[veliger]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/200 ... ight_x.htm

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')ASHINGTON (AP) — Americans are leaving the nation's big cities in search of cheaper homes and open spaces farther out.
Nearly every large metropolitan area had more people move out than move in from 2000 to 2004, with a few exceptions in the South and Southwest, according to a report being released Thursday by the Census Bureau.

Northeasterners are moving South and West. West Coast residents are moving inland. Midwesterners are chasing better job markets. And just about everywhere, people are escaping to the outer suburbs, also known as exurbs.

[deadmaker7]

Sounds like Nero fiddling to me!

[emersonbiggins]

Has the government recently stopped giving incentives for people to buy bigger, and even multiple, single-family houses? It hasn't? Ahh, I didn't think so.



People are just following the instructions they were given.

[emersonbiggins]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('veliger', 'A')s I've mentioned before, most Americans apparently don't want to live in the central planner’s high density Utopia. Count me in the, "wide open spaces" crowd. I avoid mass transit mainly to avoid interacting with all of the urban "human disasters". Thank God most of the loosers in society end up in cities, where I don't have to interact with them often.

[emersonbiggins]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('veliger', 'A')s I've mentioned before, most Americans apparently don't want to live in the central planner’s high density Utopia.

[NeoPeasant]

As Kunstler has said, those who choose to live in the country will have to re-adopt country ways. Which means you will have to have the self-sufficiency to remain where you are for extended periods. No more ten mile trips to the super-walmart when you're short on tostitos and beer.

Whether people prefer mini-estates where no one comes or goes except by car won't be the issue. The point is whether their incomes will continue to be sufficient to maintain the lifestyle.

[eric_b]

Oh, Rubbish. This is an insignificant blip in the larger
picture.

What's happening is the US is continuing to grow, and people
are continuing to spread out. Isn't the US pop. over 300
million now?

'Course in the past fuel costs really weren't an object,
and people could afford to live 40,50... 100 miles from where
they worked. That will likely be changing as fuel costs
continue to rise. Probably a good thing - if the current
trends were to continue for another 40-50 years there would
be few 'open spaces' left in the US in many areas. Not like
this isn't the case already. All the really desirable spots
already crowded with people.

Ironic the OP is in Maine, one of the few states with much
wilderness left. He's doing his part to remedy that problem
apparently.

[pea-jay]

To bad most of that rural/exurban growth combines the worst aspects of surburban life (the dependence on the personal vehicle and high energy consumptive housing and lifestyle) while taking on none of the aspects of rural living (productive activities such as farming). Nor are most new developments really suitable for retrofitting either. These folks will probably be screwed first by commutes that will become utterly unaffordable.

Now when the urban to rural trends include increased numbers of individuals engaged in typically rural occupations with a larger degree of independence from the society at-large, I know something more fundemental is going on.

Today's trends are nothing more than extension of the postwar status quo.

[Daculling]

They are moving from the suburbs because the illegal aliens are packing three families to a house and people that don't want to live like that are being priced out.

[eric_b]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 't')here is no wilderness in Maine. All the forests have been cut at least once and the state is crisscrossed with logging roads. That is the only reason why american heros can even live out in the woods. There is always a pleasant rutted road a few turns away from the nearest Micky D's.

[Ludi]

Where I live it's mostly wealthier people moving to the exurbs - all my new neighbors are much wealthier than I am. So they can afford the gas to commute, I think.

[formandfile]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('veliger', 'h')ttp://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-04-20-urbanflight_x.htm

As I've mentioned before, most Americans apparently don't want to live in the central planner’s high density Utopia. Count me in the, "wide open spaces" crowd. I avoid mass transit mainly to avoid interacting with all of the urban "human disasters". Thank God most of the loosers in society end up in cities, where I don't have to interact with them often.