Or it might have the opposite effect. Businesses and corporations might move out to where their best workers are and have nice, campus-like HQ’s in the ‘burbs rather than expensive sky scrapers in the middle of town. Not to mention the boost this would be for telecommuting. They might well shoot themselves in the foot on this one.
Good point. In my view, government meddling in the free market accelerated the exodus from cities, with a combination of inner-city rent control and mandated fuel economy increases that began in the 70's.
It seemed impossible at the time, but the manufacturers did succeed in reducing the cost per mile driven, such that commuting became immensely less expensive. Combine lower costs per mile with cheaper real estate in the suburbs, and you get massive migration away from city centers. Higher costs per mile will cause some return to city centers over time.
The sad thing is that, the stated goal of CAFE was to reduce the comsumption of petroleum, but since commuting longer distances was made more economically feasible, the increased miles driven (we drive 30% more miles today than in 1974) completely nullified the goal of reduced consumption.
The other trend that bears mentioning is the new tendency for sprawl around major airport hubs, like Dulles and Dallas Fort-Worth, which is an example of businesses, as you point out, moving to "where the action is".