Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am wondering if the high gas prices will have an effect on sprawl - these way outer suburb developments? I know I wouldn't move into one now.
Around here a lot of people have boats, campers, and horse trailers though, so they do need a big truck or SUV to haul it around. I think if I was like that though, I would definitely get a small high mileage car to balance the beast off with. That I could drive everywhere. A 2-SUV family is just crazy.
I remember my Mom driving us 4 kids around in her VW beetle in the 70s.
I doubt it will have much effect on sprawl or much of anything. I think it is something each person will deal with in their own way. Not all americans but many refuse to change the way they do things. Many will still buy SUV's and drive the 2 blocks to the 7-11 to get whatever whenever they want. Some will still buy a house in Sacramento and work in San Francisco 80 miles away. I am not one of those, but I know there are many that will not change behavior, and mostly the one thing that won't change will be the constant complaining over the cost of gas, without looking for solutions or options to driving everywhere. Most likely gas next year could be $5.00, it certainly isn't going to be $2.00. We will find we will be paying what other industrialized countries already pay, or in that range since most of them pay around $6.00. When I hear of cities that vote down public transit options, I honestly can't feel sorry for them, Im sorry but I cannot.
Blah blah blah... and then blah... yes, we all have an excuse to justify our Suburban SUV. But it's all bull. We know it. I use to live in Europe and there people have five kids and no big trucks. They pile the children up in a regular car and they do just fine.
I'd rather have an SUV driver tell me "I drive a big car just because" than read an SUV owner like this giving poor excuses for their energy wasting ("you don't know what I have in my trunk", "I really need it" and so on).
Seat belt laws. Sorry but YOU LOSE! And I refuse to put my kids in a car w/o seatbelts or childseats (depending upon age/size). Yes, we all used to do a lot of things when we were younger but nowadays there are laws in place. There is not a single 4 door sedan that can legally seat 7 people. Which child do you leave unharnessed? Or do I tell friends that I can't p/u their kids because then I'd have to burn more gas in a larger car. So in turn that puts ANOTHER vehicle on the road that otherwise would not have been. Geez, try to carpool and it still ain't good enough.
And yes, I do need it for my job as does my husband. There are not too many vehicles out there that can handle the load that he carries. Then the fact there happens to be laws that most of the things he carries in the bed of his truck are not allowed in an enclosed space like a trunk or passanger area of a car.
Not everyone can have a second car to use in place of a larger truck or SUV when it is not needed. For one it does cost money. Second, where are they going to park it? Many people live in areas that make it difficult to park more than 1 or 2 vehicles. So while it all sounds good in theory it can not logically be effective for many people. I guess to keep more large suv's off the road that can handle more than 6 passangers we need to adopt laws that restrict how many kids a family can have.
I was amazed last night when I looked up at the prices in the gas station around the corner from my apartment and saw a 3.09 tag.
What is my plan? To stay in Manhattan forever and ever, never owning a car.
But the rest of America is in big crap, given our government doesn't encourage people to use mass transit, people insist on buying SUV's and states keep on building highways instead of public transportation.
We either move to Europe or face apocalypse!!
Wow nice. Gas is Cheaper in Manhattan than Chicago - I'm moving
Its 3.19 in the city here and then saw a couple more rip job stations that were 3.29 or 3.49/gallon. Burbs is around 2.99-3.059
I live by a gas station that always has some of the highest prices in the city, I'm not sure why that is. Granted the only thing I've ever gone to this gas station for is a 1/2 gallon of milk, but I still noticed it.
My company lets me telecommute several times/week, so it doesn't hit me as much, but my next vehicle is definitely going to be a VW Pasat TDI... but still 2-3 years away from replacing my vehicle.
To get a new vehicle because gas pricing has increased is not financially smart. Depreciation is a much bigger hit than fuel prices. And while I love the concept of a hybrid - the technology isn't financially sound either. The markup is more than you'll save on gas. If you go from 30 to 40mpg for $3K - that means at 12K miles per year @ $4/gallon - it would take 7.5 years (90K miles) to save $3K in fuel... assuming all maintenance costs are equal... not what I call a great investment. Diesel blows away that cost model - especially since diesel engines have a longer history and proven better resale value.
