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| writing:exurbs_in_the_solarpunk_transition [2026/01/12 15:52] – [How and Why Would Exurbs Change?] JacobCoffinWrites | writing:exurbs_in_the_solarpunk_transition [2026/01/12 16:11] (current) – JacobCoffinWrites |
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| The exurb format is basically inherently impractical, dependent on long supply chains and especially on a subsidized auto industry and cheap, subsidized fuel. Any disruption to these systems can cause outsized problems for exurban residents who drive further, have fewer alternative options (for transportation, work, supplies etc), and who depend on longer logistics lines than other communities. Perhaps more significantly, in times of shortages and disruption, these towns may lack the population and municipal coordination necessary to advocate for themselves over larger neighboring communities. If resources are limited, it's likely going to be easier to justify providing aid to a city of a hundred thousand than to a town of two thousand. This already happens in the event of natural disasters, and it may prove especially true in the sort of slow decline and less-visible hardship these towns may face, without showy, media-worthy evidence to call attention to their situation. | The exurb format is basically inherently impractical, dependent on long supply chains and especially on a subsidized auto industry and cheap, subsidized fuel. Any disruption to these systems can cause outsized problems for exurban residents who drive further, have fewer alternative options (for transportation, work, supplies etc), and who depend on longer logistics lines than other communities. Perhaps more significantly, in times of shortages and disruption, these towns may lack the population and municipal coordination necessary to advocate for themselves over larger neighboring communities. If resources are limited, it's likely going to be easier to justify providing aid to a city of a hundred thousand than to a town of two thousand. This already happens in the event of natural disasters, and it may prove especially true in the sort of slow decline and less-visible hardship these towns may face, without showy, media-worthy evidence to call attention to their situation. |
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| Almost every aspect of modern life depends on incredibly complex web of supply lines - it's not enough to just note that manufacturing starts with resources which are extracted from remote locations (whether that's mines, oil wells, or timber forests) and are transported for refinement, because the mines etc and transportation industries also rely on heavy machinery, replacement parts, fuel and lubricants, electricity, from the existing network of extraction, transportation, and manufacturing. The resources are refined in various stages at various facilities around the world (most of which are themselves incredibly complex and dependent on external inputs), and are then transported and used to produce parts which are transported, assembled into a final object, transported, sold, and transported home. Just from COVID and recent tariffs we've gotten some glimpses to just how thoroughly disruptions in one area can break things all over, to say nothing of components like complex electronic chips which are only produced in one or two geographic regions. Climate Change and the wars, pandemics, and other disasters which flow from it can all cause cascading issues and outright collapse. Even when items are produced, will the transportation fleet be up to moving them? Without fuel and replacement parts and new truck production to replace losses, our logistics network will weaken or break. Similarly, the transportation infrastructure, roads and bridges is already experiencing infrastructure debt from decades of austerity/neglect, and is also dependent on steel, concrete, asphalt, and other materials with long supply chains. When it becomes harder to transport goods, and goods are scarce, will corporations bother shipping them to their most remote retail locations? Will states transport aid past larger cities with dense, easier-to-reach populations in need in order to help scattered populations on the outskirts? | Almost every aspect of modern life depends on incredibly complex web of supply lines - it's not enough to just note that manufacturing starts with resources which are extracted from remote locations (whether that's mines, oil wells, or timber forests) and are transported for refinement, because the mines etc and transportation industries also rely on heavy machinery, replacement parts, fuel and lubricants, electricity, from the existing network of extraction, transportation, and manufacturing. The resources are refined in various stages at various facilities around the world (most of which are themselves incredibly complex and dependent on external inputs), and are then transported and used to produce parts which are transported, assembled into a final object, transported, sold, and transported home. We've seen recently that even relatively gentle disruptions like COVID and recent tariffs can break things all over, to say nothing of components like complex electronic chips which are only produced in one or two geographic locations. Climate Change and the wars, pandemics, and other disasters which flow from it can all cause cascading issues which push this complex network to outright collapse. Even when items are produced, will the transportation fleet be up to moving them? Without fuel and replacement parts and new truck production to replace losses, our logistics network will weaken or break. Similarly, the transportation infrastructure, roads and bridges is already experiencing infrastructure debt from decades of austerity/neglect, and is also dependent on steel, concrete, asphalt, and other materials with long supply chains. When it becomes harder to transport goods, and goods are scarce, will corporations bother shipping them to their most remote retail locations? Will states transport aid past cities and large towns with dense, easier-to-reach populations in need in order to help scattered populations on the outskirts? |
