A Reuters article this week suggests that Gainesville is a dying community.

I think the article gets some things right and others wrong.

Gainesville home sales are jumping. And in the lower prices we're seeing bidding wars and/or multiple offers. That doesn't signal to me that the entire community is dying. And, yes, there are still a lot more foreclosures to come. If they come at a measured pace the market will quickly absorb them.

On the other hand, I continue to see buyers less willing to do the long commute. So, unless the pool of jobs within a reasonable driving distance of Gainesville increases, the community has some tough times ahead.

And, the further out you go (think Fauquier County) the more commuters have opted out.

Are new, good jobs going to be created in these communities? Or, are we simply going to be smaller?

Am I the only one who thinks that there's a problem with the vast majority of new business coming into Culpeper and Fauquier counties being retail?

Where are the businesses that will employ people who could actually afford to live here, buy homes here?

Why the focus on minimum wage employers?

How about some businesses that could employ locals and save them from commuting into Northern Virginia or DC?

Maybe there are secret negotiations going on to do just this. Or, maybe our elected officials have tried and failed. Or, maybe this is the normal pattern of growth and retail always comes before commercial/industrial jobs.

But I need to be convinced that there's a sensible plan here!

Any of you know something I don't?