The Higher the Gas, the Cooler my A**

(sorry about the title...I couldn't think of another word that rhymes with gas)

I have discovered a direct correlation between the price of gas and my "coolness" factor within my neighborhood and ward.

Since the recent spike in gas prices, we are no longer the "weird, one-car family."
When people visit our house, they now say, "Wow, it must be really nice to be so close to a grocery store." Rather than, "Wow, the lights from those stores across the street sure are BRIGHT! Is that grease I smell from the restaurant over there?" They no longer look at us with pity when they find out that one and often both of us commute to our jobs by bicycle. We are cool, we are trendsetters, we are FIERCE....and trust me, that puts us in very unfamiliar territory.

We didn't set out to be so gloriously cool and we certainly didn't predict the direction that gas prices have taken. Growing up in bike-crazy Portland, and then living in New York, walking and alternative transportation just became the norm. And then when we decided that living in the burbs was the best decision for our little family at this time, it seemed so traumatic to go from metrocards and cabs as our primary modes of transportation to two huge and expensive vehicles. So we did the suburbs on our own terms. We obviously needed to have one car, but strategically bought a townhouse within walking distance of shopping, schools, a community rec center, the park, a community garden, restaurants, and soon, a metroline to the city. There are times when owning two cars would be nice, but not many.

I hope this blog isn't sounding too self-righteous. I have a lot of sympathy for large families who need large vehicles and others who have to commute long distances for their jobs and don't have a lot of choice in the matter (although, admittedly more judgement and less sympathy for many of my NoVA neighbors whose large beastly SUVs have seen many a Nordstrom parking lot but have never been actually driven off-road.) I am so very frustrated that we didn't forsee this crisis and plan our neighborhoods and cities better during the housing boom (well, actually this probably all started post WWII, but regardless...) I hope that sustainable answers come quickly, and fear that this "pain at the pumps" is the only way to make change happen.

How have your attitudes and driving habits changed since this recent energy crisis? How do you think the future will play out....are these high prices permanent and lifestyle changing or another economic bubble that will soon burst?

Discuss. Meanwhile, I'll be talking my DH into riding our bikes to church next Sunday...how cool would we be then?