Americans Moving Back Into the City

Written by nickel - 5 Comments

After years and years (and years) of fleeing cities for the suburbs, Americans have reportedly begun to reverse the trend, and are moving back downtown. While young professionals are leading the charge, empty nesters and retirees have also joined in. A few of the advantages of living in an apartment or condo downtown:

- Less traffic, shorter (if any) commute
- No lawn care
- Restaurants that are just a short walk away
- Leisure activities (movies, plays, concerts, pro sports, etc.) are all nearby

The downside?

- Crime
- Homelessness
- Comparatively poor schools

And from my perspective, living in a ‘concrete jungle’ is more than a little depressing. Then again, so is a monster commute. My solution? Move to a smaller town.

Anyway, while crime rates have fallen dramatically over the past 15 years, the latest stats have city managers concerned, as they reveal an increase in the violent crime rate. While it’s small in terms of percentages (2.5%), it’s the first increase since 2001, and some cities (Houston, Philadelphia and Las Vegas) saw substantial increases in their murder rates.

[Source: CNN/Money]

Published on June 19th, 2006 - 5 Comments
Filed under: Real Estate
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Comments (scroll down to add your own):

I’ve moved into and then back out of downtown Denver in the past 18 months. The biggest downside was the access to everyday necessities. Downtown IS nice for restaurants but horrible for groceries, etc. Another downside was the cost of parking. I don’t agree with the ‘less traffic’, except for the periods when I didn’t have a car.
Comment by m@ — Jun 19th 2006 @ 4:53 pm
It’s a shame we have to move out of the city. But between the cost of buying here (even in the bad neighborhood we live in now) and the fact that several of my fiancee’s perfectly-legal-in-Indiana-and-Michigan hobbies are felonies in Chicago, we’ll be buying in Highland.

If we have kids, they’re not going to public school anyway, so that’s not an issue.

Downtown _used_ to be nice for restaurants, until this year when the neo-fascists finally got their beloved smoking ban past the aldermen. We’ve been driving out of town when we go out to eat anyway, so no big loss there from the move. And since I can take the South Shore train to work, I don’t have to worry about traffic either.

It’s just too bad we’ll be so much further away from our friends.
Comment by Matt — Jun 20th 2006 @ 7:01 am
Now I’m curious… What are these hobbies?

Comment by nickel — Jun 20th 2006 @ 7:40 am
It seems that poker is the safe bet based on the states listed…
Comment by Poker — Jun 20th 2006 @ 4:17 pm
She collects firearms and swords.

I am _such_ a lucky guy!
Comment by Matt — Jun 21st 2006 @ 3:05 am