Rising Gas Prices will save the day

I took this picture in Atlanta last time I visited there.  It is a very common sight in any metropolitan area, to see lane after lane of traffic, inching along the freeway, during rush hour.  This picture could have been taken in Washington, DC, or Charlotte, NC, or Houston, TX, just as easily.

The latest trend in rising gas prices has become a political touchstone in America.  For some reason, people blame politicians for this phenomenon, when it actually has more to do with demand, world events beyond our control, and international markets.  Nonetheless, the item at the top of everyone's mind in this country at the moment (along with unemployment, foreclosures and general economic recovery woes) is the cost of gas.

And I am making the case here that it is the best thing that could happen to us right now.  You see, America is changing.  Fundamentally.  And, very quickly...in light of recent economic events of the last three years we are becoming more fiscally responsible, more environmentally aware and more socially conscious.  Everyday people are becoming involved in politics at the local level, everyone is growing their own food again, and walkability is now a household term.  Quality of Life is what consumers want from their house, their neighborhood and their lifestyle in general.  America is becoming a better place to live.  We are now realizing that we haven't been on the right track for a long time, and we want to make amends.

With this in mind I suggest that the rising gas prices are going to force people to live closer to work, to bicycle or walk more, to buy local foods, to buy more fuel-efficient cars, to carpool, to use public transit...in other words, to do all the things that some people are doing already because they want to save the environment.  Only now mainstream America will be pushed into this mode of action more quickly and more steadily, because it will save money.

It's going to be painful.  For some, it will be really painful, and for a few it may even be devastating.  I sympathize with those who live in very rural areas and have no choice but to commute.  But, in the long run, our urban forms will begin to more closely resemble those parts of the world (mostly Europe, although there may be other examples I am not aware of) where gas prices have been high for a very long time, and also where the societies were built before cars ruled the way cities were planned.  In the end, the price of gas will force us to think of other, better ways of living.  And that is a really great thing.