Political unrest, high gas prices, and summer heat is what Democrats have told us they want for decades because it's good for us. Now they have it, but voters won't behave like they want.
"They say 'it’s good for you!' and accuse the voters of being MAGA radicals, racists, or simpletons because we don’t all want to live in the crowded hive of densely-packed cities, use public transportation, and deny ourselves a suburban or pastoral life."
I just want to point out that having smaller and quieter communities WITHOUT requiring the use of a car is entirely possible and was the norm prior to the suburban boom after WWII. It requires that communities be more intelligent about their zoning and being smarter about integrating residential with commercial zones, so you don't have to hop in a car every time you want/need to do something out of the house.
It's not something that you'll get done in time to address the current fuel price surge, but it may alleviate future gas price hikes.
Also, there's no need to diss public transportation. It may not be your thing, but even if you're not using it, it benefits you, starting with less traffic you have to deal with from the people on the bus/train that would be driving alongside you if that service wasn't available.
Ask an upper-middle-class liberal in a place like Brookline, Newton, or Milton, Massachusetts how much they’re willing to sacrifice NIMBY and their home value to get those things. Then do the same in San Francisco, El Cerrito, Walnut Creek, or Palo Alto. Or Minneapolis, Bloomington, Maple Grove; or Chicago, Long Grove, Lincolnshire, etc. These are lofty ideas but of little practical value unless those who have skin in the game play by the same rules they want to enforce on the less privileged.
If someone wants to NIMBY themselves into higher gas prices and higher gas usage, I zero sympathy for them. As someone who DOES live in an upper-middle class neighborhood in Chicago (Lakeview) that is zoned in such a way that provide ready access to public transit and walkable distances to the smaller local supermarket, restaurants, etc. (the neighborhood is older than widespread auto usage), I'm just saying that it can (and does) work, and when done properly, can actually raise home values. We have a new set of apartments that just went up by the local train station that are commanding rents of $3k+ for studios (which is high even by Chicago standards) and in the local real-estate market, proximity to public transit raises the values of homes significantly. (Note that we also have some public housing in the neighborhood as well, so it's not exclusively upper-middle class residents around.)
I'm not optimistic enough to expect that Americans will think about these things differently - we seem to love our cars too much - but we're also not creating new petroleum reserves to tap, and I don't see fuel prices getting lower over the long term (even with a Republican president and Congress), so I guess we're in for some dumbbell politics as voters oscillate between parties under the impression that the party out of power will be the one to fix their issues, only to vote in the other guys every 4 or 8 years until they realize that the fix for this is in their own towns instead of Washington. I'll be surprised if the electorate figures this out in my lifetime.
In the meantime, I'll keep on enjoying living in my own impractical corner of the country. :-)
Jun 13, 2022·edited Jun 13, 2022Liked by Chris J. Karr
Three of those cities have BART (SF, El Cerrito, and Walnut Creek), and both SF and Palo Alto have CalTrain.
The issues in those locations is housing density, not public transit itself: the NIMBYs fighting the ability of a landowner to put multi-unit housing in place. This is changing some with a recently passed bill that allows for duplexes on single-family residential zoning.
Jun 13, 2022·edited Jun 13, 2022Liked by Chris J. Karr
I remember, during WWII, my dad buying a bicycle to ride a mile or two to work and to stop by the beer joint on the way home. He would let me ride on the seat while he pedaled around the neighborhood. Despite getting my toes painfully caught in the spokes once, I became hooked on bicycling and walking but it became more dangerous over the years because of urban sprawl. Fifty years ago, I always walked a mile or two each way to the grocery store during the frequent ice storms in the Atlanta area with my wife and son. The last time I attempted a bike ride to a grocery store was over twenty years ago in Augusta. I was forced off the road into a creek in the half mile between the Publix and the relative safety of my gated community. Today, it is dangerous not to drive in suburban areas because of traffic and in urban areas because of lawlessness.
Kroger's surveys and gift card purchase for fuel points helped to get the price down. Also, trying to save by not punching the gas and taking it slower (not easy to do on I-285) ;-)
Jun 13, 2022·edited Jun 13, 2022Liked by Chris J. Karr
Oil is a finite resource and we have just about squeezed out the last of the easily accessible oils and we have resorted to shale sources which we are rapidly wringing out, too. At some point, the cost:benefit will become too prohibitive to continue searching and drilling as the locations of potential oil sources are more difficult to access.
I don't know of a single Liberal/Democrat who advocates for higher prices in order to force alternative approaches. I do know a slew of Conservative/Republicans who refuse to acknowledge that oil is a finite resource and that we are no longer able to sustain previous production levels in a world of increasing population and more and more automobiles. ("Drill, Baby, Drill!!!" and all that.)
