Job Sprawl

Tanya Snyder, writing for StreetsBlog, has an interesting look at how job sprawl effects dual-income households:

Job sprawl has spread at the same time that dual-income households are on the rise. While more research is needed to gauge the effects on working couples and families, it stands to reason that dispersed employment makes it harder for two people to both land jobs with a sane commute, and to figure out where to set up a household.

The growing decentralization of employment also lags behind the increasingly strong demand for city living. The housing market is beginning to correct itself after the distortions of past decades, when developers over-built in the suburbs. Growth is stalled in outer suburbs and lighting up in central cities and walkable suburbs. Housing values in walkable places weren’t hit as hard and are rebounding faster than the McMansion neighborhoods that became “toxic” foreclosure zones.

It’s interesting that most people relate sprawl to housing but it’s happening with jobs as well. The decentralization of job centers that has been happening since the mid–20th century is making it hard for dual-income households to come up with a workable living situation.