In 1971 the city of Bolinas, California, stopped growing. Why?
Because that was the year the city decided to stop allowing new
water meters to connect to the city supply. And no new water
meters means, for practical purposes, no new houses — ergo, no
more growth. You can see that in graphical terms via Trulia,
with the city’s growth essentially hitting a wall in 1971. For
practical purposes, the city hit a resource wall. No more water.
Granted, that wall was externally created — via legislation —
but the effect was the same: a resource constraint changed the
evolving nature of a city. Something similar has to happen with
$5/gallon oil across the U.S., and it has to become even more
pronounced at $7 oil, etc. Cities’ structures will change, with
most hitting an "exurbification" wall in 2008. Just look
graphically at the evolution of cities like San Diego or Atlanta
to see a pattern that will not be repeated in future. More here
on Bolinas and its "no mo’ meters" decision from a 2005 piece in
the NYT.