Stranded

Paul Krugman points out the advantages of mass transit and a different urban development model. As an architect who has seen a bit of the world and lived abroad, I can only hope that we in the U.S. will finally accept the fact that we can't spread ourselves so broadly across the landscape and expect to thrive given limited and expensive resources. The coming energy crisis will force us to re-think our way of living, and a new urban model must be developed if we are to continue to prosper.

I, for one, would be happy to have one car and to use mass transit for most of my travels and commuting. It's one of the reasons my family and I moved to Portland; people out here get the idea that these problems have to be solved regionally. Individuals in cars going to the same places just isn't as efficient as mass transit.

Just think - if our government had pumped large sums into research and development of alternative energy sources and mass transit systems instead of trying to democratize the Middle East, we'd be on the way to a better world, instead of being stuck in a situation with no clear solution, with untold loss of life and treasure. If we reduce the amount of oil we use, that will weaken the despotic governments in the Middle East. If the Saudis didn't have all that cash, they couldn't built madrasas all over the world spreading a fundamentalist creed. Energy conservation isn't a radical idea; it is a necessity, and it's benefits can make our society a better one. Let's get started before it's too late.