Rising Gas Prices and Distance making some Florida communities highly unattractive

[ArcticSplash]

Rising gas prices, sinking home values squeezing suburban commuters - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

The income squeeze caused by lost equity and higher gas prices is pressuring some suburbanites to strategically default and uproot down in Florida.

The Philly metro area isn't as bad, except South Jersey and Bucks County are suffering concentrated rates of foreclosure and lost equity. Could this trend come to our region as well?


Could super-commuters in our metro give up the 5-gallon-a-day habit?

His predicament — and the pinch felt acutely in exurban America — is forcing some families to reconsider the total cost of living far away from urban centers, not just the cost of the home. "People thought they were getting a bargain when they were paying less" for a house, said Linda Young, research director at the Center for Neighborhood Technology. "What they didn't realize is that the transportation costs could be even more."

[billy ross]

Rising gas prices, sinking home values squeezing suburban commuters - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

The income squeeze caused by lost equity and higher gas prices is pressuring some suburbanites to strategically default and uproot down in Florida.

The Philly metro area isn't as bad, except South Jersey and Bucks County are suffering concentrated rates of foreclosure and lost equity. Could this trend come to our region as well?


Could super-commuters in our metro give up the 5-gallon-a-day habit?

This is the 'drive until you qualify' phenomenon. I don't think it has hit as hard here. As anyone with eyes, you can move in towards the center of the region and find affordable housing. This phenomenon has really helped stabilize places like Roxborough, which are super-convenient to suburban jobs centers in Plymouth Meeting and Conshohocken. If only there were jobs centers convenient to Northeast Philly that would be a real shot in the arm to the Northeast. Developing jobs centers in the Far Northeast of course helps in that regard.

Ironically this analysis should really help Norristown, caught literally in the crosshairs of the jobs centers of Plymouth / Conshohocken to the east, King of Prussia to the south, Blue Bell to the north, and Oaks to the west. There is absolutely no reason why Norristown should be dumpy - it has nice housing stock and great access to jobs, but still I don't see anything changing there anytime soon. It seems that people perceive Roxborough to have a much higher QOL than Norristown does, and that gap seems to be widening.