From the Twin Cities area comes a painful story of the damage and disruption in exurbs that grew exponentially in the past decade. Pain exacerbated by the reality of $4 gasoline facing the prospects of gasoline prices heading higher. (Peak Oil, anyone?)
As the article subtitle puts it
Once booming symbols of possibility, the Twin Cities exurbs are scarred by foreclosures, battered by gas prices and uncertain when recovery might come.
Towns that grew 30+% over the decade with good numbers of people driving 30+ miles each way to work. Worth it, of course, because they could buy a larger home living out in Exurbia. They were living the American dream.
Now, with employment stressed and gasoline prices up, dreams are turning into nightmares.
Could a simple change in the mortgage process have avoided much of this pain?