Gas prices force buyers to rethink suburbs
WASHINGTON – Aug. 12, 2008 – High gas prices are affecting American workers' attitudes toward commuting and are prodding many to trade in their large homes in the exurbs for smaller, more urban properties.
Buying a 6,000-square-foot home with a large yard and a sport-utility vehicle to boot made sense when gas and property prices were low, economists say, but gasoline is now cost-prohibitive for many.
If the federal government lifts the heavy gas subsidies that encourage suburban growth, many Europeans pay $8 a gallon for gas, suburban residents will abandon their properties en masse and move in closer to urban transit stations.
"What were pluses of that lifestyle are now liabilities: a big SUV, a big home to heat, the energy needed to mow the lawn," says CEO Tom Darden of the Raleigh-based real estate conversion group Cherokee Investment Partners.
The firm takes properties close to transit centers in urban areas and develops them into housing.
Properties in the Washington, D.C.-metro area, Montreal and Denver are thriving, says Darden, while property values in far-removed exurbs like Loudoun County, Va., and California's Central Valley are declining.
Source: The Washington Post, Eric M. Weiss (08/05/08)
© Copyright 2008 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688
Buying a 6,000-square-foot home with a large yard and a sport-utility vehicle to boot made sense when gas and property prices were low, economists say, but gasoline is now cost-prohibitive for many.
If the federal government lifts the heavy gas subsidies that encourage suburban growth, many Europeans pay $8 a gallon for gas, suburban residents will abandon their properties en masse and move in closer to urban transit stations.
"What were pluses of that lifestyle are now liabilities: a big SUV, a big home to heat, the energy needed to mow the lawn," says CEO Tom Darden of the Raleigh-based real estate conversion group Cherokee Investment Partners.
The firm takes properties close to transit centers in urban areas and develops them into housing.
Properties in the Washington, D.C.-metro area, Montreal and Denver are thriving, says Darden, while property values in far-removed exurbs like Loudoun County, Va., and California's Central Valley are declining.
Source: The Washington Post, Eric M. Weiss (08/05/08)
© Copyright 2008 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688
Comments
So, what is the answer? Rather than moving to where you work, you are much better off moving "work" to where you live.
You don't have to change jobs to have an office near where you live. Most office workers can just as easily work remotely if they have proper facilities and support from management.
Remote Office Centers can provide the facilities - it is up to you to get management support. Remote Office Centers lease individual offices, internet and phone systems to workers from multiple companies in shared centers located around the city and suburbs.
It is true that not everyone can work remotely, but those who need to be onsite can still gain the benefit from a lower overall demand for gas and less commuters on the highway.
The problem of high energy cost can be solved by a simple paradigm shift. High-speed internet makes it possible to work from anywhere, so why are people driving 60 miles a day to get to work?
Remote Office Centers are fairly new, but they can be found in many cities by searching the internet for "Remote Office Centers" in quotes.
Rather than converting downtown offices into condos, commercial real estate companies should be converting properties in the suburbs to Remote Office Centers. That is where their clients live!
There is a free web site for listing and searching for Remote Office Centers:
http://www.remoteofficecenters.com