
Never in history has distance meant less. Never have man's relationships with place
been more numerous, fragile and temporary. Throughout the advanced technological
societies, and particularly among those I have characterized as "the people of the future,"
commuting, traveling, and regularly relocating one's family have become second nature.
Figuratively, we "use up" places and dispose of them in much the same that we dispose of
Kleenex or beer cans. We are witnessing a historic decline in the significance of place to
human life. We are breeding a new race of nomads, and few suspect quite how massive,
widespread and significant their migrations are.