Gee, I’m so shocked. Not. There is a limit, to graft, to cronyism, to the false narratives which speak of easy profit for some, but not all, at the expense of most. So many things play into this, not the least of which is that a lot of people must be starting to think about the end of various gravy trains, and asking themselves if a 1.5 hour commute to and from a “community” with no community is really worth the $2,467/mo mortgage. Also: building standards, anyone? Compare your average bungalo in Chicago’s classic 1920s ’hoods with your average exurban development, and it’s more than clear which one isn’t going to last 35 years without significant decay and rot. Yes, I’m having a schadenfreude moment, because so many of our environmental problems are a direct result of the madness that made these communities desirable, at the expense of so much. Perhaps now some of these communities will listen when people like me speak of such “unimportant” or “irrational” issues like the water table, public transportation, integration of schools, moderated development schedules, etc:

Exurbs hardest hit in recent housing slump  Read more