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I recently spent the better part of three days in the eastern Nevada town of Ely. For those of you not current on your Nevada geography, Ely is the largest town on a 400-mile stretch of Highway 50 through Nevada and Utah known as the "Loneliest Highway in America."

In other words, Ely is a small town smack in the middle of nowhere. The nearest town is more than 70 miles away.

What's the economic engine of the 21st Century? It's not exploitation of natural resources – which, according to one recent report, accounts for only 5% of our nation's wealth. It's not factory-style production – that's only another 18%. It's "intangible capital" – our education, our system of laws that creates a predictable society, ingenuity, and the ability to convert ingenuity into tangible products. These represent more than three-quarters of our nation's wealth.

During a recent visit with my family, I vowed never again to drive my car to work. Well, at least as little as possible.

They looked at me as if I was crazy. When I told them how much I enjoyed walking to work and nearby shops, they were speechless.

There are few places more exciting than the pulsing downtown of a big city. There is a vitality and diversity that is palpable. Sure, it might be kind of noisy and dirty and crowded. But there is so much going on � commerce, entertainment, education, travel, socializing � that it's easy to overlook the grime and congestion.

Sometimes even journalists get it right.

There's a downturn in the real estate development market. Does that mean we'll soon see cities in California cutting development impact fees as well?

The pressure is building. Development projects that made economic sense a year or two ago – even with high impact fees – don't "pencil" now because interest rates have gone up and prices have stagnated or even dropped. In many cases, the dreams of both developers and cities are now on hold.

There's a downturn in the real estate development market. Does that mean we'll soon see cities in California cutting development impact fees as well?

When I was interviewing for a summer fellowship with Solimar Research Group, I asked the last question that a young professional fresh out of graduate school hoping to relocate to Southern California would be expected to ask. "Can I live in Ventura without a car?"

I received a reassuring "yes" for an answer; however, I didn't realize that I would be up against one of the country's most car-reliant populations apart from my hometown of Atlanta.