Even the town structure that Don describes is ending.
Large shopping centres are already starting to fail in the US.
There is even a web site for defunct shopping centres in the US.

True this is not the US, but we usually go along the same track.
In an era of expensive oil the car based economy will suffer and everything
will become local again. The era of Waltons in the US and a similar
offshoot, Cosco here, is a last hurrah !

The building of projects such as the NorthConnect in Sydney will be a
total waste of money as by the time it is finished it will not be
needed as traffic counts will decrease as commuters will not be able
to afford the weekly tolls and petrol.
Typical tolls and petrol plus servicing are about $300 a week for a
cross Sydney daily trip. And that is after tax money !
Truck drivers will not be able to compete with rail and shipping.

Four motorways have gone into bankruptcy already because traffic
counts did not reach the desired level to repay their cost.
Interesting side issue, the percentage of young people taking out
driver's licences has fallen and they are not buying cars.

It is well worthwhile looking around this subject and some major
changes are taking place.
Many economists etc think the GFC has ended, well it hasn't it has
only just started and will stagger on as it has for a little while yet
before it really becomes a pain.

Yep those were the days. Everyone went to town Saturday morning, & walked up & down the street, looking at everyone else walking up & down.

Then Saturday night everyone went to town, looked in at the town hall where nothing was happening. Of course it wasn't because everyone looked, then went to the cinema. At interval everyone would check the town hall again. Everyone was there, so the dance would start.

Everyone really did stand around clapping, while the few who could actually do rock & roll bunged on a turn.

You parked in the main street, & walked to every shop you wanted to go to.

I hate the way it is now, where each business has it's own car park, & you have to drive to each place, often kilometers apart.

I lived in Bathurst in the early 50s, & raced there in the 60s. It was a great town. I went back in 2002 for a reunion, & it was so depressing. Half the old CBD was closed & some even boarded up. We had to go to the Golf club to find a cup of coffee.

I won't mind in the least if you are right Bazz, but I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for it to happen.

Sorry Dan, but I too am sick of underprivileged & disadvantaged. I was reading the other day we spend $45000 for every aboriginal in the country, & over $100,000 for every one in remote "settlements". The same goes for every useless drongo in the country.

I'm feeling very underprivileged myself, & inclined to believe the biggest problem, is far too many privileges for the dropkicks among us. I'll prefer my taxes being used for something worth while, & wouldn't want to inflict the dropouts on any poor CBD.

...I am not surprised by many of the points made above on this subject. My concern for the waste that the decaying building infrastructure of dead CBD’s exposes, stems from a long involvement in the building trade.

...Too often homelessness is a chosen lifestyle, but In many instances it is not! The homeless are a disparate collection of those folk unfortunate enough to have forced on them, the need to prioritise a meager resource of money, in order to eat. It is not a case of pity, but a more bazaar case of Government failure to ensure the basic welfare of the society with which it is invested, does not go hungry and un-housed through Government neglect, by implementing policies which skew markets in the wrong direction, and thus become a direct cause of homelessness!

Well Hasbeen, no one can say it will all fall over on 21st March 2017
but what can be said with fair accuracy, simply because it can be calculated,
that significant change will occur in the period 2017 to 2020.
It is not known accurately because China may abandon some of its programs
and India may not continue improving the lot of many of its citizens.

In Australia we have probably lost the race to transition our economy
smoothly because the politicians all believe that there are no problems
ahead that cannot be solved by playing monopoly.
The penalty will be paid with high unemployment and the politicians
will have lost control of the economy but the economy will control the politicians.

That is where we disagree Diver.

Every one is offered the opportunity to gain an education, adequate to earn a reasonable living. If people chose not to use that opportunity, or will not work hard enough to be worth employing, that is not the taxpayers fault.

It should never be a function of government to hold the hand of every lazy bludger, or incompetent in the world. It is just that system that is now destroying western democracy. Any country that follows that policy is heading for bankruptcy.

We have seen the old Roman technique of bread & circus, perhaps without so much circus in places like Egypt & & Indonesia, with government subsidised food & fuel, & it always leads to society failure.

...Bazz does the summing-up of opportunistic Government policy accurately. The social implications of markets skewed towards wins for the prosperous in society is short sighted, and is not without repercussions such as waste and homelessness, overcrowded jails filled with alcoholics and drug addicts, and not forgetting to mention escalating gun crimes in the major cities, as dispossessed in our communities find alternative resources in the black market!