By Stacey Moncrieff, Editor in Chief

Do high gas prices have the power to change our housing patterns, causing people to flee exurban areas for homes in cities and inner-ring suburbs? And, if so, what does that mean for REALTORS® who work in those outlying areas? Those were the key questions in a fascinating teleconference, facilitated today by our senior editor Robert Freedman.

Although the planners, developers, analysts, and REALTORS® on our panel weren’t of a like mind on all points, they did agree on one thing: The trend toward “walkable urban” areas (as panelist Christopher Leinberger calls them) is real. High gas prices only serve to encourage a movement that was already underway as a result of demographic shifts. The trend doesn’t mean the death knell of suburbs, Leinberger and others said. Many suburban areas, such as Arlington County, Va., have successfully created “walkable urban” areas around transit lines. And now, rail lines (and adjacent development) are gaining steam even in car-dependent cities like Los Angeles and Phoenix.

In October, we’ll bring you highlights of the discussion. In the meantime, I’d like to know what you think, particularly if you live and/or work in an outer-ring suburb. Over the next five years, will we see continued softening in exurban areas — and, if so, what are you and the communities you’re working in doing to cope?