The best thing we can all do is, when the time comes to replace our vehicles, get a smaller vehicle than we really would want (how many households really need two SUV's?). My wife is stuck on wanting to keep an SUV. I see no need for an SUV and a truck, so I'll downsize to the Pasat TDI. Change from 18mpg to 40+mpg. That - and telecommuting - will certainly lower our fuel costs. Heck, maybe the wife will even drive the VW to work on the days I work from home to further drive down those bills. And we could really go nuts and do the whole "bio diesel" thing... but I don't think I feel much like dealing with that whole logistics issue of getting used cooking oil all the time. Ugh!
I live in an area of Dallas (Lakewood) where I can walk just about anywhere if I need to -- and already I only buy gas once or twice a month because everything I want to do is within 5-10 minutes (including downtown).
What else can one do but suck up and pay the price. Of course we will cut back, 4.00 per gallon is huge compared to what it was 5 years ago. Once we get our home bought we will buy a more energy efficient vehicle and probably curb our travels, anyone checked out train prices?
lh newbie, that is so true. I've heard of many people buying one of the hybrids only to have problems and it ends up costing them more. Chevy now offers the flex fuel on SUV's and trucks. Still does not mean that I'm going to run out and trade in my paid for 02 model. I don't change cars like some people do. It is going to take a lot more time/testing/modifications before the whole hybrid vehicle can be a more reliabe alternative to a larger cross section of the population.
Oh, another thing I forgot about earlier. It is not recommended for any child 12 years of age and under to ride in the front seat of a vehicle w/ airbags. It is very unsafe and children have died from the force of airbags. That means if a family has 4 children they must have some kind of large SUV or minivan (the smaller SUV's do not have third row seating).
Oh, another thing I forgot about earlier. It is not recommended for any child 12 years of age and under to ride in the front seat of a vehicle w/ airbags. It is very unsafe and children have died from the force of airbags. That means if a family has 4 children they must have some kind of large SUV or minivan (the smaller SUV's do not have third row seating).
I usually agree with you, Momof2DFW... but this time, I have to disagree. Many vehicles today have the ability to turn off the passenger side airbag to address this very issue you mention.
95% of the people that have an SUV have one because they WANT one - not because they NEED one. IMO - that's a problem that the US has as a whole - we don't understand the difference between a want and a need. If we want it bad enough, we fool ourselves into believing we NEED it and justify it that way.
I once read an article, I believe by Ben Stein, that addressed this issue with vehicles. Many people justified their SUV by saying they car pool their kids and friends; many people justified a truck because they need it for weekend projects on the house; many had other reasons. He picked through them with solid math and logic and knocked it down to people WANTING it. Is it more convenient to own a truck to take home the 4x8 sheet of drywall from Home Depot once or twice a year - or to take home a bed of annuals in the spring and fall? Sure, it is. But for $19.95, you can rent the Home Depot truck 3-4 times a year when you actually NEED it and enjoy a less expensive vehicle that gets way better mileage the rest of the year - saving thousands each year between fuel and depreciation. The same could be said about "car pooling the kids" - unless a couple has 4+ kids, there really isn't a need for an SUV - we WANT one, but don't NEED one. Is it nice to pick up your kids friends to drive them all to soccer practice? Sure it is. But you're going to justify driving a large gas hog 80+% of the time with one to two people in it for the small percentage of time that you are car pooling the neighborhood? I'm very sorry, but in 98% of the cases, we CHOOSE to WANT it.... but I cannot buy that we NEED it. We just need to come to grips that we make choices based on wants and accept the responsibility that we are wasting fuel. Atleast then we don't try to defend ourselves - own up and move on.
Brian
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
And I refuse to put my kids in a car w/o seatbelts or childseats (depending upon age/size). Yes, we all used to do a lot of things when we were younger but nowadays there are laws in place. There is not a single 4 door sedan that can legally seat 7 people. Which child do you leave unharnessed? Or do I tell friends that I can't p/u their kids because then I'd have to burn more gas in a larger car. So in turn that puts ANOTHER vehicle on the road that otherwise would not have been. Geez, try to carpool and it still ain't good enough. 
