When Does a City Become a Suburb?
How did it happen? How did the one or two hour commute become the norm. There was a time when the rest of the country looked at Los Angeles and wondered: how do they do that, how do they sit in their cars so long every day? More and more Americans are wondering less about that because they know it first hand. What was once “the LA Experience” is now the norm in most metropolises. And in many areas, like Atlanta and the Bay Area, the two and three-hour commute is now, if not the norm, fairly routine.
What will be the impact over time of this ever expanding megalopolis trend? How will it affect the political landscape? Will we adopt new ways of working to manage these commutes? Will the distinctions between urban, suburban and rural be completely erased soon?
This is another conversation that we, as a society, are not having. The implications are ominous, as this WaPo article alludes.