Hopefully you are fair in your vote on this one.  I'm sure that an overwhelming number of people on UrbanOhio will side with a specific option, but why isnt this discussed in the media.

 

I continue to hear reports/stories on both local and national media outlets.  I grow very tired of the story "With higher gas prices...what should we do next:  we'll look at hybrids when we return."  Especially locally since there has been a recent debate over light rail....why dont they run a story like:  "With higher gas prices, we look at the possibilities that light rail would have offered our community."  This same philosophy can continue to the national scale since good old George W. has consistantly cut mass transit funding since entering office.

 

Maybe I am being overly emotional about the entire issue, but it just REALLY irks me every time I hear another story of the likes.

...And just as I get frustrated with everyone thinking more mass transit is the only answer (yes, this really is KJP). The greatest factor impacting oil consumption is land use, although transportation and land use go hand in hand. If all of your basic needs are within a 5- to 15-minute walk or bike ride, with other needs/destinations farther away accessible by train, trolley, bus, taxi or flexcar, then I would think our nation's per-capita oil consumption rate would be more similar to that of Europe. If that were the case, U.S. oil consumption would drop by more than half.....

 

Consider this chart:

 

                      2006 Est.       Oil Consumed      Per-Capita

                     Population           in 2004         Consumption

 

Germany         82.4 million          2.6mbpd            0.032

France           60.9 million          2.0mbpd            0.033

UK                 60.6 million          1.9mbpd            0.031

Italy              58.1 million          1.9mbpd            0.033

Spain             40.4 million          1.6mbpd            0.040

Europe Avg    302.4 million        10.0mbpd            0.033

USA             298.4 million         20.7mbpd           0.069

 

Also, note that the U.S. is still the world's third-largest oil producer (we were largest as recently as the mid-1990s), as we produce between 8-9 million barrels of oil per day. Imagine being able to once again run your entire nation's transportation system on your own oil! If U.S. cities and transportation systems were designed like those in Europe, the U.S. would consume less than 10 million barrels of oil per day. We would still have to import a little bit (and increasingly again, since U.S. oil production is declining), but where would you rather get your oil -- from Canada and Mexico, or Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Nigeria and Venezuala?

 

Problem is, it would probably take 50 years or so to completely redesign our cities and transportation systems. And we don't have anywhere close to that much time.....

Building on my prior message, how can we redesign Ohio cities to halve our oil use?

 

Should we redesign our cities to offer the land uses and transportation systems as those in Europe?

 

Or should we offer a hybrid American-European urban design?

 

Does Canada represent that?

 

Should we write off the exurbs as unsustainable in a future where U.S. oil use cannot keep growing at 3-4 percent per year, as global oil production diminishes at rates of 4-8 percent per year?

 

So, how would you redesign your town, city or metro area?

 

Let's hear those ideas! These would make terrific projects for grad students of urban studies courses, or for grant-funded studies by metropolitan planning organizations.

 

Before considering how to redesign your city, review this report from Burnaby, B.C. (just east of Vancouver). I think you'll find it very helpful.

 

Global peak in oil production: the municipal context

http://burnaby.fileprosite.com/contentengine/document.asp?Print=yes&ID=9181