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[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

On May 24, 2008, at 8:24 AM, Don Bowen wrote:

> > Now predict where those suburbanites will live. And how long will be
> > the transition.
>
> I do not see any sort of mass migration to the country.

I don't either, although retirees will increasingly leave the cities  
and suburbs. I see suburbanites moving toward jobs, many of which are  
near city cores. There will be condo complexes designed for families,  
larger and with playgrounds. There will likely be government subsidies  
for companies to move their jobs very close to suburbs, perhaps within  
bicycling distance. I used to think that telecommuting would have a  
strong effect. But now, if a job can be telecommuted, it goes to India.

Suburbanites will hold on until it is impossible to hold on longer. Of  
the many human traits predictable, we stay home if we can, huddling in  
our wooden caves even to death. How long suburbanites will stay  
outside the city perimeters is anybody's guess. I can see, maybe a  
hundred years from now, suburbs being razed and returned to food  
production.