Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Commuting

Richard Florida: Decline of the Burbs is Not Just About Gas Prices

3:46 PM EDT on July 18, 2008

Via Planetizen, Richard Florida argues the decline in the popularity of
suburbs is not just a product of rising oil prices, but a result of a
new "spatial fix" that is reorganizing how and where people live their
lives. From Florida's column in the Globe and Mail:

What's happening here goes a lot deeper than the end of cheap oil. Weare now passing through the early development of a wholly newgeographic order – what geographers call “the spatial fix” – of whichthe move back toward the city is just one part.

Suburbanization was the spatial fix for the industrial age – thegeographic expression of mass production. Low-cost mortgages, massivehighway systems and suburban infrastructure projects fuelled theindustrial engine of postwar capitalism, propelling demand for cars,appliances and all sorts of industrial goods.

The creative economy is giving rise to a new spatial fix and a verydifferent geography – the contours of which are only now emerging.Rising fuel costs are one thing, but in today's idea-driven economy, it's time costs that really matter.With the constant pressure to be more efficient and to innovate, itmakes little sense to waste countless collective hours commuting. Sothe most efficient and productive regions are the ones in which peopleare thinking and working – not sitting in traffic. And, according todetailed research by the Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel Kahneman,commuting is among the least enjoyable, if not the single leastenjoyable, of all human activities.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Friday’s Headlines Are Tired Out

Whether it's from degradation or the dust resulting from wear and tear, it's becoming increasingly clear that tire and brake emissions are harmful, perhaps even exceeding tailpipe emissions.

September 22, 2023

Study: What Road Diets Mean For Older Drivers

"After a road diet, all motorists seem to drive at a rate that feels comfortable to a mildly-impaired older adult."

September 22, 2023

Op-Ed: Why Is Fare Evasion Punished More Severely than Speeding?

A.B. 819 offers California the opportunity to decriminalize fare evasion and replace punitive measures with more equitable approaches.

September 21, 2023

Talking Headways Podcast: Local Culture and Development

We chat with Tim Sprague from Phoenix about supporting local culture through development projects and the importance of sustainable development and transportation.

September 21, 2023

City of Yes Yes Yes! Adams Calls for Elimination of Parking Mandates on ALL New Housing

Mayor Adams today announced the historic end to one of the city’s most antiquated — and despised — zoning laws requiring the construction of parking with every new development.

September 21, 2023
See all posts