8 Comments so far

1. DLC on March 24, 2008 9:29 am

   I attended this symposium and one of the speakers suggested that mcmansions may eventually become the new ghettos. They are far away from city centers, often cheaply made and energy inefficient. Just like SUVs will completely lose their value in the age of $4 gas.

2. Ryan on March 24, 2008 10:56 am

   I totally agree DLC. It reminds me of these bus tours of far-away suburbs shopping for foreclosure homes. Hello, people are not going to be able to afford to drive all that way, afford to keep utlilities, or even furnish them and these atrocities will indeed become the new ghettos of the 21st century. China already uses more coal than the U.S., Russia and England combined with no end in sight for its appetite (it takes China six times more coal than the US to produce 10,000 dollars worth of goods due to their inefficient practices but prices stay low because of the wages they pay their people. What is going to happen when the Chinese middle class approaches 700 million people as they pursue a western lifestyle?…its gonna happen in about ten years!). All the while, China has been wooing countries around the world for their resources while president Bush is anxious to make enemies. Get ready for some big infaltion, quick!

3. Tim on March 24, 2008 9:50 pm

   The far-flung suburbs will become slums when energy gets really expensive. Cities, facing budget shortfalls, will begin to penalize sparsely populated areas due to inefficiency of bringing running water, etc so far for so few, maintaining hundreds of miles of streets, etc. Maintaining life in those big, poorly built McMansions will become too expensive to heat and cool, too far from urban core, and so on and so on. They will be offered at fire sale prices to entice buyers…the poor.

4. DLC on March 25, 2008 8:57 am

   Just like old victorian mansions were split up and rehabbed into small apartments as rich folks moved out to suburbs.

5. Tim on March 25, 2008 9:03 am

   Yes. But in a time of soaring energy costs, which will be much more desperate times. And those slap-together McMansions will be falling apart, unlike the rock-solid Victorian homes.

6. Tim on March 25, 2008 10:41 pm

   There is nothing “posh” about the McMansions…they aren’t much more than oversized “manufactured” homes, and those “neighborhoods” are filled with wannabes who bounce checks, survive on credit, and get by with a minimum of furniture.

   Beyond the obvious problems that come with higher energy prices, are not-so-obvious ones, like higher prices for everything, including food. And there’s always the possibility that unlimited amounts of oil and natural gas simply might not be available. Sure makes it comforting to have the amenities of the city proper, like public transportation.

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8. Kyle Cooke on June 20, 2008 12:40 pm

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