While I agree with your thinking Lloyd, I think that inner cities may never fully recover from Covid. No one, especially those w/ children, wants to be trapped in an old apartment building. Especially one w/ bad ventilation, not to mention the air quality of most cities. At least in the suburbs you've got your own yard to escape to. A walk around the subdivision is likely to encounter only a few other "healthy" people.
I'm in the western "exurbs" of the St. Louis metro area and residential construction has been off the charts going back to around 2017. Covid just caused a slight blip in the growth. I guess we've become the northern most "southern" city. Our climate has become relatively mild, we have abundant water supply (3 major rivers), some pretty awesome cultural amenities, and lots of cool nature within a couple of hours. Couple that w/ multiple large corporate employers and the growth is outpacing the dreaded roadway construction/upgrades.
Being a homebuilder I notice all the nuances in my industry and amenities have become a big one. All these new subdivisions have the obligatory swimming pool plus a food truck area, pickleball court, a pavilion w/ a good playground and a firepit, and walking trails. Some of the bigger ones even lure small farmers markets. Everyone has a souped up golf cart to drive the family to the pool. Even the giant apartment complexes have some of these things.
All this is mostly catering to the 8 yr. old's and not so much to the 80 yr old's, though there are a few "over 50" developments and quite a few new "independent living" facilities . What happens to all these folks and all this new infrastructure ten years from now is anybody's guess
Two comments on your post (didn't read the Report). First, more benches are necessary : I was able to walk 10-12 km easily few years ago but now, I need to stop, just one or two minutes, particularly at the beginning of my walk. And I think our cities are really cheap on this front ! Second, about the part-time work for the elderly, when I retire twelve years ago I thought it would become more accepted and integrated in the working environments : every time I see an opening where I think I could contribute from my experience (community organizing, notably with older people) it is always for a full time job… Thanks for your posts.
Lloyd, thank you for writing about this. It’s a big topic at the moment.
I do agree we need to revisit all aspects of our society including the premise it was setup because it no longer serves any generation. I write about this on my substack.
As part of the revisiting we need to put everything on the table and discuss it.
I was shocked to read from Willis Harman in his book ‘Global Mind Change’ that there is, what is termed, a ‘global casino’ that dwarfs the real economy output of goods and services.
In fact today, in GDP terms, it is a staggering 10 times the size of the goods and services economy. (and yes I understand the difference between notional gdp and real gdp, but its the scale of money that is the point)
If we are looking to redistribute any accrued wealth, then let’s be balanced about it and not put the spotlight on just one group.
While I agree with your thinking Lloyd, I think that inner cities may never fully recover from Covid. No one, especially those w/ children, wants to be trapped in an old apartment building. Especially one w/ bad ventilation, not to mention the air quality of most cities. At least in the suburbs you've got your own yard to escape to. A walk around the subdivision is likely to encounter only a few other "healthy" people.
I'm in the western "exurbs" of the St. Louis metro area and residential construction has been off the charts going back to around 2017. Covid just caused a slight blip in the growth. I guess we've become the northern most "southern" city. Our climate has become relatively mild, we have abundant water supply (3 major rivers), some pretty awesome cultural amenities, and lots of cool nature within a couple of hours. Couple that w/ multiple large corporate employers and the growth is outpacing the dreaded roadway construction/upgrades.
Being a homebuilder I notice all the nuances in my industry and amenities have become a big one. All these new subdivisions have the obligatory swimming pool plus a food truck area, pickleball court, a pavilion w/ a good playground and a firepit, and walking trails. Some of the bigger ones even lure small farmers markets. Everyone has a souped up golf cart to drive the family to the pool. Even the giant apartment complexes have some of these things.
All this is mostly catering to the 8 yr. old's and not so much to the 80 yr old's, though there are a few "over 50" developments and quite a few new "independent living" facilities . What happens to all these folks and all this new infrastructure ten years from now is anybody's guess
Two comments on your post (didn't read the Report). First, more benches are necessary : I was able to walk 10-12 km easily few years ago but now, I need to stop, just one or two minutes, particularly at the beginning of my walk. And I think our cities are really cheap on this front ! Second, about the part-time work for the elderly, when I retire twelve years ago I thought it would become more accepted and integrated in the working environments : every time I see an opening where I think I could contribute from my experience (community organizing, notably with older people) it is always for a full time job… Thanks for your posts.
Lloyd, thank you for writing about this. It’s a big topic at the moment.
I do agree we need to revisit all aspects of our society including the premise it was setup because it no longer serves any generation. I write about this on my substack.
As part of the revisiting we need to put everything on the table and discuss it.
I was shocked to read from Willis Harman in his book ‘Global Mind Change’ that there is, what is termed, a ‘global casino’ that dwarfs the real economy output of goods and services.
In fact today, in GDP terms, it is a staggering 10 times the size of the goods and services economy. (and yes I understand the difference between notional gdp and real gdp, but its the scale of money that is the point)
If we are looking to redistribute any accrued wealth, then let’s be balanced about it and not put the spotlight on just one group.