Gas Has Gone Way Up (Knoxville: coupons, new home, to buy)

[tn_dreamin']

Last week it was $2.91 here in Md and today it was $3.09, it's nuts!

[hiknapster]

Yep. Gas is cheaper in Tennessee than it is in California or whatever. So what.

It is still expensive, wherever you live, and we shouldn't be paying it.

PeggyM, you are right. Rather than DOING something about it, we pack up our stuff and move, like that will resolve the problem. Seems like it is just more energy wasted.

[Beretta]

On the way home from the hockey game this evening we noticed that gas had dropped here. What was $3.05 yesterday was $2.99 today. For a half a second I almost thought I was getting a bargain.

[Chinolala]

It's $3.81 here in Chicago

[JMT]

Originally Posted by SmokyMtnGal

On the way home from the hockey game this evening we noticed that gas had dropped here. What was $3.05 yesterday was $2.99 today. For a half a second I almost thought I was getting a bargain.

The Pilot down the road from me went from $2.99 yesterday to $2.98 today. And you're right, I thought it was a bargain!

I think I might get me a bus pass.

[bebette]

Originally Posted by SmokyMtnGal

On the way home from the hockey game this evening we noticed that gas had dropped here. What was $3.05 yesterday was $2.99 today. For a half a second I almost thought I was getting a bargain.

SMG, our gas dropped from $3.57 to $3.55 yesterday!!!! I think they are just messing with our minds! They make us think that we're getting a great deal, so we rush to fill up before the price goes up again!!

[TaJasMi]

The highest I have seen in my area so far is 3.45$

[TNRyan23]

I paid $3.15 in Brentwood yesterday...

[LauraC]

Gas will go up again in time for Memorial Day weekend and stay up.

I read a story in Newsmax yesterday called "The Exurbia Explosion" about people who live beyond the suburbs of the distant cities where they commute to work. It's based on a study by the Brookings Institution called "Finding Exurbia." Exurbs are defined as neighborhoods beyond the suburbs where at least 20% of the workers commute to distant cities and they are growing twice as fast as metropolitan areas.

The story in Newsmax has to do with changing voting patterns but that's not what I want to talk about. I'm more interested in some stats from the study about who the people are - homeowners who are disproportionately southern and midwestern and Tennessee (as well as Maryland, South Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio and California) is singled out as having a large exurban population.

My question is, what the heck are these people going to do when gas really does go through the roof? What would they do if the government started to ration gas (like in the Jimmy Carter years) or what would they do if Congress slapped an extra tax on them for using more gas than the average person?

I don't think they'll have an easy time of selling their homes because I'm thinking if they are family people still in the workforce who went looking for a cheaper place to live to raise their kids, then they probably have larger homes than what a retiree (who doesn't have to commute) would buy. They say there are 10.8 million of them and the Census Bureau says 3.5 million have extreme commutes (90 minutes one way). That's a lot of gasoline!

There is a sidebar story of a man in California with a 186 mile (one way) commute to work, that's 372 miles he puts on his 2005 Honda Accord every day. The car currently has 222,000 miles on it. Yikes!

For those of you who are moving to Tennessee places far from your job, has gasoline (and the future of gasoline) been a factor in making your decision?

[AlisonL]

Originally Posted by PeggyM

Folks, I'm sorry to give my opinion that these prices are here to stay. In Europe they've been $4-$6 per gallon for many years. We've been lucky to have the lower prices all this time.

I expect prices to go to $5 to $6 per gallon in the not-distant future. When are we, as a nation, going to STOP buying gas & STAND UP & make our voices heard. Drive as little as we possibly can. Stop thinking of our instant gratification, as we Americans tend to do, & think of our economic future for just a minute. If we would just stop buying gas for one week, prices would drop drastically.

The oil companies have got our number, they seem to know that Americans are spoiled, stupid, will do anything to have our lives not interrupted, so they'll take advantage. We need to tell them they are wrong by not buying gas. Do I believe we will do that, NO. Do I believe that we are fools, YES.

If only it was this simple. My husband has to travel in his line of work, and he has to drive to get there. There is absolutely no way to get around it, unless he competely changed his line of work...which is not likely to happen at his age. As for other times, we aren't out and about all the time. I make one trip a week to get grocery and do other errands. If I should need something inbetween, he can pick it up on his way home.
Fortunately, our little car gets almost 40 mpg, so that is a big savings.