Surburban Flight: Commuting to Work Less Attractive as Gas Prices Soar

“I’ll never give up my land.”

Ditto. And 50 miles isn’t as bad as some ride. There are plenty of folks commuting from the Poconos in PA to Manhattan. I know some here in Lancaster going down to the Pentagon and inside the DC beltway.

A lot of folks who have played by the rules their whole lives are now getting a very rough deal. So they tend to get a bit cranky.

However, the world is shifting — changing in some very fundamental ways and complaining that things aren’t like they are “supposed to be” or “they used to be” won’t stop that change.

>It’s all pretty clear that the euphoria that the Left is getting about the high gas prices making people move back to where crime and criminal municipal politics is rampant is part of a contrived strategy.<

One thing this “cram the suburbanites back in the city” plan does is retrieve the urbanites’ lost taxbase come hades or high water.

“Unfortunately, I’ve seen and heard the “Just suck it up” compassion so well known within the Army culture all too much.” (Sigh)

There’s always the barracks, and if you want a family while you’re in the military, you’d BETTER have the RANK to support them. Why should that be any different than it should be in civilian life? I waited until my military career was over to start my family. We were all the better for it. (Three sons raised. Two in college, one is a business owner.)

It’s. A. Job. The military owes you nothing but three hots and a cot, a pair of boots and all the equipment and clothing you need. You get various allowances (housing, dependent allowances if you’re married, have kids) free medical and dental care, (for ALL of you) a nearly FREE education if you want one, a free wardrobe, all sorts of fun “toys” to play with and skills that will serve you well all throughout your life. And on top of that, they pay you! And on top of that, it doesn’t matter if you’re man, woman, white, black, etc. If you DO YOUR JOB and do it well, you get promoted. And you get MORE money and more allowances. What a concept. :)

And who joins the military thinking it’s going to be a lush life other than Air Force Cadets? LOL!

What kind of whiners is the Army putting out these days? *SIGH*

I hate it when I’ve had to “Man up” more than some of the military men we’ve got today. So, yes. I guess I will say, “Suck it up.”

And you know what? Vietnam Vets and those that came before me can say the very same thing of me. She got to live OFF POST? she didn’t spend ALL of her time in the rain in a foxhole in the jungle? She was on clean, dry, safe military bases throughout the world? Man, she had it made! :)

Good for you!

I’m glad I had the opportunity to raise my boys on a farm. I grew up on cement in Milwaukee, WI. I learned to love farm/country life from summers spent as an indentured servant on my Aunt’s farm, LOL! I milked a lot of goats. I hate goats.

I did a lot of Real Estate flipping in the years coming up to buying our 2-acre “farmette.” Two city homes and one suburban home were “home” prior to where we’ve been now for the past 13 years.

I have 50 laying hens (I sell the eggs) and am petitioning Husband for a milk cow, but I will settle for two sheep. :)

Husband is taking the afternoon off and we’re going to the County Fair to check out the animals.

I’m pretty sure I can get two small sheep into the back seat of the car for the ride home, LOL! (Just kidding!)

I didn’t read all the comments, but the Liberals may want to think twice about herding suburubanites back to the central cities. If you look at “red state blue state” analyses at the county, municipality, and precinct level, you will see that the “red states” are closer than they may think. Even the outer precincts of larger cities tend to be more Conservative, and often just outside a central city, you are in “red state” territory. Putting suburbanites back in cities would dilute the Liberal control of the cities, a stronghold for decades. As these meddling suburbanites moved back in, they would no doubt become involved in precinct level politics, perhaps even preventing vote fraud and late reporting so common there. And to Liberals, that loss of control would be worse than wasting oil and gasoline.

"...the Poconos in PA..."

Man, that's some commute, but my Uncle worked in Los Angeles and had a 4-hour commute each day to live AWAY from LA. He now lives in the middle of nowhere in New Mexico. Enough was eventually enough.

I spent a week one Spring in the Poconos Mountains. What a GORGEOUS spot. Loved it. :)

"The Pocono Mountains are located in the northeastern corner of Pennsylvania, USA. The Poconos are only 90 minutes from New York City and less than 2 hours from Philadelphia, and are easily reached via super Interstate highways, 80, 81, 84, and Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike."

Thank you for you service and thank you for no longer being in the Army.

