The Iowa City Press-Citizen implies driving is a luxury:



"How high would gas prices have to go before you stopped driving or looked for alternate transportation?



“I’m already looking for alternate transportation. At $3, I’ll stop driving altogether.”

Curtis Hakeman, 35, Coralville



“Three dollars. It wouldn’t surprise me if it’s there soon.”

Chelsea Campanelli, 21, Cedar Rapids



“Four dollars to $5 per gallon before stopping. America is so used to driving, we would probably drive.”

Ron Johnson of Nebraska



“(You don’t stop) because you drive. I’d probably find a way. Hopefully, it won’t reach that point.”

Rita Sotelo, 55, Iowa City"





This is brought to you courtesy of the same city that eviscerated its downtown area by making free or cheap parking damn near impossible to find. When does the light bulb come on?



Hello, liberal reporter-type person?



We live in a rural community. Lots of land, ya know? Space?



If I don't drive, I don't eat, I don't work, and certainly don't come to your town to spend my money. That would put a crimp in the old fake rainforest in Coralville idea, wouldn't it?



We don't drive because we love staring at the pretty yellow dotted lines on the asphalt. We drive because we no longer live in feudal times where everything one needed was contained within the walls of the local manor. If I need groceries, I can't produce them out of thin air. Driving to the store takes 45 minutes, do you really think I have half a day to do a bike trip? Same with work. I simply don't have the stamina or the time to bike 42 miles one way. Of course, I could move into Iowa City where you could prohibit me from having my bonfires, restrict to the square inch the number of windows I can have in my home, and eventually raise my taxes to pay for the aforementioned Rainforest.



But then, where would you put me? You'd have to build things, contributing to urban sprawl. With bulldozers. That use gasoline.



The only way we are going to stop using fossil fuels is to obtain a reliable, inexpensive alternative. Work on that and leave the poor drivers alone.