The "trend" stories promoting "in-town" living as a solution to high energy prices have officially begun: Steve Brown offers up a starter story in the DMN about a few residents who have moved closer to where they work to cut commutes and save money. One couple moved from the White Rock Lake area to downtown to be closer to a job, while another downsized from a 3,900-square-foot house in North Dallas to a Cole Avenue townhouse. The story focused primarily on people moving downtown, but that’s only a fraction of the story we’re going to start seeing. As Realtor Jeff Updike is quoted saying: "Selling, buying and moving is a big financial decision, so people won’t have the knee-jerk reaction many have had in changing to a more fuel-efficient car. Now the investigation process has begun, and we have seen a tremendous increase in calls regarding the cost of urban living, homeowners associations, DART rail stations, etc." Over time, all of this will be great news for those who already live inside the LBJ loop, because home prices will start increasing more quickly here once the economy rights itself. It will also be great news for people already living near retail/restaurant/office nodes, because residential living close to those places will be the hottest thing going pretty soon.