It may bring prices down, but my prediction is it will simply slow the rate of increase

Nonsense. If we utilized all of our potential and known energy reserves, prices would get slashed by more than half.

Third world countries are now starting to consume oil like never before. There's nothing liberal about that observation.

So that means we shouldn't? Don't you think it's ridiculous that we lock our reserves but it's OK for other countries to expand their energy supplies? I mean, it's flat-out STUPID. Maybe we should let give our coal to China, we're not using it, right?

It is a commodity, and an increasingly expensive one at that.

Because you got intervention in the form of government policies that is making it expensive! How did oil prices come down from the 70s then? Using your logic, we should still be in the oil shocks that gripped the nation back then.

If prices stay high and/or continue to rise, and we don't reduce our consumption, then we're in for a world of hurt.

Look buddy, I already told you. There is no suitable alternative to oil right now. WE NEED FRICKING OIL - It is in thousands of products - it's not just used for fuel you know, it's in clothing, raw materials, goods, etc. I'm fine with bio-fuels or whatever, but as Wonder Warthog pointed out that should be the long-term answer. But for now, the only thing we can do is drill and expand production.

In cases where there is a viable alternative, the market will find it.

The market is currently being hamstrung by government. Government spends billions on ethanol BS and other "renewable" energies that simply don't work as well as oil. How can a viable alternative exist when it's being propped up by subsidies and legislation mandating its unproven use? Dude are you sure you're a libertarian?

However, I maintain that more drilling is merely a band-aid.

Where are vehicles going to get fuel from? There are no alternatives to use to power our motor vehicles. I work in the trucking industry - dozens of mom-and-pop carriers are pushing up daisies right now because of sky-high fuel prices. Most of our oil reserves are locked away - what do you think is going to happen, other countries are going to start bidding on them.

What's fabricated about it? Is global demand increasing or is it not?

Global demand is increasing, yes but have we ever ran out of oil? Have we ever had to sacrifice our lifestyles? The wonderful people in the energy business simply went out and got more oil. Higher demand = increase in supplies.

The bulk of welfare money goes to poor people. In some places, they're concentrated more in the city, but in other places they're more rural.

My point is that the gubmint gives millions of dollars to the "poor" (many of them who don't pay their energy bills through the winter knowing that there'll be handouts at the end) for subsidized energy assistance. Hello - HOW ABOUT JUST PRODUCING MORE ENERGY???

So whining and bitching is now great patriotism?

Hell yeah I'm going to whine and bitch when my livelihood is threatened. I don't want to live like my ancestors did in the 1800s, burning kerosene lamps and splitting logs and hunting for squirrels for dinner and taking baths by heating a big ass pot over a fire. No - energy is the backbone of our economy, and without it we might as well be living in North Korea.

Nonsense. If we utilized all of our potential and known energy reserves, prices would get slashed by more than half.

That's your prediction. I think differently. I suppose we may find out. Our oil reserves are only an estimate, as well as those of the rest of the global supply, and we don't know what future demand will look like. It's a very unstable commodity, which is why I think it would be a positive for our economy if we used less of it.

So that means we shouldn't? Don't you think it's ridiculous that we lock our reserves but it's OK for other countries to expand their energy supplies? I mean, it's flat-out STUPID. Maybe we should let give our coal to China, we're not using it, right?

I'm not really against drilling, I just don't think it's going to be the great savior that so many people have led themselves to believe it will be. Also, another country expanding their energy supplies benefits us. If China drills for more oil at home, that's less demand for oil from another oil exporting country, thus keeping prices in check for us.

Because you got intervention in the form of government policies that is making it expensive! How did oil prices come down from the 70s then? Using your logic, we should still be in the oil shocks that gripped the nation back then.

The 70's were different because of the geopolitical aspects. It was much more than an issue of supply and demand, like it is now.

Look buddy, I already told you. There is no suitable alternative to oil right now. WE NEED FRICKING OIL - It is in thousands of products - it's not just used for fuel you know, it's in clothing, raw materials, goods, etc. I'm fine with bio-fuels or whatever, but as Wonder Warthog pointed out that should be the long-term answer. But for now, the only thing we can do is drill and expand production.

I know we need oil. I know we use it for a lot. That's my point. I am of the belief that high oil prices are here to stay, whether we drill or not, so rather than complaining we'd better starting reducing our consumption and figuring out alternatives.

