If you think the economic downturn is bad for you, try being a developer of sprawly McMansion exurbs. Those dudes have it rough!

Don’t miss this hilarious story from Kaid Benfield, director of NRDC’s smart growth program.

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So developer Gladstone Homes builds this development outside Chicago, in Plainfield, Ill., called Chatham Square, filled with McMansions 3,200 square feet and over, priced at over a half-mil a piece. You can choose from the Jadestone, the Neostone, the Wildstone, the Penstone, or many other slight variants of the same huge, generic house with a two-car garage!

Only nobody wants them. So Gladstone is, I kid you not, offering purchasers of high-end Chatham products the following discounts:

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  • $75,000 worth of free upgrades
  • A gasoline card worth $2,000
  • Developer-paid utility bills for five years
  • A 2009 Toyota Prius

Har!

Apparently this plan is not sitting well with Gladstone residents who paid full price. Better than living in a half-empty exurb, I say.