expensive gasoline spurs some good changes

Two articles in today's Boston Globe caught my eye.  I've excerpted the main points and then added my thoughts.
Grain of salt: I write this a day after attending the Boston Mini Rally where 300+ Mini Cooper owners got together just to drive their cars for fun.
--Phillip

exceprts from House hunting in the age of $4 gas: Analysts say commuters may move closer to work

• With gas now $4 a gallon, the software executive is no longer willing to pour $500 worth into his tank each month, an expense he attributes mainly to his 34-mile commute each way to work in Wilmington, or farther, to Logan International Airport for out-of-town meetings. He is looking to buy a home closer to his employer and the airport.
• soaring gasoline prices, which have forced many commuters to modify their driving habits. Some are making fewer trips, and others are trading in gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles for compacts or taking mass transit to work. The US Department of Transportation recently reported a record drop in the number of miles Americans drove in March, compared with March 2007, which amounted to a 4.3 percent decline.
• But if gas prices continue their inexorable rise, commuting costs will become a critical factor in where people choose to live, according to transit specialists and economists.
• The first dramatic changes would probably occur for those in isolated suburbs and exurbs: the New Hampshire resident who commutes 50 miles to Boston or the Framingham resident who drives 20 miles into Kendall Square in Cambridge.
• In a survey of its agents by real estate brokerage Coldwell Banker, 81 percent said they are seeing more interest from prospective buyers in urban living because of high gasoline prices. Fifty-four percent said access to public transportation is more important to their clients now.
• A May study by CEOs for Cities, a research organization supported by government and business, said rising gas prices would push new housing developments closer to the urban core in Boston, Seattle, and other US cities, while suburbs with few transit options will lose value.
• "The market for higher-density development in close-in neighborhoods is likely to grow stronger," the report said.
• Young families might settle for tighter quarters closer to the city instead of the larger, less expensive homes with long commutes. For suburban professionals, a more expensive condo in downtown Boston might make financial sense. And baby boomers might consider giving up the family home because higher gas prices eat into their retirement savings.

My editorializing: I would be glad to see a reversal of suburban sprawl, and a lessening of our dependence on the automobile.  I just wish this could happen without being tied to the cost of a barrel of oil.  Instead I think we should charge motorists the true costs of using the roads (via electronic tolls or gasoline taxes) rather than hiding most of the costs in income or property taxes that are the same regardless of how much you use the roads.

excerpts from Ciao car, hello Vespa: Easy on the pocketbook, Italian-made scooter makes riding smooth around the city

• Ahead, a red light glared, and bumper-to-bumper traffic stretched as far as the eye could see. Taxis honked. Drivers sighed. Nobody was happy - except the reporter on the white Vespa who slipped into the space between the lanes and nimbly passed among the cars. Pedestrians stopped to watch, and drivers' eyes gleamed with irritation and envy as the reporter made her way to the front of the line, turned right, and zipped off on her way.
• With gas prices at record highs and the weather transformed to glorious summer, many are parking their guzzlers in favor of transportation less petrol-hungry. Subway ridership is up. Bicycles are out in greater numbers. This reporter's choice was a Vespa, the sleek Italian-made scooter that seems to exemplify the phrase "Ciao bella!"
• Would one of Boston's notoriously aggressive drivers push her off the road? Would people honk when she topped out at 35 miles per hour? Would she be eaten by a monster-sized pothole? Or would the ability to cut through traffic, park virtually anywhere, and look good doing it win out?
• As vehicles circled Newbury Street searching for a spot during the lunch hour, the reporter glided up onto the sidewalk and left the Vespa in the shade of a tree.
• Cars actually let the reporter cut in front of them. Pedestrians stopped midstep and waved the scooter by.
• It seemed like perhaps all of Boston would be a happier, kinder place if more people drove this way.

My editorializing: Or maybe ride a bike?  Why is it that people give the person on the Vespa respect and admiration, but loathe and attack the bicycle rider?  The Vespa rider, cutting through the stalled traffic, is as much a scofflaw as the cyclist.  Maybe motorists feel more kindred with the Vespa because it too has a motor.