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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It remains to be seen whether RTC or Tysons, or White Flint will be retrofitted properly.  Everything we've seen up until this point has shown that they're incapable of executing.  Also,[b] it's a bit of a fallacy to think that tomorrow's "biotech execs" are going to be as enamored of McMansions and sprawl as today's Baby Boomers are[/b]. [/quote]

Retrofitted properly? Not sure what that means, but RTC seems pretty nice to me an the revitalized downtown Silver Spring seems to be doing it right. It's got a Metro stop, Discovery is headquartered there, lots of restaurants, diverse types and price ranges of housing and a nice mix of ethnicities. You may be right about people being over sprawl, but [b]the reason sprawl developed in the first place was peoples' desire for a comfortable environment.[/b] I question whether that desire will be any less pronounced in the future, even if the cost of attaining it becomes higher.
[/quote]Not trying to take a side in suburbs vs city debate but I must point out that the reason sprawl developed was because government policies encouraged the growth of suburbs.  There's a reason that some European cities have wonderful downtowns and poor suburbs whereas it's the reverse in many US cities.  Didn't happen by accident or nature but by government policy.  I'm not criticizing you, pp.  [b]Just trying to point out that we often assume that develop patterns were "natural" when actually they are the result of clear government policies[/b].[/quote]

True, but state and local governments around the country implemented srawl producing policies because that's what their constituents wanted. The wealthy have long been able to have homes in both the city and the country. Everyone wants an escape from the stresses of city living. The desire for a spacious, green, more relaxed suburban home springs from the same impulse that the rich have always had the luxury of satisfying. In America, we're blessed with enough space to be able to allow middle class families to realize these desires if they want. Few European countries have the space. I'm sure we've all marvelled at how effective many European countries are at tightly controlling development outside their cities and at how green and unspoiled much of the area outside cities remains. But we've also marvelled at how tiny the homes are for the price and how you have to be truly wealthy to have a spacious country home in most of W. Europe. I lived for several years in London and I have to say that if you want to live reasonably close to the city but have any amount of greenery in your yard, you pay a heck of a lot more for it there than here. I agree that spawl isn't particularly environmentally friendly, but it has produced a higher standard of living for Americans than you'll find among W. Europeans of similar education, income and achievements. [/quote]

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