You mentioned a very important trend.
Proximity to work place and access to public transportation are key in major metropolitan cities as well. Not everybody drives in big cities, and that is even more critical during $4/gal gas days.

There are other trends that I pay attention to:
- Migration trends: Most people are moving to sunbelt states. Even though most of the cities in the sunbelt are suffering RE-related issues, people still keep looking for hotter weather.
- Proximity to good healt care centers
- Healthier lifestyles (people want easy access to places where they can exercise, jog, run, play sports, yoga, etc)