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Are commercial buildings becomming obsolete as more workers do their work at home? The answer seems to be no!
April 01, 2007 -- Just outside of cities, near an interstate highways, there are corridors of business-corporate-office parks. Typically, these have merely evolved rather than having been planned under a coordinated overall design. This is a "suburban activity center" going through several political subdivisions. All of these commercial areas have grown in suburban locations.
Are commercial buildings becoming obsolete as more workers do their work at home? The answer seems to be no! A study finds that suburb-to-suburb commuting is the dominant national commuting pattern. That's because "jobs have tended to locate in the suburbs, following behind the population shift there."
The traditional commute between suburb and center city is no longer the dominant pattern. It is in fact third, behind central city-to-central city. Work-travel between metropolitan areas is becoming a significant element in commuting patterns as suburbs overlap. And these trips "pass through at least two suburban areas and about 55% have their destinations in a suburb."
For real estate investors, suburb-to-suburb commuting pattern indicates a greater balance between workers and jobs in the suburbs. And it means that there is a growing demand for more office and industrial parks, for more shopping facilities, for more housing of all kinds, and for more parking garages. Many people now spend virtually their entire 24-hour day in the suburbs whereas only a few decades ago, the suburbs were essentially the "bedrooms" for people who commuted into the city to work.
The success of new developments, whether for jobs, for retailing, or for housing, will depend to a certain extent on having adequate roadways. The capacity of the road system to handle growth in commuting is a key planning element in the real estate project. The typical commute today is about 10 miles and takes 21 minutes, which indicates an average speed of about 28 miles per hour. If heavy traffic reduces that average speed much lower, it can cause a major problem.
Three "Booms”
There are three main "booms" behind the emerging commuting patterns.
The worker boom. The "baby boomer" generation has now been in the work force for many years and that has increased the working-age population by 38% compared to an overall population growth of 26%. Also, women are entering the job market in extraordinary numbers and that has resulted in a large leap in the proportion of the population in the working-age group.
The suburban office boom. The suburbanization of jobs means that local residents now typically stay within the suburban areas for their daily commute. About one-third of all commuting is now a suburb-to-suburb trip.
The private vehicle boom. A majority of U.S. households now have two or more vehicles. Commuting in the suburbs has favored (some people say dictated) the use of private autos, vans, and light trucks. Public transit is used in only 6.2% of all the nation's work travel and the bulk of that is in the inner cities.
Land For Parking
Providing ample parking space is essential. It is also increasingly expensive as land in the suburbs is in greater demand for commercial and industrial use. Developers of innovative parking techniques will be sought at suburban industrial and office parks, residential apartment houses, and at hotels and shopping centers. |
