Why the end of cheap oil could spell death to suburbia

The whole US suburban lifestyle has been built around the car, and the central dogma that oil will remain cheap forever. So what would $100-a-barrel oil mean for the American dream?

Is America's middle class getting stuck up a suburban cul-de-sac, surrounded by for quick sale' signs, with a rusting commuter tank' in the drive without a fill-up? Not quite, at least not yet, thanks to a robust global economy.

True suburban property prices are falling, foreclosures and distressed selling are on a sharp rise - albeit from low bases - and there are rising concerns about petrol and heating costs. But the suburban beat goes on. At most, 10% of suburban households face incipient crisis in the short-term.

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