I’ve been so busy that I haven’t seen anything other that a shot here or there of cars strewn on the highways around Houston. Because I only saw the images and didn’t really have the mental bandwidth to actually have the volume turned up, I was wondering what was going on. I’m finally catching up, but assuming that most of you knew about the shortages and whatnot, I’ll skip to TNR’s article on the implications of the events in and around Houston. Good read, and I’ll let it stand on it’s own, but I do want to point out something that caught my eye:

Rita caused such panic it may come to be known as the Second Runaway Scrape, eerily like when Texans fled across the landscape in 1836, in advance of the Mexican army. Then, Texans battled Indians, cold, rain, and hunger. This time, the town of Sealy, 24 miles from Houston, looked like it was ravaged by riot: stores shuttered, gas pumps empty, garbage everywhere, desperation on drivers’ faces as they ran low on fuel under the scowl of the cops. “If it hadn’t been for Katrina, maybe I wouldn’t have been so concerned,” says Susan Clark, who with her husband Adam had fled Houston, only to make it 15 miles. “People in New York might say, ‘Take the trains,’ but we don’t have that here. I was having a fucking anxiety attack.

In the context of a hurricane, not sure the trains thing is really relevant (how many people could really evacuate this way?). The thing is, within the greater culture of America and in diverse issues such as obesity and energy policy and commerce, I think that more local light rail and subway/trolley systems are a very good idea.

When I lived in Boston, I was healthier. Not because I ate better or went to the gym more, but because I walked a LOT more. I walked to work on nice days, I walked to get groceries. I walked to have dinner or to meet friends. If friends lived far away, I took the T or the light rail out and had them pick me up. Short drives instead of long ones on the highway.

I used way less fuel because I didn’t need to drive. I actually didn’t own a car, but I realize that’s because I was in a special situation (truly urban living is different than neighborhood suburban living, for sure). It’s interesting to see that some communities are starting to see this, though. Atrios pointed out an interesting light rail development around Denver, I think. Denver, by the way, used to have ZipCar. I think they’re working on the right type of development and Atrios’s comment about reducing vs. eliminating cars is spot on.

I would totally love a way to take rail to ESPN, but the problem with a big sprawling campus is that they really need to be away from urban centers. But Hartford, man, Hartford could use a hub-and-spoke development strategy with light rail running out to the major suburbs. No one lives in the city, and it’s all cars over interstates and local highways.