of it
Suburban, exurban or rural dweller, may be forced by gas, transportation costs, etc. to move into a city soon.

Votes: 6
Results : Vote Link : Polls


Tags: gas prices, exurbs, inner city, condominiums, gentrification, urban displacement, affordable housing (all tags)

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Permalink :: 2 Comments :: Post a Comment


Re: Rapid Rise In Fuel Prices (none / 0)

There's a bit of a difference between suburban and rural dwellers.
I live in a rural area in Kansas(the closest large city to me is Amarillo, TX, over 150 miles away) and work out here as well. We don't worry about the suburban and urban dwellers.
That being said, if more people share rides (like my brother in New Jersey does) or if states invest in more and better public transportation, I doubt you'll see many homeowners in the suburbs give up their mcmansions anytime soon.
"Who are you for? That is the wrong question. It should be who is for you?" HRC
by skohayes on Thu Jun 26, 2008 at 08:55:26 AM EST

Re: Rapid Rise In Fuel Prices Lead Many To Abandon (none / 0)

This isn't anything new.  Affordable housing in the big cities is almost non-existent.  It is a legitimate issue but I don't believe it is a Federal issue.  NYC, NY State and their residents should be able to determine the best use for its land.  The same goes for any other City/Metropolitan area.  

Why do you think this is a Federal issue and what would you have the Feds do about it?


Consider that everything which happens, happens justly, and if thou observest carefully, thou wilt find it to be so. -Marcus Aurelius
by Blue Neponset on Thu Jun 26, 2008 at 09:09:48 AM EST


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