Bridging the Gap Between Town and City
Benjamin Gilbert | Tue, Sep 30th, 2008 | Category: Commentary | Tags: next american city, brookings institute, christopher leinberger, walkable urbanism
Between ever-rising gas prices, the dwindling economy, a housing market crisis and jobs becoming harder and harder to find, cities are looking like more appealing places to live than ever. In Mr. Leinberger’s piece, he details not just how the economic landscape is shaping people’s decisions over where to live but also how the changing culture in America has affected attitudes towards city living. “Cities, of course, have made a long climb back since then. Just nine years after Russell escaped from the wreck of New York, Seinfeld—followed by Friends, then Sex and the City—began advertising the city’s renewed urban allure to Gen-Xers and Millennials.”, says Leinberger, referencing t.v.’s influence on cultural perceptions with regards to city life.
Meanwhile, the financial incentive to live in the suburbs decreases everyday. The sharp rise in oil prices has continually increased the cost of living in these once low-priced areas and the subprime-mortgage crisis didn’t help to assuage the problem. Add to that an economy divided between service jobs and professional jobs and you have a country of people heading towards city life—or at least city-style living. “Lifestyle centers”, cultural hubs for one or more suburban towns/cities have begun popping up across the country, offering dining, shopping and entertainment within walking distance of residences.
Also important about the piece is it’s study of the housing market versus childbirth statistics. As the baby-boomer generation quickly becomes “empty nesters”, the demographic landscape of America quickly morphs into something much different—according to U.S. Census data, “By 2025, the U.S. will contain about as many single-person households as families with children.” Those same “Gen-Xers and Millenials” mentioned earlier are having children later in life and with less frequency than the generations that came before them.
Anecdotally speaking, this 23-year-old journalist has few married friends, none the less child-bearing friends. After spending four years living city life on two different continents, the sprawl (and expense) of suburban living offers little in the form of incentive for me to move there.
How has American culture, none the less economics, affected your lifestyle choices? What are some solutions to the possible future Mr. Leinberger posits in his piece? We want to hear from you!
Benjamin Gilbert is the web intern at Next American City. He can be found blogging and twittering across the web, especially here.
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Barb Chamberlain in Spokane, WA
Thu, Oct 02, 2008 at 9:41pm
It’s not just empty-nest Boomers or their children who want to live in urban areas rather than the suburbs--it’s also families with children.
I’m married with children and living in an established historic neighborhood less than 2 miles from the heart of downtown Spokane, WA. We are 3 blocks from a bus stop, and my teenagers bus everywhere. They have far more independence than I did growing up as a teenager in a subdivision., when my mother had to drive me everywhere. I bike commute almost year round, and when I don’t bike, I bus.
Regional cities like Spokane offer affordable single-family and multi-family housing in and near our downtowns. We have everything much closer than I ever did when I lived in a subdivision of cookie-cutter homes: grocery stores, hospitals, entertainment, shopping, an outstanding downtown, two college campuses, and a beautiful river all a short walk, bike or bus ride away from my neighborhood.
Suggested web sites for an idea of the qulity of life here:
http://www.downtownspokane.net
http://www.visitspokane.com
http://www.friendsofthefalls.org
http://www.greaterspokane.org