Commercial Real Estate Finance

Archive for February 25th, 2013

On average, an American spends over $8,000 per year to own and operate a car. Well over a quarter of that sum is simply for gas. 

This alone demonstrates the need for more efficient transportation solutions in today’s communities, a need many urban planners and developers  are trying to address. As communities evolve to better accommodate the movement of its residents, real estate of all kinds will be forced to keep pace.

The Urban Land Institute, which is all over stuff like this, recently published a piece on its UrbandLand website discussing the growing appeal of dense urban communities and strategies for suburban communities to replicate this appeal.

After nearly 60 years of sprawl, economic and demographic changes have reignited the urban consolidation of the early 20th century. There are a number of reasons for this, beyond the cost of long-distance car travel:

•  Thanks to the recession, and perhaps the experience of growing up in the ‘burbs themselves, many post-baby boomers are opting to rent in the city rather than own in the suburbs
• Increased environmental consciousness has made cities appealing for their efficiency (which ties into the whole car thing, of course)
• Generally speaking, the cultural/lifestyle differences between downtown and suburban areas makes urban living attractive to college grads uninterested in the white-picket-fence option Read the rest of this entry »