A Walk Through the City
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Some of these thoughts come from earlier events, and I hope my friend is willing to forgive me for posting my thoughts.
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So. I have been out walking a fair amount today. My thought is that it would be good exercise since I haven't been feeling so healthy this week, and maybe it would help pull me out of the funk I have been in this past week as well (Yes, I am sure someone would tell me that the two are probably interconnected).
I didn't choose to walk through Rock Creek Park, or some other tranquil spot, but to walk through the city. And my mind got to wandering and thinking about all the cars surrounding me. The area I was walking through had both bus and Metro options. And of course there was the option to walk, just as I had chosen. But still there were plenty of cars.
Now I realize that there will always be cases where someone needs to get through an area because there origin and destination are not mass transit accessible. But I fail to accept that this was the case with all of the people in cars that I saw today. My consolation was walking past gas stations and realizing the price people pay to be in there cars. Still cheap (the current price in London (106.9p a litre) translates up to $7.52 per US gallon, unless I messed up on my conversions of liters to gallons and pounds to dollars), but more than it was a year ago. If you ask me, prices can not go up soon enough.
But what will happen when prices go up? More importantly, what will happen when gasoline becomes more scarce (price plays less of an impact on Americans, we will just go more into debt)? What are all these people going to do when there current car dependent lifestyle just no longer is a possibility?
My guess is that things will become much more local. Your sphere of friends that you see on a regular basis will be those that live in walking distance, or mass-transit convenient places. Friends that fit into neither category will mainly be friends via email, phone or text message. (I personally doubt I will ever comprehend the special bond that people share with their cell phones. It is disturbing to say, but I think terrorists would have a much larger impact on society by cutting off our cell phone communications than they did knocking over a few buildings)
When people do get together when friends beyond their local reach, it will be rarer, and for much more meaningful occasions. Today the average person would not fly to Paris just to hang out (A concept that has obviously proven difficult for me to comprehend). For making a trip that long, and that expensive, they would want to see the city, or experience the food and/or culture. Do something that made it a special occasion. Likewise in our future traveling from a suburb on one side of the city to a suburb on the other side of the city would be for a meaningful occasion (again, unless the suburbs in question were connected via mass transit). Of course the downfall is that many of our suburbs are vast wastelands without any culture.
Social life is a minor part of the way our lives will be impacted, but it is the easiest for me to pick on since I am not all that social. All aspects of our lives will be impacted.
Work will follow a similar pattern. Driving some crazy distance into the heart of the city will just not be an option. For those determined to live beyond the reach of humanity, they will need to be able to telecommute, and create incredible schedules that bring them into the office only when needed.
Religion will also be impacted. At some point the question becomes"Why am I going past so many other places of worship just to get to my place of worship?"
Rising gas prices and scarcity of gas are bound to have consequences for all of us. It will be interesting to see what really does happen and who will be prepared (if any of us).
-- Andy
Some of these thoughts come from earlier events, and I hope my friend is willing to forgive me for posting my thoughts.
-----
So. I have been out walking a fair amount today. My thought is that it would be good exercise since I haven't been feeling so healthy this week, and maybe it would help pull me out of the funk I have been in this past week as well (Yes, I am sure someone would tell me that the two are probably interconnected).
I didn't choose to walk through Rock Creek Park, or some other tranquil spot, but to walk through the city. And my mind got to wandering and thinking about all the cars surrounding me. The area I was walking through had both bus and Metro options. And of course there was the option to walk, just as I had chosen. But still there were plenty of cars.
Now I realize that there will always be cases where someone needs to get through an area because there origin and destination are not mass transit accessible. But I fail to accept that this was the case with all of the people in cars that I saw today. My consolation was walking past gas stations and realizing the price people pay to be in there cars. Still cheap (the current price in London (106.9p a litre) translates up to $7.52 per US gallon, unless I messed up on my conversions of liters to gallons and pounds to dollars), but more than it was a year ago. If you ask me, prices can not go up soon enough.
But what will happen when prices go up? More importantly, what will happen when gasoline becomes more scarce (price plays less of an impact on Americans, we will just go more into debt)? What are all these people going to do when there current car dependent lifestyle just no longer is a possibility?
My guess is that things will become much more local. Your sphere of friends that you see on a regular basis will be those that live in walking distance, or mass-transit convenient places. Friends that fit into neither category will mainly be friends via email, phone or text message. (I personally doubt I will ever comprehend the special bond that people share with their cell phones. It is disturbing to say, but I think terrorists would have a much larger impact on society by cutting off our cell phone communications than they did knocking over a few buildings)
When people do get together when friends beyond their local reach, it will be rarer, and for much more meaningful occasions. Today the average person would not fly to Paris just to hang out (A concept that has obviously proven difficult for me to comprehend). For making a trip that long, and that expensive, they would want to see the city, or experience the food and/or culture. Do something that made it a special occasion. Likewise in our future traveling from a suburb on one side of the city to a suburb on the other side of the city would be for a meaningful occasion (again, unless the suburbs in question were connected via mass transit). Of course the downfall is that many of our suburbs are vast wastelands without any culture.
Social life is a minor part of the way our lives will be impacted, but it is the easiest for me to pick on since I am not all that social. All aspects of our lives will be impacted.
Work will follow a similar pattern. Driving some crazy distance into the heart of the city will just not be an option. For those determined to live beyond the reach of humanity, they will need to be able to telecommute, and create incredible schedules that bring them into the office only when needed.
Religion will also be impacted. At some point the question becomes"Why am I going past so many other places of worship just to get to my place of worship?"
Rising gas prices and scarcity of gas are bound to have consequences for all of us. It will be interesting to see what really does happen and who will be prepared (if any of us).
-- Andy
posted by Andy Weaver at 14:43
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