Some sad news tonight, at least for some folks out there: The American Suburb has passed away. It was only 61 years old. No one expected that it would die so young, but then no one ever sees it coming, do they? The cause of death was clogged arteries -- but mainly a horrible case of gas.
The New York Times broke the story before anyone else:
Houses are sitting on the market longer than in years past. “The pool of buyers is diminishing,” said Jace Glick, an agent with Re/Max Alliance in Parker, Colo., next to Elizabeth.
Juanita Johnson and her husband, both retired Denver schoolteachers, moved here last August, after three decades in the city and a few years in the mountains. They bought a four-bedroom house for $415,000.
Last winter, they spent $3,000 on propane for heat, she said. Suddenly, this seemed like a place to flee. “We’d sell if we could, but we’d lose our shirt,” Ms. Johnson said. Recently she counted 15 sale signs. One home nearby is listed below $400,000.
“I was so glad to get out of the city, the pollution the traffic, the crime,” she said. Now, the suburbs seem mean. “I wouldn’t do this again.”
Read the whole obituary. People can't afford the gasoline or the heating oil, and many are desperate to move back to a more urban environment. House values are plummeting, especially in the exurbs -- and even in Philly, which had seemed to be relatively immune from the housing slump. For a Baby Boomer, it's a shocking thing to see. We grew up taught to think that suburbs were like a part of human evolution.
I never thought the American Suburb would be the one to go first.
Well... I still want a yard! (Someday!)— bon- The suburb is dead, long live the suburb. The real question is will the transit-linked, inner ring suburbs with half decent school systems become ascendent. You know, urban amenities with no gun shot wounds to the head.— bobcitydoc
- Gee Will, how hard is it to write with your tongue so embedded in your cheek? I do agree that more people will begin moving back to the City, but also it will speed up moving more work getting shifted to the suburbs (& over the internet).— yobill626
- My question is, why are we only building these mammoth McMansions in the $400-$500K+ range. Most Americans grew up in row homes or twins or nice moderate singles. Why do we need houses with 20-ft ceilingss and two-acres of property. The houses are so big that one wonders if parents even know if their kids are home. Let's get back to more affordable housing.— mike l
Victims, victims everywhere! Will yearns for the day when all of us suburbanites give up on that crazy American dream, move back to the city, and take our place under the thumb of our rightful overlords, the liberal Democrats. It's not gonna happen because I, like most who live in the suburbs, dislike the smell of urine.— jmc
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- I live in the city, and I have a urine odor-free yard. I apparently don't exist in bon and jmc's world.— Politburo
- Walk through center city and I defy you not to smell urine.— jmc
Didderdops, it's quite ironic that Limbaugh's theme music is from Chrissie Hynde's great lament "My City Was Gone".......I WENT BACK TO OHIO BUT MY CITY WAS GONE THERE WAS NO TRAIN STATION THERE WAS NO DOWNTOWN.......- A classic goalpost move, courtesy of jmc.— Politburo
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- wishful thinking, Will. but the last time I checked, people still love Chili's, Bed Bath & Beyond and Home Depot. The suburbs are unfortunately, here to stay.— idiotbox
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- Match point, didderbops!!!— yobill626
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
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