Counterpunch - "Putting the Breaks on Sprawl: A Subprime Wake Up Call"

 
Exerpts -

"If there is a silver lining in the sharp contraction of housing markets across the [U.S.], it is the impetus to reform a model for economic growth -- suburban sprawl -- that is fundamentally flawed."

"Those who benefited most from the 'ownership society' don't live on Main Street; they work on Wall Street and made huge fees and commissions"

"There are many intermediaries -- praetorian guards to the field generals of sprawl, each reaping a host of legal, engineering and lobbying fees. But the end goal of Wall Street's sprawl arrangement was to persuade distant investors, through the assurances of ratings agencies and insurers, that any particular development -- based on demographics, proximity to markets and even architectural and design parameters -- would deliver returns with the same reliability as a similar set of box retailers or platted subdivisions in, say, Las Vegas."