Suburban tide ebbing?

The suburban ideal that arose in the twentieth century has in large part been dependent on the automobile and, by extension, affordable gas.  The recent hike in gas prices may be doing what decades of criticism of the social and ecological costs of suburban sprawl may have failed to do: end, or at least slow, the tide of suburban sprawl that has been devouring our open space, contributing to climate change, and ruining our cities.  See the article in yesterday's New York Times, "Fuel Prices Shift Math for Life in Far Suburbs," by Peter S. Goodman: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/business/25exurbs.html?ex=1215057600&en=56789d1b23fed0f4&ei=5070&emc=eta1 .