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The Election Promises to Accelerate Urban Trends

America steadily looks more urban. Once leafy suburbs build up. Atlanta "manhattanizes" from north of downtown through its midtown into uptown Buckhead--highrise apartments and condos spring up. Texas cities begin to embrace in-town lifestyles--uptown Dallas and Houston commercial nodes grow...

By Jonathan D. Miller | Updated on November 10, 2008

America steadily looks more urban. Once leafy suburbs build up. Atlanta “manhattanizes” from north of downtown through its midtown into uptown Buckhead–highrise apartments and condos spring up. Texas cities begin to embrace in-town lifestyles–uptown Dallas and Houston commercial nodes grow more vertical and residential. Downtown LA features more residential towers too. Along subway and light rail stops outside Washington DC and Denver, apartment projects go up. Developers target future mixed use retail-residential around regional malls. Fast growing suburban-oriented metro areas of the past 50 years realize that future growth means focusing on more dense infill locations and discouraging building out at the fringes. How else can the country accommodate the expected 100 million in population gains over the next 30 years?

In fact, government no longer has the funds to subsidize road building and water/sewer systems for far flung projects. When developers crunch the fully-loaded numbers, it’s becoming more cost effective to build up closer to urban cores and in place infrastructure than out at metro perimeters.  People are also looking to move closer to urban centers, seeking greater convenience and lifestyle efficiency. Gas costs may be plunging after record increases, but the downturn appears to be temporary, a salutary result of worldwide recession cutting into energy demand. One way or another people feel poorer and have less to spend at the pump.

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