Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

On Jun 25, 2008, at 8:33 AM, VAN DELL JORDAN wrote:

> Do you think there will be any trend away from rural suburbia?  And  
> do you think that gasoline might become unavailable, or so expensive  
> that average income families won't have enough money to buy?

How do you define rural suburbia?

Polls for the last twenty years show that most Americans would prefer  
to live in a small town or rural place. So that is a constant  
demographic tension. The migration in and out of cities and rural  
areas is a reaction to various and changing economic conditions,  
mostly where the income can be earned. High urban real estate prices  
are one reason people keep moving further out. Right now fast rising  
gas prices are a trigger causing some commuters to rethink their  
housing. Stir that into the economic mix with a down and uncertain  
housing market and people will do what they need to do, rather than  
what they want to do.

Retirees whose income arrives in the mail can still live in rural  
areas. Telecommuters will increasingly live in rural areas.

No, I don't think gasoline will become unavailable or priced so high  
that ordinary people can't buy it.