NY Times: Fuel Prices Shift Math for Life in Far Suburbs

[marmar]

Fuel Prices Shift Math for Life in Far Suburbs

By PETER S. GOODMAN
Published: June 25, 2008


ELIZABETH, Colo. — Suddenly, the economics of American suburban life are under assault as skyrocketing energy prices inflate the costs of reaching, heating and cooling homes on the distant edges of metropolitan areas.

Just off Singing Hills Road, in one of hundreds of two-story homes dotting a former cattle ranch beyond the southern fringes of Denver, Phil Boyle and his family openly wonder if they will have to move close to town to get some relief.

They still revel in the space and quiet that has drawn a steady exodus from American cities toward places like this for more than half a century. Their living room ceiling soars two stories high. A swing-set sways in the breeze in their backyard. Their wrap-around porch looks out over the flat scrub of the high plains to the snow-capped peaks of the Rocky Mountains.

But life on the edges of suburbia is beginning to feel untenable. Mr. Boyle and his wife must drive nearly an hour to their jobs in the high-tech corridor of southern Denver. With gasoline at more than $4 a gallon, Mr. Boyle recently paid $121 to fill his pickup truck with diesel fuel. In March, the last time he filled his propane tank to heat his spacious house, he paid $566, more than twice the price of 5 years ago.

Though Mr. Boyle finds city life unappealing, it is now up for reconsideration.

“Living closer in, in a smaller space, where you don’t have that commute,” he said. “It’s definitely something we talk about. Before it was ‘we spend too much time driving.’ Now, it’s ‘we spend too much time and money driving.’ ”

Across the nation, the realization is taking hold that rising energy prices are less a momentary blip than a change with lasting consequences. The shift to costlier fuel is threatening to slow the decades-old migration away from cities, while exacerbating the housing downturn by diminishing the appeal of larger homes set far from urban jobs. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/business/25exurbs.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&partner=yahoofinance&adxnnlx=1214655584-/oYo+yUUSAJXIkOBtS1ScA

[Fridays Child]

1. There's just one little problem, Phil. You probably won't be able to sell your house.

By the way, Phil, who are you planning to vote for, in November?

[hornblast]

2. Related article: "The Next Slum?" -- McMansions may become tomorrow’s tenements.

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200803/subprime

This has been an interest of mine since the 1990s, as I watched farm field after farm field in Dane County, Wisconsin get chewed up and turned into row after row of matching McMansion. I've occasionally wondered, can urban sprawl be un-sprawled? Can we recoup crop land from areas now under reign by crypto-facist neighborhood associations? Is there any way to do it other than carpet bombing the suburbs? These are the things I wonder about from time to time.

Doing a search on nytimes.com for "gas prices far suburbs" pulls up a number of interesting blog posts and articles on this topic. This will make great research for someone in a few years!

[GOPBasher]

3. It's about time. There are not enough resources on earth for everyone to have

his or her own McMansion.