CJ Summers, the king of the Peoria blogging community, has a cool post today on the high gas prices. As normal, he spent way too much time investigating the issue and actually had some sound thoughts. Rare for a blogger but he endeavors on. I guess that’s I like to read him. But I love the comments. Nothing like high prices to spark people lashing out at everyone. The City Council, urban sprawl, the Journal Star, probably me after this post. Nah, no one reads this blog. I am safe.
Mass transit would be great in Peoria (hell, I want a subway), but I don’t think the average person would want it. I have lived in big cities across the United States. People in the Midwest want their cars. Sure, it works in Chicago but it has to. The commutes are so great that you just need the “L” or bus. Here, you can get from Alta to Downtown or from Pekin to Downtown no more than 20 minutes. I have done it in 15. Parts of the city take less than five minutes. I wish the bus service would work better. I wish it ran like Washington DC’s. But I don’t think people would support it. There is too much negative perception about the buses and some of their clientele to get the people from the outlying areas to ride the bus. Plus, it’s not convenient enough for causal use.
And yes, there is sprawl but unfortunately or fortunately, it hasn’t reached the proportions of critical mass. The talk is that in 50 years or so, Bloomington and Peoria’s metro areas are going to merge with all the growth in Woodford County and Tazewell County. If that happens, you might see some more mass transit. Right now, I just don’t know.
I just look at parking in Downtown. People wouldn’t pay 50 cents to park but they will not blink at spending $3 on a bottle of beer. They wouldn’t walk a block or two but they will park at the far end of Wal-Mart’s parking lot, only after circling for 20 minutes, and just accept it. It’s perception. People want their cars.
So what could Peoria do? Car pool more? Put in HOV lanes? Figure out why gas costs more here than anywhere else other than Chicago? Force developers to build within the urban core and not on the fringes? I have no idea. I see it as it’s hopeless. As long as people have a love affair with gas, things aren’t going to change. So far, people have changed their lifestyles that much. Sure, they might not go out as much but most people I know aren’t choosing between gas and food, thank goodness.
When will things change? Frankly, I don’t know. If you had told me 10 years ago that we would be paying $4 a gallon and basically accepting it, I would have laughed at you. I remember paying 75 cents a gallon. Once I figure out that question, I’ll work on peace in the Middle East.
5 Comments
May 15, 2008 at 4:11 am
As with many things in America, mass transit will not work so long as it is expected to make a profit. We wouldn’t have any public streets if they were built or maintained solely based on ROI. It becomes a total Catch 22. Mass transit is supported only in those areas which will pay for it but nobody will pay for limited schedules that change constantly.
May 15, 2008 at 5:04 pm
But Michael, do you think really that people in Peoria would take the bus. Us Midwesterners love our cars. Sure, in big cities, they use it but they have to. Life is too hard without it. What do you think
May 16, 2008 at 3:53 am
I think you have to design your mass transit and your city to work together. Picture Disney World in Florida. You drive your car there and park it. You take mass transit everywhere after. The fact is you wouldn’t dream of driving your car anywhere because it would be less convenient. There are so many forms of effective transit it is simply easier to use it. As long as there is a need to own a car … people will use it. Until the mass transit becomes effective and economical enough to ditch the car … you use the car. Major cities like New York, Chicago, etc. effectively do away with cars for those who live in the inner city by removing all parking. Can’t park it, can’t own it. So to travel in that environment people use taxi, bus, elevated etc. But they are caught in this fish bowl if they need to travel beyond the inner city. We are simply trapped by the auto marketing people who originally offered cars as a form of independence. Mass transit quickly disappeared even though it cost us more in infrastructure and energy. People view their auto as something more than transportation and that love affair blocks common sense.
May 16, 2008 at 5:25 am
Fine but how do you go back to that fishbowl thing in a town like Peoria. New York, yes. It’s so big that to get from one end to the other takes forever. So many people that traffic is a nightmare. Here, it takes 10 minutes. Even with “sprawl,” the city isn’t that big. We are a small town.
To get the buses where people want or my dream, a subway, in this town would cost so much money that it just wouldn’t happen. Think people are griping about the museum. Wait and see if people were to pay $2 a ride on the subway one way.
May 19, 2008 at 9:06 am
[...] the issue and actually had some sound thoughts. Rare for a blogger but he endeavors on. I guess thathttp://peoriasubway.wordpress.com/2008/05/15/high-gas-prices/Thousands Participate in Diabetes Walk R NewsThousands of folks across the nation walked Sunday to [...]