[Sellis1012]

Great article. It stirs up memories of the vacant house in 'Rebel Without a Cause'. It's good to see a real piece of news out there.

http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-Hous ... dChannel=0

[Tanada]

Great article. It stirs up memories of the vacant house in 'Rebel Without a Cause'. It's good to see a real piece of news out there.

http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-Hous ... dChannel=0

One can only hope that its true, having seen seemingly endless acre's of farmland turned into suburban sprawl in my lifetime has been one of the saddest things about my life. There have always been lots of places that were not suitable for farming, forrestry, or grazing that could be used but developers always seem to go for the arable land first and the waste spaces last of all.

[Ludi]

There have always been lots of places that were not suitable for farming, forrestry, or grazing that could be used but developers always seem to go for the arable land first and the waste spaces last of all.

Because arable land is usually perfectly cleared, flat, and easy to grade for roads and foundations. It's the cheapest land to build on.

[mos6507]

One can only hope that its true, having seen seemingly endless acre's of farmland turned into suburban sprawl in my lifetime has been one of the saddest things about my life.

It's not like the land would have been farmed sustainably anyway. In the end we're going to wind up with a lot of "arable" land with degraded topsoil that will be as good as useless.

[MarkJ]

Farms or wooded land are often the only source of large tracts of undeveloped & underdeveloped acreage suitable for the massive footprints or large scale commercial, industrial and residential developments.

Massive single story commercial and industrial developments need tons of room for the roads, structures, warehouses, employee and customer parking, pus room for future expansion. Many also have to be located by major sources of water, major roads, rail etc.

Many cities are becoming commuter cities as jobs sprawl to the suburbs.

Jobs edge from Albany: Report shows jobs moving to suburbs at Albany's expense

Jobs are migrating from downtown Albany to far-flung suburbs, a trend that's occurring in nearly every U.S. metropolitan area, according to a report being released today by the Brookings Institution.


But with state government as a downtown anchor, nearly one in four Capital Region jobs remains in central Albany, making this area's employment a bit more centralized than in the average U.S. city.

Still, the report found that 36.2 percent of Capital Region jobs were located 10 miles or more from downtown Albany in 2006, an increase from 34 percent in 1998.

And 39.8 percent the largest group are 3 to 10 miles from downtown, a belt that includes the office buildings that line Wolf Road in Colonie and Washington Avenue Extension in Albany.

The report says the Capital Region is one of 53 metropolitan areas experiencing "rapid decentralization."

Elizabeth Kneebone is the author of the report and a senior analyst at the Brookings Institution, a think tank in Washington, D.C. She said such "job sprawl" has important social, environmental and policy implications.

Scattered employment can produce long commutes and reduce the effectiveness of public transit. It can suck tax revenue from cities and leave poorer center city residents far from jobs they need.

"Job growth is fastest in higher-income suburbs," Kneebone said, citing a separate report.

In the Capital Region, the report won't surprise commercial real estate brokers, who have long noticed the pull of suburban office parks, which may seem dully homogeneous but have a key asset: plentiful parking.

Jeffrey Sperry, managing partner of the CB Richard Ellis/Albany commercial real estate firm, said companies here typically need a strong rationale for locating downtown. Otherwise, they prefer the suburbs.

Sperry noted that e-mail and other technologies have made it easier for employers to migrate outward. They decrease the need for physical proximity.

"It's been going on since the 1950s," said Rocko Ferraro, executive director of the Capital District Regional Planning Commission. He and others also say there's little evidence the trend is waning even though many downtowns are attracting apartment dwellers, retail and more.

The report also says manufacturing cities usually have fewer workers downtown than those with large populations of service-sector workers. And many cities have geographic quirks that affect development.

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/st ... ory=REGION

[vision-master]

Many cities are becoming commuter cities as jobs sprawl to the suburbs.

Many cities became commuter cities as jobs sprawled to the suburbs. Now, those 3 story vinyl energy howgs 50 miles out from the city are relics of the past. Developments have come to a standstill.

[MarkJ]

Anything 50 miles from a city locally is generally a camp, hunting/fishing camp, vacation home, ski home or homes of seasonal workers, seasonal business owners, retired/semi-retired people etc.

[eastbay]

Anything 50 miles from a city locally is generally a camp, hunting/fishing camp, vacation home, ski home or homes of seasonal workers, seasonal business owners, retired/semi-retired people etc.

http://www.ibabuzz.com/transportation/w ... 0staff.jpg

Not here. This picture was taken about 50 miles from San Francisco on I-580 near Livermore, CA. I suspect very, very few of the motorists on this freeway are out camping.

[mos6507]

Many cities are becoming commuter cities as jobs sprawl to the suburbs.

If people commute from those particular suburbs, then they wouldn't be commuter cities, would they? I think they call that relocalization. Either people can move to where the jobs are or jobs can move where the people are. There is no particular reason some office job has to be located in the city vs. the suburbs. Of course once you get to that point you might as well just have everyone telecommute.

[Ludi]

In my neck of the woods there are several unusual businesses located in this rural area - our business making props and costumes for the entertainment industry (most clients in "Hollywood"); neighbor up the road specialized in restoring MG automobiles and still preps an MG B race car; another rebuilds race car engines; and down the road apiece there's a service facility for Grumman Yankee aircraft where a couple of our nearer neighbors work (they commute about 3 miles).