Current Debates

Honestly, this issue keeps me up at nights and finding this article got me thinking again. I live in the country in a very small town that has the basics - library, community centre, gas station, restaurant, pizza place, video store and an enhanced corner store/liquor store. In the summer months there is also a weekly farmers market where we can get fresh produce, eggs and meat. Alot of those ammenities are in walking distance. So its a pretty good basic setup. However, if I need to go to the doctor, dentist, eye doctor, or pharmacy; if I want my kids to have music lessons, swimming lessons etc, if I want to do a real grocery run or shop for clothes/household items I have to drive for at least 20 minutes on the highway. As I drive I pass farmers fields that are being torn up to create new subdivisions - that will not have walking access to any of the above mentioned amenities. As I get closer to town I pass subdivisions as far as the eye can see, none of which have easy access to anything beyond a local cornerstore. And when I finally enter into an area of commerce (not anywhere close to the "downtown core" it is a sea of parking lots and box stores. Designed for a person driving from one parking lot to the next, not for a pedestrian navigating the concrete jungle to go from store to store. Our city has a pretty good transit system and a pretty good bike path system, busses that can carry bikes, park'n rides etc. etc. but to really get around conveniently, especially with kids, a car is a necessity. Especially during the very long winter months.

So I wonder... how will our children's lives change as they grow up? Will our society really crumble the way the doomsdayers say? Will we find effective alternatives to oil? Is there some way to restructure our communities to be more self sufficient pedestrian friendly hubs? Is suburbia to blame for all the environmental ills of western civilization? Those fortunate enough to live in the more central locations of this city, who don't have to drive everywhere, scorn the suburbs and those that live there. Yet they raise an immense stink at the notion of high density housing being built in their neighbourhoods, of high rises and condominiums being built where they live. They think their lifestyle is the best, and yet they must know that it is impossible for everyone to live as they do, for if everyone tried to cram into their neighbourhoods, those neighbourhoods would be forever altered and diminished by overcrowding.

this is a complex issue with no easy answers and certainly one that I believe will get more and more attention as oil and gas prices continue to rise.

I don't know. I really think that better mass transportation, telecommuting and alternatives such as that would be more of a first line of defense.  I also think it may depend on the city and the suburb.  We lived in the Atlanta area for several years and traffic there is a nightmare. There have been more people moving into Atlanta, but it has more to do with them being so FED UP with an hour+ commute, than it does anything economical or environmental. Telecommuting is becoming much more common there. Atlanta could solve a lot of its problems by upgrading their really deplorable mass transit system.

For example, we live in a suburb where many of the city's doctors, lawyers, and other professionals live.  Already several of the law firms have put satellite offices in our suburb. I can actually see them moving the offices here, before they would all sell their homes and move into the city.  Two of the major hospitals have built fairly large suburban hospitals in our area.  Our suburb has multi-use paths all over the city and it would be easy to bike or walk to work here. In fact, our town is encouraging biking to work, and calling for Fridays to be bike to work days. The central park is offering free continental breakfast on Friday mornings for those that do.

I dont see an easy answer for the population in general and for us personally. Regardless of the fact that I live in a small enough clty that I can walk everywhere I need to go, we have tons of extra travelling. We drive 6 hours to go to our daughters childrens hospital. 10 plus hours to see the specialists at Shriners hospitals.

There are many families like us, and we are getting slammed b/c we do not have the option to not go to these weekly/monthly appointments.

I worry all the time about what we will have to give up just to put gas in our van and heat our home.