Highest gas prices in the country

May 7, 2001 9:30 AM

Highest gas prices in the country will accompany your vacation to the beautiful redwood country. They're now the subject of a folk song (mp3) (framed parent link: khum.com).
posted by fleener (19 comments total)

Actually, gas prices here on the west side of Cleveland are $2+/gal for the hi-grade stuff, $1.85+/gal for the low end.
posted by starvingartist at 10:07 AM on May 7, 2001

Here in Berkeley, CA, only a handful of cheap gas stations have their cheapest gas under $2. Places like Chevron, etc. are around $2.09 for the "regular" stuff. When I was driving around in San Francisco last week, I couldn't find a single place with gas under $2. (Maybe the locals know where they're all hidden, heh.)

At least the BART system here is good.
posted by DaShiv at 10:51 AM on May 7, 2001

This is the first time I have ever posted to MeFi, but I have to in this case. In Canada, the typical price is (and has been for several months) about 75 cents/litre. That's about $2.50/gallon US.

You don't hear us complaining *too* much as we still have (I believe) the second cheapest gasoline prices in the western world... US being the cheapest. UK is hitting around a pound per litre which is about $5.75US/gallon!!!

Sorry, but at two bucks a gallon, don't expect much sympathy from the rest of the world.
posted by smo at 10:55 AM on May 7, 2001

$1.40 per gal. (regular) here - Athens GA. Insult-to-injury dept., I live close enough to work to walk, and do so by preference. Actually that's a theme that has run through my vehicular life; at one point I had a 427 corvette but I found that this boat was operating at the peak of its design parameters when parked in a burger joint attracting babes and using no gas at all.
posted by jfuller at 11:01 AM on May 7, 2001

The typical European country pays the equivalent of almost $5/gallon. Cars there get more miles per gallon so it is tolerable. The basic difference between the US and Europe is that the US is focused on the rights of the individual while Europe is generally focused on the rights of the collective group. For example, what's better for an individual (their own car) might not be what's best for the collective group (mass transit). Now the U.S. is paying the price for individualist thinking.
posted by borgle at 11:31 AM on May 7, 2001

If you adjust for inflation, our grandparents paid more for gas than we ever did. In 2000 dollars, U.S. gas prices were a little less than $2 a gallon 50 years ago. What's more, if you look at the big picture, constant-dollar gas prices have been declining ever since 1949. In fact, after the "energy crisis" of the 1970s and early 1980s, inflation-adjusted gas prices declined to all-time constant-dollar lows.

So - what was it we were all whining about?

(Data from a graph of historic gas prices compiled by a professor at Oregon State University.)
posted by Minneapolis at 11:33 AM on May 7, 2001

I'm whining about the fact that while the gas price goes up and up, my pay does not. I don't care what gas prices were 50 years ago - do you have a time machine I can borrow? And I also don't care what gas prices are in Europe - I don't live there! I care about how gas prices in Lakewood, OH are affecting my life at this point in time! Telling me smo pays more for his or her gas doesn't make me feel any better, and it doesn't ease the burden on my wallet when I go to fill up.
posted by starvingartist at 11:46 AM on May 7, 2001

> what was it we were all whining about?

Were we whining? Not me, anyway. I'll be glad to grub up all our neighborhood's new speed humps (and Michael Stipe can take that sign down off his house) just as soon as nobody can afford to drive any more. Can't wait!
posted by jfuller at 11:51 AM on May 7, 2001

The gas price in other countries (in other economies) is beside the point. In my economy, if the gas price is rising dramatically, explain to me why I shouldn't be bothered. So people thousands of miles away in another country are paying more than me. So, that's supposed to make me feel better?
posted by fleener at 12:09 PM on May 7, 2001

Look on the bright side, you'll start seeing fewer SUV's on the road, and that's a good thing.
posted by gyc at 12:49 PM on May 7, 2001

>> I don't care what gas prices were 50 years ago - do you have a time machine I can borrow?

Here's my point: Up until a year or two ago, U.S. gas prices were lower than they've ever been. EVER. The way gas prices in Ohio affect your life "at this point in time" is rooted on the fact that we have all grown so dependent on cheap gas.

I could whine from here to Sunday about how gas prices here in Minneapolis are among the highest in the nation (currently about $1.90 a gallon), but how interesting would that be? And what would it accomplish?

How did our parents cope with pump prices in 1981, when gas hit $2.61 a gallon (in today's dollars)? How do they survive in Europe and other parts of the world, where gas prices are much higher (and wages equally stagnant)? By looking at the problem from a historical and global perspective, we can see it isn't unique to our generation or culture - and maybe find some clues for getting out of the current mess we're in. Do we want solutions - or scapegoats?
posted by Minneapolis at 12:50 PM on May 7, 2001

Hey Starvingartist. It's not about trying to make you feel better, it's about showing you reality. You should be thankful gas is $1.90/gallon and not $4-5/gallon. At $1.90 consumers in the U.S. still have it good. If the price of gas is too high perhaps a lifestyle change is in order.
posted by borgle at 1:37 PM on May 7, 2001

Ah, yes, a lifestyle change. Yes, I really should stop buying mink coats and Cadillacs on my $10/hr temp wage. What the hell do you know about my lifestyle? At $1.90, gas is too high for me, no matter how much money I make. How dare you suggest that you think you know how I live? 2 years ago gas was less $1 around here. Now it fluctuates drastically, and is pushing the envelope at $2, and I don't understand why. All this relative information is useless to me. I spent a whole year in London while in college. I know the Europeans spend much more on gas. That's one reason I don't live there. I take great offense at your comment.
posted by starvingartist at 1:46 PM on May 7, 2001

starvingartist, it's hard to listen to other people complaining about their bank accounts. We all feel the same way, and in fact, many people are getting hit far harder than you. Pardon our lack of sympathy.
posted by jragon at 1:59 PM on May 7, 2001

I didn't ask for sympathy. I want an explanation why, and I don't want people to tell me what I already know about other countries paying more for gas. I want to know why all of us are paying so much all of a sudden. I am not an economist. I don't understand it, and I want to. But that doesn't mean I don't get to complain, and it doesn't mean other people who don't know how I live get to criticize my lifestyle. Thank you very much. I'm going home now.
posted by starvingartist at 2:01 PM on May 7, 2001

Why? Because we're burning fossil fuels that cannot be replaced. Because there's an economic downturn. Because their are more politics in middle east than you can shake a gas tank at. Because in a free market economy, they could push up the prices by 200% and we'd grudgingly pay it since we're all married to our cars. And then there are another millions reasons.

I don't claim to understand the whole complicated mess of issues that make prices go up, but I know they're there, and I know they're real. It makes it easier for me to grin and bear it when prices fluctuate.
posted by jragon at 2:09 PM on May 7, 2001

time to annex the middle east. a couple of well placed cluster bombs should solve that pesky religious site fighting nonsense.
posted by jbelshaw at 2:44 PM on May 7, 2001

oh, that was a joke btw.
posted by jbelshaw at 2:44 PM on May 7, 2001

Starvingartist, I didn't mean to insult you personally. When I say lifestyle change I don't mean caviar and champagne. I mean relying on your car. Some options are to take the bus or carpool. If those are not options perhaps find a place that is closer to where you work and walk or use a bike. The point is, cars are expensive and the price of the gas to fuel them is only going to go up. It is a non-renewable form of energy.
posted by borgle at 3:09 PM on May 7, 2001