Travel Forecast: How U.S. Cities Will Change
For those who travel often, you, like me, are always thirsty for adventure. With that comes a constant curiosity to discover new ways to travel. Things are definitely changing with technology opening up new parts of the world and bloggers showing us new landscapes. So what’s going to change?
As we near the third decade of the current century (hard to believe, right?), we appear to be on the brink of a significant transformation of the very concept of the modern city. That doesn’t mean that we’ll soon be seeing brand new skylines or that flying cars will be taxiing us directly to hotel balconies anytime soon. It does, however, mean that in subtle ways, many major cities will be presenting brand new travel experiences. They’ll vary from one city to the next, and they can’t be predicted exactly, but here is some of what we expect to be seeing, at least in the U.S.
More Efficient Transportation
The idea that cars take up too much space in cities comes from a number of different angles, but all of them are propelling us toward change. On the one hand, they quite literally take up too much space; on another, they emit harmful gases that contribute significantly to the disastrous warming of the planet; finally, they’re also pretty inefficient in crowded cities. All of these problems will be addressed, undoubtedly with varying degrees of success, in the next decade or so. In some cases the results will mean far more efficient public transportation, and far less clutter and traffic – and maybe even cleaner air.
More Green Space
In many cases, as a direct result of more efficiency in transportation, we also expect to see U.S. cities striving for and producing more green space, as well. People want to enjoy the outdoors while they’re also in the midst of an metropolitan experience. An emphasis on green space can help cities fight back against global pollution and change, in a way, and in a more experiential sense can also simply make cities more pleasant to hang out in.
Fan-Geared Entertainment Venues
In-person entertainment industries are struggling in a lot of cases, largely in cities. Live sports attendance is down in most leagues, more people are staying home to stream movies, concert, theater, and comedy performances are more accessible than ever remotely, etc. We’re seeing cities taking steps to provide in-person entertainment venues that can combat these trends and appeal to modern visitors. Theaters embrace recliners, food, and drink; new concert venues are being planned with all sorts of ways to cater to fans. It’s a good bet that in another 10 years or so, going out for a show, a game, or a movie in a city you’re visiting will be a very different experience.
Modern Casinos
If you read this article I wrote, then you know I’ve fallen for the casino life. Casinos aren’t even something we think about when we imagine visiting American cities, save for Las Vegas or Atlantic City. But they might be in the future, because there are cracks appearing in the United States’ resistance to real-money gaming. For one thing, state after state is legalizing and regulating betting services, which aren’t games, but certainly relate to and open the door for casinos. For another, online gaming is on the rise in New Jersey and a couple other cities with laws that allow for it. Now, it may still be that the U.S. never universally legalizes gambling, but the trends are clear, and indicate a very real possibility that before too long more major U.S. cities will have casinos – and they’ll likely be very appealing, thoroughly modernized ones.
Virtual Reality Centers
Speaking of playing games in American cities, we should also get used to the idea of VR centers or VR arcades (VRcades) becoming fairly popular offerings. So far they’re only beginning to sprout up, but they’re poised to become a whole new form of entertainment that people seek out and enjoy. These venues will offer all sorts of fun games and virtual reality experiences you can’t necessarily get at home or elsewhere, and done right they’ll likely be huge businesses. In another five or 10 years, you may find more of these as you plan your trip!
