$4 Gas is Good For You

Thomas Friedman of The New York Times discusses why gas should cost $4 a gallon, if not more.

I can personally relate to this, as I'm spending upwards of $300/month on gas alone. This does not count the wear and tear on my car, or the opportunity cost of sitting in traffic and dealing with all of the cell-phone-jabbering, lane-wandering morons that seem to populate the NJ Parkway.

We as Americans in general thrive on this "commuting" lifestyle. From what others have told me, and from what I've gathered from world media, this is a uniquely American phenomenon. Elsewhere in the world, people tend to centrally locate themselves near their place of work. I'd like to make a lifestyle change and drastically reduce my commuting time, and my dependence on an automobile for my daily work transportation altogether. Because of this, I've been looking at apartments in Red Bank. Two of the apartments I've looked at were close enough to the office that I could ride a bike every day. Not only would I eliminate my dependence on gas to get me to work every day, but I could keep myself in shape as well.

Now if I could only figure out a way to afford these pricey Red Bank apartments. The extra $300/month sure will help, but I'm not sure it's enough.