I disagree, being spread out is less energy efficient than having residences closer together, mainly in the Winter. It's also not really just about how their building, it's also about what their building and that their building at all in an over-saturated market. A large home or a mcmansion in suburbia isn't really energy efficient, since it usually excessively meets the needs of the average family. You could be using the same new construction as city or suburban infill with brownstones, duplexes, apartment buildings, row houses, or just a smaller home.
You bring up some excellent points. I still argue that this new construction is simply a waste in and of itself. Just trying to look at things from your point of view, I think you are looking at it as moving from old inefficiency to new, I'm looking at it as adding onto the old, as we have built this stuff with no need. So the average family has a new big house, and a smaller house back home in the city center that needs to be demolished. This is an issue because people have still been trying to repeat this cycle by moving even further out, although that may stop with the current economy.
Well, my point was that a car could be a luxury in some of these areas, so that makes some sense. Generally, I think the state of the American Middle Class isn't so great, something's got to give, and I think the most logical thing to go is car culture. Many, many more people are not going to be able to afford multiple cars anymore. It is going to be very hard to sustain car culture, although I'm sure many people will fight tooth and nail to keep the status quo.Having checked out the site you mentioned, I decided to check out the source of the data. 2000 census data is a little dated. The census blocks I checked had income levels significantly below the median. That explains the lack of cars, they can't afford them. Remember, the devil himself can quote scripture and use it for his own purposes
It is possible that the suburbs could be retrofitted and become sustainable, or that new communities could be built, but I can't see that happening with this new economy.
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