The use of public transit hit its highest level since 1956--transit ridership has increased 37% since 1995, well ahead of population growth and vehicle miles traveled (a 20% increase), according to the American Public Transportation Association. Add these transit ridership numbers to the tidbit (pizza crumb) about the recent bankruptcy filing of Sbarros and the ongoing woes of J.C. Penney and Sears—former highflyers at regional shopping centers. At the same time, the highest per square foot retail real estate prices are not registering in suburban malls, but along high-street urban corridors in the vibrant U.S. gateway hubs (served by mass transit) where young people and their parents continue to relocate from unexciting, congested, and ageing badly burbs. And so last Sunday it wasn't surprising when…

I dropped my niece and a college buddy off in one of those in-close Jersey suburbs so they could catch a ride back to campus after spring break—one had been to South Beach, the other on a Caribbean Island while I had been left freezing behind in extended Northeast winter... working by the way. They were both extremely thankful that my lift eliminated the need to take a bus from Port Authority for their meet up and gave them an extra hour to sleep in on their last day of vacation. It took 20 minutes to shoot across the GW Bridge from Manhattan--light Sunday morning traffic and the absence of traffic study lane closures made the trip an atypical breeze. It was about the only time during the week that I would have made the offer, figuring (correctly) that we could avoid agita-inducing snarl-ups.

As we crossed the bridge both girls, who grew up in big cities, began the snarky comments about New Jersey—“what would I do living here” and “why would anyone want to go here.” They couldn't stop chirping about the small, déclassé houses and the sub compact cars parked in the driveways. Thankfully I drive a Lexus or why would they drive with me?