Originally Posted by
JeffS
But how does a non-cyclist get from your house to work 12 miles away?
No, all suburban houses or neighborhoods aren't bad, but that doesn't mean everyone can live that way - at least not without having to drive most places.
Density is simply not high enough to support nearby jobs and stores for everyone, much less transit if everyone's on an acre+.
Land might definitely come in handy, but only if you know how to grow something other than fescue.
Become a cyclist? 12 miles isn't a bad ride at all. I've done it a few times and if it weren't for the unpredictability of when I may have to run to Miami, Orlando or elsewhere I'd do it a lot more, especially during the winter (that probably sounds crazy to some of you
).
The transition won't be easy (or possible for many people) but those that are capable can find ways to do it, those that aren't will have to move closer to work or just drive more fuel efficient cars. short range electric cars strike me as a great alternative if they were widely available. I've also been seeing a lot of Smart cars lately, it's disappointing that they only get 40 mpg but it's a step in the right direction.
I realize it can't support everyone, I was just stating that for the average person in decent health who is already out here most areas at least around here are pretty car free friendly with the possible exception of jobs. All that stuff that is within 3-4 miles of my doorstep is also within 3-4 miles of the doorstep of anybody in any of the neighborhoods in the area. I can go to north Tampa where I used to live and find 3 Publix's, 2 Sweetbays, a Sprawl-Mart, Target ...etc... It's ugly and generic looking but it's there nonetheless. Same deal with the wildlife. We had a family of red-tails in that neighborhood and yet another great MTB park with a 7 mile paved loop just down the street. Pigs, turkeys et al included.
I don't know how it is around you but down here my (not quite) .25 acre lot is pretty big compared to most of the newer tract neighborhoods. Some houses are on acre lots but they are few and far between for the most part. As for the greenthumb, mine was brown last year. A few books and some web searches later and I have a garden and a grove. Anybody can learn to do that.
Change will come no matter what and there are a lot of things that will have to accompany that including building up instead of out but I really don't see a mass abandonment of the areas that (unfortunately) make up a large percentage of the housing in the country. I think things will just go more local including jobs.