I believe the Era of cheap gas is over, but not because Democrats want it to be.
"They say 'it’s good for you!' and accuse the voters of being MAGA radicals, racists, or simpletons because we don’t all want to live in the crowded hive of densely-packed cities, use public transportation, and deny ourselves a suburban or pastoral life."
I just want to point out that having smaller and quieter communities WITHOUT requiring the use of a car is entirely possible and was the norm prior to the suburban boom after WWII. It requires that communities be more intelligent about their zoning and being smarter about integrating residential with commercial zones, so you don't have to hop in a car every time you want/need to do something out of the house.
It's not something that you'll get done in time to address the current fuel price surge, but it may alleviate future gas price hikes.
Also, there's no need to diss public transportation. It may not be your thing, but even if you're not using it, it benefits you, starting with less traffic you have to deal with from the people on the bus/train that would be driving alongside you if that service wasn't available.
Ask an upper-middle-class liberal in a place like Brookline, Newton, or Milton, Massachusetts how much they’re willing to sacrifice NIMBY and their home value to get those things. Then do the same in San Francisco, El Cerrito, Walnut Creek, or Palo Alto. Or Minneapolis, Bloomington, Maple Grove; or Chicago, Long Grove, Lincolnshire, etc. These are lofty ideas but of little practical value unless those who have skin in the game play by the same rules they want to enforce on the less privileged.
If someone wants to NIMBY themselves into higher gas prices and higher gas usage, I zero sympathy for them. As someone who DOES live in an upper-middle class neighborhood in Chicago (Lakeview) that is zoned in such a way that provide ready access to public transit and walkable distances to the smaller local supermarket, restaurants, etc. (the neighborhood is older than widespread auto usage), I'm just saying that it can (and does) work, and when done properly, can actually raise home values. We have a new set of apartments that just went up by the local train station that are commanding rents of $3k+ for studios (which is high even by Chicago standards) and in the local real-estate market, proximity to public transit raises the values of homes significantly. (Note that we also have some public housing in the neighborhood as well, so it's not exclusively upper-middle class residents around.)
I'm not optimistic enough to expect that Americans will think about these things differently - we seem to love our cars too much - but we're also not creating new petroleum reserves to tap, and I don't see fuel prices getting lower over the long term (even with a Republican president and Congress), so I guess we're in for some dumbbell politics as voters oscillate between parties under the impression that the party out of power will be the one to fix their issues, only to vote in the other guys every 4 or 8 years until they realize that the fix for this is in their own towns instead of Washington. I'll be surprised if the electorate figures this out in my lifetime.
In the meantime, I'll keep on enjoying living in my own impractical corner of the country. :-)
Three of those cities have BART (SF, El Cerrito, and Walnut Creek), and both SF and Palo Alto have CalTrain.
The issues in those locations is housing density, not public transit itself: the NIMBYs fighting the ability of a landowner to put multi-unit housing in place. This is changing some with a recently passed bill that allows for duplexes on single-family residential zoning.
Oh, and of course SF has MUNI for their subway/street-level light rail and bus services.
I remember, during WWII, my dad buying a bicycle to ride a mile or two to work and to stop by the beer joint on the way home. He would let me ride on the seat while he pedaled around the neighborhood. Despite getting my toes painfully caught in the spokes once, I became hooked on bicycling and walking but it became more dangerous over the years because of urban sprawl. Fifty years ago, I always walked a mile or two each way to the grocery store during the frequent ice storms in the Atlanta area with my wife and son. The last time I attempted a bike ride to a grocery store was over twenty years ago in Augusta. I was forced off the road into a creek in the half mile between the Publix and the relative safety of my gated community. Today, it is dangerous not to drive in suburban areas because of traffic and in urban areas because of lawlessness.
Kroger's surveys and gift card purchase for fuel points helped to get the price down. Also, trying to save by not punching the gas and taking it slower (not easy to do on I-285) ;-)
Oil is a finite resource and we have just about squeezed out the last of the easily accessible oils and we have resorted to shale sources which we are rapidly wringing out, too. At some point, the cost:benefit will become too prohibitive to continue searching and drilling as the locations of potential oil sources are more difficult to access.
I don't know of a single Liberal/Democrat who advocates for higher prices in order to force alternative approaches. I do know a slew of Conservative/Republicans who refuse to acknowledge that oil is a finite resource and that we are no longer able to sustain previous production levels in a world of increasing population and more and more automobiles. ("Drill, Baby, Drill!!!" and all that.)
I believe the Era of cheap gas is over, but not because Democrats want it to be.
https://drillers.com/how-much-oil-is-left-in-the-world/