Energy prices erode appeal of country life

DENVER, June 25 (UPI) -- Rising energy costs are beginning to erode the appeal of living in the suburbs, U.S. land use experts have said.

Soaring gasoline prices and heating bills for large homes are causing some to reconsider moves into the quieter countryside, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

Home prices are reflecting the change. Home prices in Denver fell 5 percent in the final quarter of 2007. But, housing prices in outlying areas of Denver began falling in the middle of 2006 and fell 7 percent in last year's final quarter, the Times reported.

Long commutes were an issue for Colorado resident Phil Boyle, who prefers country charm to city chaos. However, his previous complaint of "too much time driving" to work and back has morphed recently to "too much time and money driving," he told the Times.

Some said the trend could have long-range repercussions.

"Many low-density suburbs and McMansion subdivisions … may become what inner cities became in the 1960s and '70s -- slums characterized by poverty, crime and decay," wrote urban land strategist Christopher B. Leinberger in a recent essay in The Atlantic Monthly.