BetsyB wrote Do you honestly think we are in danger of running out of oil? From the different stories I have read in Newsweek, Time, etc over the last few years, it seems there are many untapped places for oil in the world, the problem is more the shortage of refineries. New ones aren’t being buildt when the old ones catch on fire or close down. I think that the more serious question is why hasn’t the US built any new oil refineries since the 70s…

it doesn’t have to run out, just for production to start falling steadily which is what happens at roughly the halfway point of producing the world’s endowment of oil

as far as refineries go, why? the refiners are taking a beating already, they have to stay at like 85% utilization or they lose money, they have no reason to have lots of extra capacity for no reason, their forecasts aren’t exactly showing the need for future expansion either, that right there is a big big clue

oil being the world’s most important and inelastic commodities brings with it some ugly traits, as scarcity sets in prices will jump rapidly and in multiples, it might be $4.00/gallon summer 2008, and it could very easily hit $8/gallon in 2009, yes it can happen that fast, we aren’t the only ones bidding on the stuff nor can we satisfy our own needs without importing more than 60% of it, we did this to ourselves

my husband works 7 minutes away. we spend about 35 per week on gas. i think that’s pretty good. i love clintonville and the short north and all that. but i also love knowing that if my kid is starting to slide, even a little, in school, i get an email right away from his teacher to check on him.

so whatever floats your boat. though i would love to go to studio 35 more often but i don’t want to pay for the gas!!

UncommonSense wrote

And Upper Arlington, Bexley and Grandview are a hundred times cooler than Dublin… freakin’ nouveau riche!

How many roundabouts and multi-million $ concrete corn fields do these burbs have???? Huh? Thats what I thought. DCHS 4 Life :wink:

And Upper Arlington, Bexley and Grandview are a hundred times cooler than Dublin… freakin’ nouveau riche!

(that was my response on the 270… didn’t realize I was 6 months late to the party :wink: )

Walker wrote Just thought I’d follow up the six-month anniversary of this declaration with a link to a story in today’s Dispatch:

Will the exodus to the hinterlands run out of gas?

If we define “cool” as something new and hip that the general public has not quite caught on to yet, but will soon become commonplace… then no, the suburbs are not cool.

If suburban sprawl is indeed on it’s way out with rising gas prices, then I think that makes it the exact opposite of cool.

Agreed….When I read the title I almost flipped out, now that I read Walkers post, I am comforted in my strong beleif that the suburbs are a nemesis to building strong downtown economy. I really dread going any further north than Clintonville unless it is to go to Alum Creek Dam to run stairs or to Highbanks or the Observatory or Bent Tree golf course–destination spots that have been enveloped by the sprawl.

Will the exodus to the hinterlands run out of gas?

If we define “cool” as something new and hip that the general public has not quite caught on to yet, but will soon become commonplace… then no, the suburbs are not cool.

If suburban sprawl is indeed on it’s way out with rising gas prices, then I think that makes it the exact opposite of cool.

If this grand vision comes to pass, does anyone think that this will be a boom for suburbia? Won’t light rail encourage more sprawl? I’m generally agnostic about urban v. suburb, but I think that light rail would be an advantage for the suburbanite, and would add to the “cool” factor that was the original point of this thread.

Actually, looking at other cities, it can actually bifurcate the suburbs, somewhat. You’ll see “off route” and “on route” suburbs. For example, the Washington, D.C. Metro goes well out into suburban neighborhoods, but the D.C. suburbs extend far, far beyond the current western teminus of the Metro. Even if the new line to Dulles Airport (which lies out in the western suburbs) gets finished, the suburbs will have pushed beyond even there by then.

In the New York area, you could even break suburbs down into three tiers, not just two: those served by local trains (NY Metro), those served by regional rail (LIRR, etc.), and those served by neither.

In Columbus, even with a very dense light rail network (one that would cost many times as much as any plausible budget we’ll have), the outer spokes of the wheel would probably be Polaris, Easton, Rickenbacker, etc.–all of which would still have development beyond them at this point. You’d have to connect all six capitals of the counties around Franklin (Delaware, Marysville, London, Circleville, Lancaster, Newark) and have a complete all-of-MORPC rail network to actually leapfrog the burbs at this point.

hobbesOSU wrote This thread has touched on transportation issues as how they relate to living and working in suburbia vs. downtown-ish. It made me think about this.

All indications are that we’re going to get some street cars in the downtown area. It has often been suggested that this is just the first step in a wider mass transit system for the metro area.

If this grand vision comes to pass, does anyone think that this will be a boom for suburbia? Won’t light rail encourage more sprawl? I’m generally agnostic about urban v. suburb, but I think that light rail would be an advantage for the suburbanite, and would add to the “cool” factor that was the original point of this thread.

I think it will make the suburbs cool, in so much as they will be better connected to the urban core where you will find musuems and sports and concerts and a crap load of jobs.

Mercurius wrote

We are never going to run out, but I think it will be over 100$ a barrel in less than a year?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil

Interesting line from that wiki page:

A 2003 article in Discover magazine claimed that we could use thermal depolymerization to manufacture as much oil as we could ever need, out of garbage, sewage, and agricultural waste. The article claimed that the cost of the process was $15 per barrel. A follow up article in 2006 stated that the cost was actually $80 per barrel.

Once oil goes high and stays high, seems we can get all the oil we’re going to need.

All indications are that we’re going to get some street cars in the downtown area. It has often been suggested that this is just the first step in a wider mass transit system for the metro area.

If this grand vision comes to pass, does anyone think that this will be a boom for suburbia? Won’t light rail encourage more sprawl? I’m generally agnostic about urban v. suburb, but I think that light rail would be an advantage for the suburbanite, and would add to the “cool” factor that was the original point of this thread.

BetsyB wrote Do you honestly think we are in danger of running out of oil? From the different stories I have read in Newsweek, Time, etc over the last few years, it seems there are many untapped places for oil in the world, the problem is more the shortage of refineries. New ones aren’t being buildt when the old ones catch on fire or close down. I think that the more serious question is why hasn’t the US built any new oil refineries since the 70s…

We are never going to run out, but I think it will be over 100$ a barrel in less than a year?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil