It’s how, not where you live
June 13th, 2008 by Jim JustSharon Astyk in a post titled City, Country, Suburb? It isn’t Where You Live, But How You Live There offers what I think is sound advice. Railing on about the foolish investments in infrastructure we’ve made since the beginning of the oil age doesn’t get us very far. Rather, as Astyk says:
“I think it is most important to talk about how to live in the suburbs, or the city, or the country in a low energy future. I think that may be more productive than extended screeds against one model or another.”
Rural areas are likely to suffer first and deepest from the shortage of fuels. As we’ve talked about before here and here, hardships are already being felt. Property values are falling more the farther away you get from urban cores. High fuel prices are likely to drive commuters – those with no real ties to the countryside – back to urban areas, leaving the countryside to those who have the abilities, inclinations, and family and social connections that will enable them to scratch out a living there. Astyk throws out a vision of what rural life might look like – and while it’s different from what we’re used to now, it’s not all bad.
Astyk also speculates on the future of urban and suburban life – but if you’ve read her stuff before, you know that she’s verbose. Rather than attempt to summarize what she has to say, I recommend that you read it yourself.