This blog has a great analysis of the conflunce of trends that led to several major parts of the current recession: declining real estate values, car-dependent development, the unraveling of community institutions and social capital, and escalating oil prices. The interplay between these trends that crested following the jobless recovery post-9/11, the blog argues, led to our current economic crisis and also points the way to potential solutions through more sustainable urban planning. Victorville, a once-prosperous model exurban community now facing some of the worst poverty in America, highlights the extent to which economic and environmental sustainability are intertwined.
http://www.commoncurrent.com/notes/2009/11/death-of-sprawl-part-2-mcmansi.html
