These articles always approach housing choice as though it is in a vacuum where only commute times matter. What I never see mentioned is the issue of quality public schools. In your average American city with three rings of suburbs, fading into a ring of exurbs/bedroom communities, one of the most important factors in housing choice, after price, is the schools. Unfortunately, the schools in the city center often leave a lot to be desired.

Most cities already have those central historic neighborhoods that house the attorneys and college professors . . . who send their kids to private schools. Then there are the older neighborhoods that have already gone so downhill that absent a huge influx of bold renovators will remain as they are . . . and will still require private schools. So you get a great group of people renovating those houses and either not having kids, paying for private schools, or moving out when the kids hit school age.

So that leaves the average middle class family with the same choice it has always had: where can I get the biggest bang (house choice + school quality) for my housing dollar. They may move one ring in, but they're not going to move their families into an inferior school district, no matter how green it is.

True jakabedy. I read the link ML, and thank you for posting it. That is one man's (I hope, I didn't read the byline) opinion. But who knows what will happen in 10 years. They could develop a new fuel that would make commuting cheaper. People may not even go to central offices in 10-15 years, but do most of their work from home.

But the bottom line for most people is schools, like jakabedy said. I am not even in a burb of Dallas, but to move closer to DFW, I'd have to move to the far north end to get into a burb with a decent school district, and even then I don't know if we could afford it. I'd have to trade my house on an acre for a tiny starter home in a run-down neighborhood to buy for the same money I could sell for.

Dh's gas is paid for by the company, and they require an at home office, so the commute isn't an issue for us. It is schools, safe neighborhood, and good resale.