Rural Gas Prices In America
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How and where to drive when gas prices are so high.
Gas Prices In Rural America
Living out in the middle of nowhere with gas prices at an all time high of 4.20 a gallon, taking a leisurely drive much less keeping appointments and everyday errands has changed the way we do things. The very way we travel. This may not be true for everyone, but it is true for me and my family and friends.
In town there is one grocery store, three gas stations, a dollar store, two restaurants,2 hardware stores, a McDonald's, and a car wash. Prices are quite high, because it is a tourist town. Population one thousand. Completely ridiculous prices if you ask me. If I were to buy say a gallon of milk it would cost me four dollars a gallon, if I travelled 26 miles north or 15 miles south I could get that same gallon of milk for 3.25. In the long run I might as well buy the four dollar a gallon of milk. It would cost me more in gas now to get that milk elsewhere for a lower price.
The closest hospital is fifteen miles away. The better hospital is fifty five miles away. The better doctors are seventy miles away. With gas prices like they are it is impossible to continue to keep appointments outside of the area any longer. So essentially we have to settle for the substandard treatment. We have one doctor's office in town. With one doctor. How does one doctor take care of all the people in one small town? He doesn't.
The mental health clinic is fifteen miles away. The better choice is fifty five miles away. But with biweekly therapy appointments and monthly psychiatry appointments and other medical appointments it costs to much to pay for gas costs. So I have to choose mediocre doctors that are in the rural area. And that scares me, because I just cannot afford to drive the fifty five miles any longer.
Most of the stores in town don't always carry what I need. There is no pet store. The local grocery store has a limited amount of pet products. So I have to drive either twenty six miles north to Wal-Mart or fifty five miles south to a super Wal-Mart to get the supplies I need. The things they don't have in town. The grocery store in town does not carry different brands. They carry name brands. Making the items more expensive to purchase.
There are no bus lines, there is no way to bicycle except in town. The lower income families are being hard hit with 4.20 a gallon for gas. They are being left with choices like do I buy food or do I put 5 dollars in the gas tank to get to work? It takes 5 dollars to get 30 miles to a gallon, and most of the people in the community are commuters. They drive anywhere from 15-70 miles one way to work.
There is little choice but to drive. To scrap the bottom of the barrel. We need to get to work, we need to eat. Finding a second job it darn near impossible because there are none. Michigan is falling apart as many states are. We can't afford the high price in gas. The job market here is basically the little stores that pay minimum wage. Not nearly enough to feed a family of more than two. Barely enough to feed one.
The question to myself is how and what can I do to relieve this situation? Not much really. I have to commute. Period. No way around that. There is car pooling of course. That is one solution. The other is find a job in town for a considerably amount of less money. Of course I would be paying 70 dollars a week less in gas.That would save me a large chunk right there. The gas situation is not going to change anytime soon. It will get worse before it gets better.
Another solution would be to relocate the city to which one works. But that means leaving family and friends behind and living alone in a place you are not familiar with. So for me that option is not one I want to really consider.
So I work with what I have. I hope that the situation repairs itself soon. I explore my options, I try to save more money, I drive less for pleasure, and park the car and drive only when needed. These are the things I do to save gas. It is really a shame I have to more or less give up travel and basic necessity driving. But it is the way it is. And the way it is going to be for some time.
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Comments
I hate to even mention or complain at all about gas prices, since I know we have many international participants in these hubs. We do what we can to save a little by mking fewer trips and combining errands. I know it affects people who have to make a daily trip to work. people will adjust-- or the market will adjust.
How is it possible to even pay that much for gas? It seems impossible. What are we giving up so we are able to continue driving? I mean driving is a necessity, there is no doubt about that. I know at this time I can't move to the city, but I can try to find work in town. That might help me save money. I feel for the farmers who have equipment, the trucks they need to haul crops, it is affecting not only America but the world. It is a sad day when a family has to chose between a meal or a tank of gas.
Eric I agree the fuel prices are going to make a huge impact on our lives. Rochelle- yes not having to pay a vehicle note does help. My car is paid off as well. I have given up the credit cards too. No more credit. What I can save in interest I can put in the gas tank.
Thank you both for your comments. :-)
I live in a city area, but I started riding my bike to work a few times a week... but only once or twice a week because it is 13.6 miles ONE WAY to work. Thankfully there is a nice bike trail along the river for about 2/3 of my commute. That has helped take a few bucks out of my weekly expenses on gas, but because we are in a larger city, other little trips to the grocery store and things like that are not QUITE as painful. We are up to $4.55 a gallon (for the cheapest gas) here in Southern California.
Hi Glenn,
It appears to me that gas prices are higher in the larger cities. I fear what will happen when they get that high here. I work 26 miles from where I live. I often thought of riding my bike but I think that's pushing it a bit. When I lived in Detroit I did ride my bike 14 miles one way, only because I didn't have a car. And I was 10 years younger.
Australians, Americans, and most of the rest of the developed world have lived in, built for, and counted on a world that is based on virtually unlimited cheap energy.
We're now starting to realise that we've been badly conned.
And for the last hundred years or so we have been building the wrong kind of world.
A friend of mine in New York bought a Toyota Prius and he's getting about 55 mpg. I have to say I'm an SUV driver because I have a large family with big trips to the grocery store, but that Prius is looking pretty good these days. It's actually fairly roomy inside too! I was surprised.
The spike in fuel prices pinching U.S. consumers is creating special challenges in the country's rural heartland, where residents typically earn less than their urban counterparts and travel longer distances often in older, less efficient vehicles to get to work.
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Michael
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Eric Graudins says:
2 years ago
In Australia too, our society is set up in a way that assumes cheap transport. So that you used to be able to live away from the urban areas.
Now that cheap fuel appears to be gone forever, it will have a huge impact on all aspects of our lives.
The decisions that made sense years ago in regard to where we choose to live make no sense these days.
I feel for you, because we had exactly the same problem about 10 years ago in regard to living in the country, while having many aspects of our life centred in the city. Doing 80,000 km per year was just crazy, given the cost of transport, and the time taken up driving.
We ended up moving back to town.
p.s. Petrol is around $7.60 per gallon here (1.70 per litre)at the moment.