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I'm not sure why "green living" should involve sacrifice, per se. Isn't the point of green living to make it possible to enjoy some luxuries w/o killing the environment?
Again, I think the market will fix everything. Along with more agressive tax and subsidy programs.
We just learned that Florida Power and Light is raising its rates 19%. A terrible time for me to move out of my concrete box condo where I had $65/month utility bills into an older home, but I feel real bad for those who live in the exurbs and have to deal with the double whammy of higher fuel costs to commute to their jobs and the cost of cooling their sprawling homes!
If something doesn't happen and happen fast, yes we will have to go back to living in caves. People don't realize this harsh reality. We built our entire civilization on oil. It would take decades to transition our civilization from oil to something else yet to be discovered. We don't have decades. We don't even have 5 years according to Simmons.
Nine years later and we're all still alive, believe it or not!
^^ Yes, hilarious! It was fascinating to read through this forum. So many memories. Here are a few more posts that indicate somep people had some broken crystal balls.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HubbleRules
Simple economics will sort this whole debate out. As gas prices continue to escalate - or at least stay high - it will force changes in people's fundamental purchasing patterns. SUVs and Pickups are the dinosaurs of the 21st century - they are going extinct because they were dependent upon the premise of 'cheap gas' - and that faulty assumption was blown to you know where in the past year.
10 years from now the urban-assault-vehicle known as the Hummer will probably not have sufficient demand to sustain it's production lines - and it will (and should) - stop being produced (hope, hope, hope...).
McMansions will be horrendously expensive to heat and cool from this time forward - and that - plus expensive commuting costs - will put the last nail in their coffins. Rational people will simply not be willing to pay a premium for a dwelling that costs $10,000 to heat and cool.
Life goes on...
HubbleRules
Well, it's been nine years now. I don't think Hummers are made any more, but there are other big SUVs out on the road. Large homes are still being built, and bought.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HubbleRules
Here we go, the old 'class envy' argument. What a joke.
I don't know about your area, but where I am the big McMansions sales have ground to a halt. And the increase in house size you quoted above happened during the age of cheap energy. We're not living in that world any longer - it's permanently behind us - wish as we might it were not so.
I've obviously hit a chord and ruffled some feathers - but I just can't buy into your logic that all is well in the world of SUVs and McMansions.
Wait until gas is $7/gallon and heating oil or natural gas or electricity double from their current level. Most people are going to take a very long hard look at living in a huge home with space they don't really need.
You may be OK with your investment - I hope you make a killing.
However, a lot of people who buy these huge homes are going to be sadly disappointed to find themselves upside-down in their mortgages. This is already happening big-time in California, Florida and several other formerly 'hot' markets. It's beginning to happen near me, and this housing bubble has at least a few more years to run before it bottoms out.
HubbleRules
Gas was $2.05/gal in Nebraska this past weekend. Some places actually had it for under $2.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,585 posts, read 81,260,275 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Katarina Witt
^^ Yes, hilarious! It was fascinating to read through this forum. So many memories. Here are a few more posts that indicate somep people had some broken crystal balls.
Well, it's been nine years now. I don't think Hummers are made any more, but there are other big SUVs out on the road. Large homes are still being built, and bought.
Gas was $2.05/gal in Nebraska this past weekend. Some places actually had it for under $2.
I paid $2.54 last night, that's really low for here with our high taxes. This thread started during the recession. Jealousy is an ugly thing, but it's worse when people are struggling with layoffs and foreclosure
while watching others in their 10,000 sf waterfont house on 2 acres. Those are still being built, but now it seems that in our area the typical new development is 4,000-5,000 sf, and they are not McMansions, but just tract homes starting at about 1 million. They are selling fast, so apparently the predictions of doom were flawed.
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