The Bright Side?

Photo by ReneS

A couple of the hottest conversation topics around Vancouver are the steadily rising price of gas, and the equally steady encroachment on the downtown skyline of new highrise condo buildings. Both of these developments have been taking a serious amount of abuse from the public at large. And why not? Compare the scenery from David Lam Park today to how it was a few years ago and you'd be hard pressed not to swear at the condo buildings that have closed off views of the sky to the west. Take off for a weekend camping trip into the interior and you'll surely be swearing again at the amount of money that you have to spend on gas compared to what it would have cost a couple of years ago. But is there a proverbial silver lining to this dark cloud? Well at risk of sounding nauseatingly positive, I'm going to say yes.

So what's this dingbat talking about? Well I'll give you two positive effects of these developments. The proliferation of downtown condos is allowing more people to live closer to where they work, thereby dispensing with their daily commute from the suburbs, and higher gas prices are causing more than a few people to think twice before firing up their cars. Some people who live just outside the downtown core have even been inspired to *gasp!* ride their bike or walk to work. This cuts down drastically on the amount of pollution that gets dumped into the Lower Mainland's atmosphere (and subsequently blows into the Fraser Valley's farmlands). Very very good. And honestly, are our gas prices really that offensive? I'm a car owner and a lover of the almighty road trip, so I'm not crazy about seeing gas at $1.22 a litre, but for the amount of pollution and damage that cars cause, is it really unreasonable for gas to cost that much? I'm inclined to say no, with the reservation that the money doesn't seem to be going in the right direction. Admittedly, I don't know much about the finer workings of the international petroleum market, but maybe gas taxes could be alotted differently (towards environmental clean up and awareness? Or towards subsidizing people like truck drivers who are caught in the middle, paying more and more for gas and gaining nothing from the skyrocketing prices?). Also keep in mind that gas is still cheaper in North America than in many parts of the world. Not that I've been keeping track of gas prices in Accra or Tierra del Fuego, but when I was in New Zealand three years ago, $1.20 a litre (~$1.10 Cdn. after conversion) wasn't uncommon.

Maybe I'm grasping at straws here, but the way I see it, gas prices aren't going down anytime soon and the condos are just going to keep coming... we might as well try to find something good in there if we can.