[Culturechat] A washingtonpost.com article from: samovar9@aol.com
WesTexas@aol.com
WesTexas@aol.com
Thu, 10 Feb 2005 12:11:02 EST
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In a message dated 2/8/05 8:26:20 PM, jclancy@billtrak.com writes:
> It's time, hassle and traffic stagnation (and its concomitant stress) that
> is causing this, not the cost or lack of gasoline.
>
Mr. Clancy is correct that the primary driving force regarding walkable New
Urbanism projects along mass transit lines is the increased congestion on the
roads--which is a function of 20 plus years of cheap energy. If you drive an
average new sedan and trade it after four years, your cost of gasoline, as a
percentage of total ownership and driving costs, is only about half of what it
was in 1981.
However, in the future, perhaps the very near future (especially if we attack
Iran), the main driving force regarding New Urbanism projects is going to be
the cost and/or lack of gasoline. I suspect that in time it will become
apparent that the Europeans were far smarter than we were regarding their
pricing of energy. At energy becomes increasingly expensive and scarce, large
chunks of our suburban infrastructure (those areas that are not walkable and/or
not along mass transit lines) are going to become in effect slums.
J. Brown
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<HTML><FONT FACE=3Darial,helvetica><HTML><FONT COLOR=3D"#000000" FACE=3D"Gen=
eva" FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF" SIZE=3D"2"><BR>
In a message dated 2/8/05 8:26:20 PM, jclancy@billtrak.com writes:<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE CITE STYLE=3D"BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px;=20=
MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px" TYPE=3D"CITE"></FONT><FONT COLOR=3D"#0=
00000" FACE=3D"Geneva" FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF" SIZE=3D"2">It's time, hassle and=
traffic stagnation (and its concomitant stress) that is causing this, not t=
he cost or lack of gasoline.</FONT><FONT COLOR=3D"#000000" FACE=3D"Geneva" F=
AMILY=3D"SANSSERIF" SIZE=3D"2"><BR>
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT><FONT COLOR=3D"#000000" FACE=3D"Geneva" FAMILY=3D"SANSSE=
RIF" SIZE=3D"2"><BR>
Mr. Clancy is correct that the primary driving force regarding walkable New=20=
Urbanism projects along mass transit lines is the increased congestion on th=
e roads--which is a function of 20 plus years of cheap energy. =20=
If you drive an average new sedan and trade it after four years, your cost o=
f gasoline, as a percentage of total ownership and driving costs, is only ab=
out half of what it was in 1981. <BR>
<BR>
However, in the future, perhaps the very near future (especially if we attac=
k Iran), the main driving force regarding New Urbanism projects is going to=20=
be the cost and/or lack of gasoline. I suspect that in=20=
time it will become apparent that the Europeans were far smarter than we wer=
e regarding their pricing of energy. At energy becomes increasi=
ngly expensive and scarce, large chunks of our suburban infrastructure (thos=
e areas that are not walkable and/or not along mass transit lines) are going=
to become in effect slums.<BR>
<BR>
J. Brown<BR>
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2"><BR>
<BR>
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2"></FONT></HTML>
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