At $10 a gallon we moved into electric and alternative cars in a big way. So now we’re flying less, enjoying our family more, driving electric cars when we can’t walk or take mass transit. 

SUVs are a weird fading memory of a bygone age. And we enjoy skiing, sailing, paddling, bicycling and strolling rather than snowmobiling, jet skiing, dirt biking, or joy riding. Are we done yet? Or is there more change ahead?

Well $20 a Gallon author Christopher Steiner isn’t going to let us go quite yet. Another sea change takes place at $12 a gallon.

Hope you like urban landscapes, because more of us will be moving back to them, and for good reason. The environmental and energy footprint is smaller per person in urban settings. At $12 a gallon, that means cities will become more desirable economically as well. With cars ever more expensive, you’ll want to live in a place where you can walk, bike or take the subway to work. In fact the cities with the best mass transit will do the best. Houston and LA will have to scrape by, but NYC, Boston, DC, San Francisco and so forth will flourish. As we migrate back to cities, they will become more livable than ever- with arts, dining, work, and schools within easy reach. Efficient apartments and flats will be the rage, due to the energy savings that come from living together.

The suburbs will be doomed. At $12 a gallon, few can afford a McMansion on an acre 30 miles from work, where one has to drive to shop, recreate, after school events and so forth. The big single family homes will be too costly to heart and cool, the fuel for cars too expensive to drive the 15-20,000 miles that many suburban families currently rack up annually.

You can kiss this scene goodbye...

According to Steiner, the single family homes in town and the nearest suburbs will survive, where rail, walkable shops, and nearby work will hold people. But the outer bedroom communities will slowly erode as people move closer in to the bustling heart of activity. Some will even disappear as the land is reclaimed for farming to feed the populations centers. Those cities will once again become the thriving, bustling, low crime, communities where people like to work and live. Think Amsterdam.

And what about small towns and villages? We cover that next time, in a world where gas is $14 per gallon.

$20 a Gallon, Part 8: $18 Gas – A Renaissance of Rail!
$20 a Gallon, Part 7: $16 Gas – Local Food Rises Again!
$20 a Gallon, Part 5: $14 Gas —Small Town Renaissance
$20 a Gallon, Part 4: $10 Gas — Drive Small and Clean
$20 a Gallon, Part 3: $8 Gas Clears the Friendly Skies!
$20 a Gallon, Part 2: $6 Gas Kills SUVs dead!
How Rising Gas Prices will Spur Waste into Resources