We had this same discussion about the same author a month ago. Families aren’t moving downtown and biking to work. Some people will. Childless young professionals will do it for a little while but the majority of families want a yard, a dog, good schools, quiet and be far away from poor people and the homeless. I’m not saying these are my issues but they are the issues of real people and those of us in the West are especially fond of elbow room and privacy, we are not Europe. Switching from a chevy suburban to a prius will happen long before the residents of the burbs switch to city heights and golden hill. The same argument can be made for our mass tranist. It’s not that we dont like busses and trains, we don’t like the unwashed that ride them.
This guy misses the whole reason the suburbs exist, people dont flee proximity, they flee other people. If poor people can’t afford the gas to live in the burbs, it will only serve to make them more inviting.
I also agree with the other posters, oil is over, the price is the catalyst to force change, we needed this.