The market is currently being hamstrung by government. Government spends billions on ethanol BS and other "renewable" energies that simply don't work as well as oil. How can a viable alternative exist when it's being propped up by subsidies and legislation mandating its unproven use? Dude are you sure you're a libertarian?

Yes, "dude", I'm sure I'm a libertarian. The basis of my entire argument is that high prices are the product of supply and demand, so the market will respond to these new high prices. Government is interfering with supply, through both regulation and taxation. They also drive up demand by paying for roads, so some of that evens out, but overall they do contribute to the price being a bit higher. That being said, I don't think drilling is the solution. I think the government needs to get out of the way of alternatives like nuclear and stop propping up stupid ideas like ethanol. They should get out of the way and let the market decide what will and won't work. If more drilling turns out to be the answer, fine, but I'm telling you it won't be. It might in the short term, but it'll be worse the long term, which is why I think we should start being proactive about alternative energy now and not later when the situation is worse.

when I see the lazy rich mother driving her precious little Johnny two blocks to school each morning, IN HER HUMMER...I get a bit perturbed......I see tons of large pickups or suvs with ONE person inside.....

I don't think people have got the message yet...that or they are just too rich or too stupid to care.....

I want us to drill.....we need our own supply....not only for the oil, but the jobs that we'll have.....good paying jobs....

but I also think we need to reduce our energy use overall....if nothing more than to just save us some money......

I just don't like to see waste and we are wasting a lot....

Where are vehicles going to get fuel from? There are no alternatives to use to power our motor vehicles. I work in the trucking industry - dozens of mom-and-pop carriers are pushing up daisies right now because of sky-high fuel prices. Most of our oil reserves are locked away - what do you think is going to happen, other countries are going to start bidding on them.

Vehicles will get fuel the same way they do now - it's just more expensive. All these government-subsidized hare-brained schemes are stupid. The simple solution is to use less when possible. For the individual, it's easier; drive a more fuel efficient car and live closer to work and/or in a more urban area. Trucking, honestly, may not be a viable industry for much longer. Freight trains may make a comeback. I'm sure you know more than I do about logistics since you're in the industry and I'm not, but it does seems that things can replace trucks. Also, we may come up with a good fuel alternative, but who knows. Consumers will also inevitably eat up some of the costs, which is why it's good if we have as many energy sources as possible to reduce the pain.

Global demand is increasing, yes but have we ever ran out of oil? Have we ever had to sacrifice our lifestyles? The wonderful people in the energy business simply went out and got more oil. Higher demand = increase in supplies.

Well, of course we haven't run out of oil, all the gas stations would be closed right now. We can only run out of a fossil fuel once. We haven't had to sacrifice too much yet, but that time may be over. It's not as simple as being able to go and get more. If increase in demand continues to outpace increase in supply, prices will keep going up. Also, in addition to more drilling, we'll need to build more refineries, etc. This will all cost money. There's a lot of overhead costs to increasing oil production, especially if the union thugs are/become involved with refinery workers.

My point is that the gubmint gives millions of dollars to the "poor" (many of them who don't pay their energy bills through the winter knowing that there'll be handouts at the end) for subsidized energy assistance. Hello - HOW ABOUT JUST PRODUCING MORE ENERGY???

I'm not a proponent of welfare. I agree we can produce more energy, but it can't all be oil. I'm not saying "can't" like the government should ban it, I'm saying it in reality cannot happen.

Hell yeah I'm going to whine and bitch when my livelihood is threatened. I don't want to live like my ancestors did in the 1800s, burning kerosene lamps and splitting logs and hunting for squirrels for dinner and taking baths by heating a big ass pot over a fire. No - energy is the backbone of our economy, and without it we might as well be living in North Korea.

You can whine and bitch. I, on the other hand, live in the city and drive a hybrid, and thus am far more insulated against further increases in oil prices. I have to heat my home of course in the winter (this is Minnesota after all), but I dress warm and keep the thermostat low. Somehow I get the feeling my methods are more effective.

I'm not against drilling per se, I just think it's far too late for that simplistic of a solution. People need to feel the pain of high prices in order to realize they need to cut back their consumption and so that the market may find a more suitable alternative. People will act in their own self-interest, even if they're a bit slow to react. The shock is still settling in for most people that this is a new reality.