Where Americans Will Be in 2050

Where will Americans live? Everywhere. The third article in a three-part series based on Joel Kotkin's new book, "The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050," looks at where Americans will live and how our communities will grow to accommodate them.

1 minute read

March 23, 2010, 1:00 PM PDT

By Rebecca Sanbor…


"The presence of 100 million more Americans by 2050 will reshape the nation's geography. Scores of new communities will have to be built to accommodate them, creating a massive demand for new housing, as well as industrial and commercial space.

This growth will include everything from the widespread "infilling" of once-desolate inner cities to the creation of new suburban and exurban towns to the resettling of the American heartland -- the vast, still sparsely populated regions that constitute the majority of the U.S. landmass."

In an article adapted from his new book, Joel Kotkin looks at predictions for future development - including continued growth of suburbs, a rise in "Cities of Aspiration," and a new boom in the heartland.

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