NBC NEWS: What’s behind this shift? Empty-nesters don’t need the big house and don’t want to mow the big lawn. High gas prices are making long commutes less practical. The urban renaissance in big cities ranging from New York to Portland, Ore. — and the revival of charming, vibrant downtowns in small cities like Missoula, Mont. — is making the bedroom suburb and the strip mall seem positively dull…
All of this might seem counterintuitive, as the Internet revolution was supposed to render place less important, even irrelevant. If we can all telecommute from our bedrooms, buy our supplies online, and serve our customers over the Internet, why does that pesky and expensive office or retail store even matter?
The answer is simple: Humans are social beings, and all the time we spend at our computers makes us, if anything, even hungrier for real-world interactions. The Internet, paradoxically, is making place even more important. Marrying great online services with appealing real-world presence will be the secret to success for many a company. So pay attention to where you are and to where your community is going… (more)
EDITOR: Contrary to what Rick Gray and City Planner Randy Patterson are advocating, what is needed at Lancaster Square East is not a bowling alley and bocci courts but upscale condominiums sought by affluent suburban ’empty nesters’ and young professionals. Lancaster doesn’t need downtown games, it needs upscale downtown housing!
Gee….I thought the new convention center was to spur a whole new ‘look’ for downtown…one that would be a lily-white as all the faces of the proponents/advocates for this financial albatross. At least that’s what one congressman’s son told me, when he and I shared an office building together.
Guess the old white greenbacks dried up.