In Germany, gas prices are over $8/gallon.

When I went to college in New Orleans, it was there I learned that a population-dense infrastructure lowers the cost of living. I routinely used public transit, taxicabs, bicycling and walking to get around about a 5 to 6 square mile radius. I carried groceries home from the store in a backpack. I rode the bus to job interviews. At the time, this was not called "environmentalism". It was called: "being poor".

For a few years after college, I lived about 10-12 miles from work. This was too far because traffic on the major route downtown is bad during rush hour. I chose to shift my hours and left home at 6:45 am, which is fine sometimes, but rather inflexible. As a result I bought a house about half the distance from work (5-6 miles depending on route - if I bike it, I have to avoid major thoroughfares which extends it to 7 miles) and I still think it is too far. This opinion of mine was probably birthed in New Orleans. Some people think that a 30 mile commute is no big deal.

There are a lot of people blaming Bush for the quickly rising gas prices. The recent run-up from $100 to $115 a barrel was pure speculation. You can blame the cause of increased investor interest in commodities in general on the Bush administration (or the Fed) for creating an environment in which stocks are unpopular, thus investors fled to other types on investment. But I think that urban planning plays some part in economic sentiment. Granted, prices of goods are going to increase due to higher transportation costs. If an urban area is properly planned, then commuting costs become less of an issue.

In Birmingham, there seems to be an equal level of demand for older homes that are convenient to the city center (10-20 minute commute) and newer homes in the far outskirts of the metro area (45 to 60 minute commute). As gas prices increase, I'll be interested to see if demand shifts. If I had to commute more than 20 minutes one way (which is already way too long), I'd rather be hung upside down and beaten. Life is too short to spend it in a car.