I figure while I’m spouting uninformed opinions I’d weigh in on gas prices. Part of me is glad that gas prices are going up. Americans spend far to much money maintaining and running far too many cars. We spend municipal money on roads and overpasses that could be spent on mass transit, parks, or bike trails. Maybe the high gas prices will finally force americans to take a close look at our wasteful consumption of resources. In my neighborhood we live less than a mile from the school, but the vast majority of parents drive their kids to and from school. Maybe if Americans used their feet more and their cars less we could also solve the growing problem of American obesity. Just a thought.
On the other hand, ouch. My budget is pinched enough without having to spend any more. I think I’m done persuing garage sales for the year because it costs too much to drive to them. I’ve started walking Link home from school and I may start walking him to school as well. Kiki’s school is further and walking isn’t really an option. I’m increasingly tempted by the thought of buying a bike with a child trailer attached. Unfortunately I can’t tell whether this is an expensive whim, or whether it would be wise financial planning. Biking to school and back is certainly easier and faster than walking. It is even possible that Kiki’s school might be in bike range, although probably not. Gleek’s preschool rotates through houses in the neighborhood, so no gas expense there. And the only out-of-neighborhood after school activity is Link’s soccer, which just became more expensive because of gas. I think that I may ask my neighbor if I can borrow her bike and trailer for a spin around the neighborhood some afternoon. I’ll either come home wanting one even more or I’ll decide it isn’t worth the money and storage space.
I dunno how reasonable carpooling is for you but I know it’s becoming more popular in my neck of the woods… esp for the afterschool activities side of things.
Well, like I’ve been posting for ages here, the rising gas prices are actually very good for parts of the economy, and in the end will be better for the environment not because people start riding bikes, but because alternative energy sources are now sliding into the competitive window where they used to be extremely overpriced and unfeasible.
If I could walk, I would. If there were decent public transportation, I would use that. I always did until I had children and we moved out here in the back beyond. But it’s 15 minutes by car to the elementary school and 40 minutes to the high school… that’s not anywhere close to walking distance. And there are no sidewalks anywhere out here.
Why did we move so far out of town? It’s family property (at least until a real estate developer decides they want it) and it’s safer. We have wild animals but not too much theft and while most people have guns they tend to use them on “varmints” and deer, not each other.
I agree that we should all walk more and that there should be better public transit. But it will be a long time before there is any transportation at all out here if there ever is.
And I seriously doubt that this administration will ever want to spend dollars on mass transit or bike trails. It’s not in their best interest.
In your case having a car is pretty much the only solution. Me? I’ve just been lazy. I live in a suburb with busses and school within walking distance. I’m just as guilty as anyone else of driving places I could walk or bike to. City folk don’t need cars the same way that country folk do, we’re just attached to them. I know people who have more cars than they have drivers. (Of course true city folk in big cities seem to have figured this out, it’s western states suburbanites I have experience with.)
The thought of a rural lot with wild animals has great appeal to me and in that case I’d be in the same boat as you.
Please remember that part of what you get with good roads is easy movement of goods. With every increase in gas prices, you get increased costs (at every level of production) for every consumable. Municipal road spending does have a direct benefit to you and your community.
A very good point and one I had not considered.
Oddly, the post directly following yours on my friends list contained the following information. Perhaps it will be useful:
>http://autos.msn.com/everyday/gasstations.aspx
>Check that before you go to the pump. All you have to do is enter in >your ZIP Code, and it’ll tell you where the cheap gas is.
That’s the point where you start looking for a closer place to live, a more fuel efficient car, a different place to work, and a cheaper source of food, or some combination of the above. 🙂
I bet I could go to the station on the top of that list and find the price exactly $0.40 higher than that website states. 😉
It turns out that currently the cheapest places to get gas are the Diamond Shamrock and Phillips 66 stations in town, and all of the DS stations are completely out of gas right now. All of the stations listed are higher than the DS/P66 stations.