Suburbs are the wave of the future

Despite the occasional rantings of a few automobile-less Washingtonians in this blog's comments, suburban living is here to stay. Not only are people still choosing to live in the suburbs, but employers are increasingly opening up shop in the suburbs. (Think Tyson's Corner, Reston, Chantilly, etc.)

Despite the wishful thinking of urbanophile pundits and policymakers, central cities have little realistic chance to reclaim their pre-1950 role as the dominant arbiters of American life.

Short of a catastrophic change, the country will remain predominately made up of suburban, exurban and small town residents. Since 2000, more than four-fifths of metropolitan growth has taken place in suburbs and exurbs. Economically, we see a similar pattern. According to a recent Brookings Institution study of 98 large metropolitan areas, only 21% of employees work within three miles of downtown.