[zceb90]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('spudbuddy', 'r')e: Nero's $5 gallon gas, and the economics of mass transit tradeoff and home location...
it will be interesting to see how this pans out.
The traditional model used for years by many people has been the tradeoff between a cheaper mortgage and more expensive transportation.

If a home buyer is looking at mortgage savings in the 100's of thousands, transportation costs in the 10's of thousands will always look more attractive.
However, if this is expanded over the period of a decade, the picture shifts dramatically.
Non-suburnanites always tend to look at this picture using a "quality of life" format...and often enough this isn't necessarily an economic factor, but one of time...the amount of time spent per week on the road.
I have always been amazed at the amount of time people around my city will put up with, on the road.
<snip>
If peak oil ultimately forces contraction of urban areas, no matter where one lives, distance from home to work is going to be a major factor.

[emersonbiggins]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('spudbuddy', '
')I can't remember exactly when SUV's hit the scene. Late 80's?
Did North America sort of go collectively brain-dead in the 90's?

[hull3551]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('spudbuddy', '.')..everyone going for bigger/cheaper...

...So many things increased in size. Supercenters. The mall of America.
If you think about it...the sheer amount of spaces that have to be heated and cooled....

[BabyPeanut]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')url=http://www.wlns.com/Global/story.asp?S=4008845&nav=0RbQ]According to the Census Bureau, Washington's daytime population swells by 72 percent as commuters stream in. (link)[/url]

[Specop_007]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '"')White flight" is and has always been the defining American cultural paradigm.

[BabyPeanut]

Still the townhouses of DC keep going for higher and higher amounts of money.

[killJOY]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')pparently because "Black crime" is a problem.

[some_guy282]

And commuter can of course be interchanged with the word "consumer" as well.

[Gary]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('killJOY', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')pparently because "Black crime" is a problem.

[falser]

I'm one of these folks. One of the problems is there's not a lot of highrise apartments in DC due to building restrictions. But right outside the district (Arlington & Alexandria VA, Bethesda, Rockwood & Silver Spring MD) there's tons of them. Metro DC isn't very large at all, but for about a 50mi+ radius is all DC suburbs. It's more expensive to live in DC by a good amount, both in living costs and taxes, so if you live on a subway line there's very little advantage to actually living in DC.

[NTBKtrader]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('killJOY', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')pparently because "Black crime" is a problem.

[Specop_007]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('killJOY', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')pparently because "Black crime" is a problem.

[BabyPeanut]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('falser', 'I')t's more expensive to live in DC by a good amount, both in living costs and taxes

[Heineken]

I lived in the DC area off and on for 30 years, and not on a whole lot of money. Most of the time I was on the run as developers pushed me this way and that. Although I've lost the exact count, I lived in about 15 different places in all three jurisdictions.

I once lived in Rosslyn, a Virginia noncommunity just across the Key Bridge from Georgetown. In those days, I was one of a mere handful of residents who remained after the office workers vamoosed. Walking around Rosslyn in the evenings or on weekends was like walking in a true postapocalyptic ghost town.

DC itself is, overall, a very dangerous place. I'm lucky to have survived it---had many close calls.

The region is very complex and is quite unlike any other American city. Those who have not actually lived there and yet who have opinions on this matter may not know what they're talking about. And it's been changing so rapidly that even I may no longer know what I'm talking about.

[Heineken]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('falser', 'I')'m one of these folks. One of the problems is there's not a lot of highrise apartments in DC due to building restrictions. But right outside the district (Arlington & Alexandria VA, Bethesda, Rockwood & Silver Spring MD) there's tons of them. Metro DC isn't very large at all, but for about a 50mi+ radius is all DC suburbs. It's more expensive to live in DC by a good amount, both in living costs and taxes, so if you live on a subway line there's very little advantage to actually living in DC.

[EnemyCombatant]

Is it really crime that white people fear.

There are a lot of middle class working black neighborhoods in the cities with minimal crime. As a matter of fact, young white liberals are moving into these neighborhoods . And they have no problems with their 'older and poorer' black neighbors.

IMO, whites feels as if they can get more for their money by moving out. And of course a certain percentage just don't want to be near blacks.

[Heineken]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnemyCombatant', 'I')s it really crime that white people fear.

There are a lot of middle class working black neighborhoods in the cities with minimal crime. As a matter of fact, young white liberals are moving into these neighborhoods . And they have no problems with their 'older and poorer' black neighbors.

IMO, whites feels as if they can get more for their money by moving out. And of course a certain percentage just don't want to be near blacks.

[BabyPeanut]

New upscale DC:

http://www.mcicenter.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MCI_Center
http://tinyurl.com/9k3yw
nearby Chinatown got a big boost
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatown% ... gton%2C_DC


and the good-old 2.3 million square feet of brand new convention center

http://www.dcconvention.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington ... ion_Center
http://tinyurl.com/9o2n7
(Map is deceiving, L street no longer goes through--center is 3 blocks long.)

Funny thing is the gay leather bar is right there too.
http://tinyurl.com/95rtr

[falser]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Heineken', 'Y')ou must mean Rockville, not Rockwood.

My first apartment was just north of Old Town (on Bashford Lane), in 1978. I paid about $285 a month for a large 1-bedroom right off the bike path, not luxurious but certainly adequate. Can you believe that? Now it's just another jazzed-up condo selling for zillions of worthless dollars.