Exurbs Are Dead, Long Live The Exurbs

Business Week explores whether higher energy prices signify the beginning of the end for exurban development, or whether exurbs have become an integral part of the American economic system.

1 minute read

October 12, 2005, 9:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen

"While many of America's biggest cities continue to lose population, and inner suburbs are suffering symptoms of old age, out in the exurbs it's a different world. Between 2000 and 2004 exurbia accounted for 17 of the 20 fastest-growing counties in the nation with more than 10,000 people.

But with energy costs soaring and a hike in interest rates likely in the months ahead, all of a sudden the Exurban American Dream is looking a whole lot tougher for many.

...The economic consequences of a slowdown in exurban exuberance is difficult to measure. Clearly the exurbs' rapid growth has been one of the main engines of U.S. economic expansion in recent years. Consider all the homebuilding plus the malls, box stores, restaurant chains, fire departments, and schools that have popped up on cheap farmland beyond the suburbs."

Thanks to The Practice of New Urbanism Listserv

FULL STORY: Living Too Large In Exurbia

Wednesday, October 12, 2005 in BusinessWeek

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