Gas & Housing Prices

In Going Broke and in this blog (see the July 7 post below) I have described the post-World War II expansion of suburban lifestyles and the popularization of single-use zoning and single-family homes that were many miles down the interstate from work. Sprawl made us dependent upon our cars to satisfy any need that was outside the house, but the wide use of automobiles also reduced the physical effort of traveling to the marketplace by providing us with moving chairs to sit on in climate-controlled environments. In addition, the popularization of drive-through windows meant that many purchases could be made without getting out of the car. The effects of these trends can be seen in our waistlines and bank balances.

Then came the gas crisis. Suddenly our car culture has become very expensive, and as this video from the urban development group CEOs for Cities shows, gas prices have affected housing costs in suburbia. For many years, houses far out from the city center were cheaper than houses close in. In most areas, that may still be true, but the high cost of gas is turning that equation on its head. The gas crisis did not cause the mortgage crisis, but growing transportation prices have undoubtedly worsened the mortgage crisis in some suburban areas.