G Star

iTrader: (2)

Neither is traffic here in my area in SoCal. It seems like Americans are assuming another market crash will come at the end of the year to relieve gas prices (like 08). It should be a few weeks for the pain and reality to really kick in. In my opinion, most Americans live in the now and are desensitized to these kinds of things and issues.

spwolf

do you really expect americans to change anything after only 1-2 months of record gas?

I am sure it will be in their consideration when their leases are up.

mmarshall

Well, that's the whole issue here....and the reason I started this thread. Three years ago, in 2008, Americans DID make noticeable changes to both their car-buying and driving habits....and traffic, at least in my area, went down noticeably. This time, that doesn't seem to be the case.....perhaps because the shock of $4 a gallon gas, having endured it before, is not as acute as it was in 2008, despite higher unemployment.

LexFather

As long as we develop the way we do (Sprawl) and depend on the car and people don't change things will remain mostly the same no matter how high gas prices. If anything people will just switch to higher MPG cars and still drive tons.

spwolf

those people who switched in 2008, probably switched back in 2010 when gas was cheap and now are just tired :-)

IS350jet

Traffic isn't too bad where I live but one thing I've noticed; Large SUV's have moved over from the fast lane to the slow lane, trying to conserve fuel.

Evitzee

People changed their behavior back in 2008 not because of the high price of gas but because they were losing their jobs, and their investments, 401(k)'s, and housing assets were all in free fall. Now the stock market has recovered a large part of those losses, job growth is slow but steady, and housing losses have moderated. And the DC area is well insulated in all of this because of huge, huge inflows of freshly printed government money into the economy there. Government folks didn't lose their jobs or health benefits, and housing prices did not drop nearly as much as the rest of the country and are now recovering modestly in the area. There was no 'great' recession in the DC area, or if there was it was just a blip.

mmarshall

There never are any REAL recessions in the D.C. area, including back in 2008......so, if and when people cut back here in this area on driving, it is usually more price-related than job or housing-related. And it's not just the Federal Government that keeps things humming here, but a lot of high-tech companies as well, similiar to Silicon Valley in CA.

BTW.....on a different note, I see you are in the TX Hill Country. Very interesting place. I lived in Austin for a while, some years ago, and got to see several places in the Hill Country....Mansfield Dam, Wimberley, Dripping Springs, Bandera, Little Twin Sister Peaks, Garner State Park, swimming in the Frio and Guadalupe Rivers.....and I got stung good by the Bull-Nettle plant down there (that stuff is miserable) .

Very picturesque area (I liked it), though it didn't have the stunningly-beautiful blues and greens of the Virginia Piedmont and mountains.....