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| Life in exurbs could become much more difficult in these circumstances. Food, fuel, heating oil, and durable goods may become expensive or simply hard to find at any price. Construction materials necessary to continue development or to upkeep existing buildings may become scarce. Roads may become even more expensive to maintain and vehicles damaged by accidents or poor road conditions may be much more expensive or impossible to repair for lack of parts. As the existing fleet dwindles, replacement vehicles will climb in price. | Life in exurbs could become much more difficult in these circumstances. Food, fuel, heating oil, and durable goods may become expensive or simply hard to find at any price. Construction materials necessary to continue development or to upkeep existing buildings may become scarce. Roads and power infrastructure may become even more expensive to maintain and vehicles damaged by accidents or poor road conditions may be much more expensive or impossible to repair for lack of parts. As the existing fleet dwindles, replacement vehicles will climb in price. |
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| There will always be some who value home over all else and will change whatever they have to to make it work. They may represent homesteaders in a future solarpunk setting. But others might move closer to the rest of society. This might not start as a permanent commitment, they might stay with friends or relatives near work, set up a camper in a driveway, or if things are desperate enough, follow long human tradition and build slums and encampments near whatever looks like opportunity. This is a messy, ugly stage in a transition, but it's not a terribly unlikely one. The scope and scale of this cascading series of crisis and the population shifts which follow from them will depend mostly on your optimism as a writer. | There will always be some who value home over all else and will change whatever they have to to make it work. They may represent homesteaders in a future solarpunk setting. But others might move closer to the rest of society. This might not start as a permanent commitment, they might stay with friends or relatives near work, set up a camper in a driveway, or if things are desperate enough, follow long human tradition and build slums and encampments near whatever looks like opportunity. This is a messy, ugly stage in a transition, but it's not a terribly unlikely one. The scope and scale of this cascading series of crisis and the population shifts which follow from them will depend mostly on your optimism as a writer. |
| As for the farms, homesteads, and other holdouts, I'd suggest looking for aspects of solarpunk which are easy to arrive at independently because they work, especially in times of scarcity. It takes all kinds to make a world, but there are a lot of solarpunk practices which make sense through a lens of rugged individualism and would be an easy starting point for someone who isn't ideologically aligned with the rest of the movement. Solar panels and water wheels allow you to live comfortably without relying on a company or local electric co-op for your power, even when storms would have caused outages. Solar hot water heaters or solar cookers let you heat water or prepare food with no fuel. Solarpunk farming practices such as [[https://www.fs.usda.gov/nac/practices/index.shtml|agroforestry]], replenishing soil with [[https://medium.com/local-carbon-network/biochar-and-the-mechanisms-of-nutrient-retention-and-exchange-in-the-soil-e733dacdc3ea|biochar]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramial_chipped_wood|ramial chipped wood]], building [[https://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/living-fences-zmaz10onzraw/|resilient living fences]], operating [[winter_greenhouses|passive greenhouses]], using [[https://www.facebook.com/groups/21070015101/posts/10158975899375102/|bait]] [[https://archive.is/MSpKO|trees]] in orchards, can all make sense when external inputs like chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and fuel are hard to come by. It's possible that people in these regions would still be comparatively conservative in your solarpunk future, but would look quite progressive or forward-thinking to a modern audience because these practices have been enabled and essentially been made the default the way that unsustainable, consumerist ones are today. | As for the farms, homesteads, and other holdouts, I'd suggest looking for aspects of solarpunk which are easy to arrive at independently because they work, especially in times of scarcity. It takes all kinds to make a world, but there are a lot of solarpunk practices which make sense through a lens of rugged individualism and would be an easy starting point for someone who isn't ideologically aligned with the rest of the movement. Solar panels and water wheels allow you to live comfortably without relying on a company or local electric co-op for your power, even when storms would have caused outages. Solar hot water heaters or solar cookers let you heat water or prepare food with no fuel. Solarpunk farming practices such as [[https://www.fs.usda.gov/nac/practices/index.shtml|agroforestry]], replenishing soil with [[https://medium.com/local-carbon-network/biochar-and-the-mechanisms-of-nutrient-retention-and-exchange-in-the-soil-e733dacdc3ea|biochar]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramial_chipped_wood|ramial chipped wood]], building [[https://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/living-fences-zmaz10onzraw/|resilient living fences]], operating [[winter_greenhouses|passive greenhouses]], using [[https://www.facebook.com/groups/21070015101/posts/10158975899375102/|bait]] [[https://archive.is/MSpKO|trees]] in orchards, can all make sense when external inputs like chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and fuel are hard to come by. It's possible that people in these regions would still be comparatively conservative in your solarpunk future, but would look quite progressive or forward-thinking to a modern audience because these practices have been enabled and essentially been made the default the way that unsustainable, consumerist ones are today. |
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| There are also some | There are also some interesting opportunities here to consider what kinds of modifications may be necessary to transform an old exurban home into a self-sufficient homestead. From power generation to [[solarpunk_networks|communication technology]], to general layout and the use of space, there are a lot of possibilities for changes which might be layered onto one another. Turning lawns into farms is the obvious starting point, but they'll likely need to add outbuildings as various tasks which used to be accomplished by long drives to (or delivery from) the larger society must be accomplished by a much smaller network of nearby holdouts. This might include things like sawmills, sap houses, ice houses or root cellars, vehicle maintenance sheds for a larger collection of machinery, etc. Operating more or less alone has a much larger independent footprint than being part of a close community. |
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| === Vehicles === | === Vehicles === |
