I’ve been following Charlotte Observer columnist Mary Newsome and her Smart Growth advocacy from afar for quite some time now. Today she graces the pages of the N&R:
(S)uburbia will pose a growing problem due to a number of converging factors. Among them are:
Demographics. Population trends favor urban-style, multifamily development. Gen Y’ers have a clear preference, at least for now, for urban living. Meantime, aging boomers will be selling houses and moving to condos or apartments. As illness and infirmity hit, many will have to give up driving. They’ll want walkable neighborhoods.
..Fuel prices. Remember when $4-a-gallon gas walloped the economy in 2008? Now, gas prices are over $3 again. Gas prices are likely to keep rising, and already, transportation is the No. 2 cost for average U.S. households. With pay and jobs sinking, more people are likely to want to live where they can drive less.
Note that last sentence —seems to me Ms. Newsome is acknowledging that Obamanomics is going to have us all walking and riding bicycles, just not by choice.
And maybe it’s me, but if I’m a geriatric who’s too old, ill and infirm to drive, then I don’t think I’d be doing much walking, either.
