Category Archives: Peak Oil

The Future of Cars

By Dom Nozzi To be healthy and sustainable, cities need to leverage “agglomeration economies.” That is, a healthy city with a high quality of life is one that is relatively compact and walkable. Because cars consume an enormous amount of … Continue reading

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Filed under Bicycling, Diet, Economics, Peak Oil, Politics, Sprawl, Suburbia, Urban Design, Transportation, Walking

Is Rail a Practical Option for a College Town?

By Dom Nozzi A few months ago, a college student told me that he was thinking about conducting research to learn about “cheaper high-speed rail, low-speed rail, or maglev options (if there is such a thing) for a small university … Continue reading

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Filed under Bicycling, Peak Oil, Sprawl, Suburbia, Urban Design, Transportation, Walking

Why Many Environmentalists Counterproductively Support Excessive Parking for Cars

By Dom Nozzi, AICP Why do so many environmentalists and many other well-educated people (who should know better) so often express strong support for local laws which require new developments to provide excessive, ever-higher amounts of parking for cars? Isn’t … Continue reading

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Filed under Bicycling, Economics, Environment, Peak Oil, Politics, Sprawl, Suburbia, Urban Design, Transportation, Walking

Is It Good News or Bad News that Gas Prices Will Soon Be Significantly Higher?

By Dom Nozzi, AICP Recently, I pointed out to a friend that it will be quite beneficial to our society when gas prices (hopefully incrementally) increase to a much higher level. He responded by asking how people will be able … Continue reading

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Filed under Economics, Peak Oil, Politics, Sprawl, Suburbia, Urban Design, Transportation

The Abrupt and Ironic Reversal

By Dom Nozzi, AICP  For most of my adult life, I have lived in or near “downtowns,” or what I like to call “town centers.” Over and over again, I’ve had friends and family members express astonishment that I would … Continue reading

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Filed under Bicycling, Peak Oil, Politics, Sprawl, Suburbia, Urban Design, Transportation, Walking

Books Dom Read in 2010 and His Recommended Readings

By Dom Nozzi I have always been an obsessive list-maker, as most of my friends have been amused to learn. I make lists of nearly everything. One of the lists I started making about 30 years ago, that I have … Continue reading

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Filed under Bicycling, Diet, Economics, Environment, Miscellaneous, Peak Oil, Politics, Sprawl, Suburbia, Urban Design, Transportation, Walking

Big Brother and Cars

By Dom Nozzi Recently, an acquaintance of mine questioned me about the appropriateness of local governments which seek to regulate or modify driving behavior by citizens. Is it any business of government to shape how people travel? Isn’t doing so … Continue reading

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Filed under Bicycling, Diet, Economics, Environment, Peak Oil, Politics, Sprawl, Suburbia, Urban Design, Transportation, Walking

Why Are Cities That Engage in Effective Car Reduction Tactics Still Seeing Significant Car Dependency?

By Dom Nozzi Why is it that in many developing nations, the growth and level of car dependency is high, despite their having many conditions that discourage high levels of car use? I believe that in our age, technology, relatively … Continue reading

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Filed under Bicycling, Peak Oil, Sprawl, Suburbia, Urban Design, Transportation, Walking

Plan B: What I Plan to Do If Collapse Seems Certain

By Dom Nozzi There is a growing number of books published in recent years that expect significant turbulence or collapse for transportation/government/society/economics in the US in the near future. A few of the books I’ve recently read on this grim … Continue reading

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Filed under Peak Oil, Uncategorized

Our Painful Future

By Dom Nozzi Our future, tragically, will need to include much bitter medicine to swallow as we must pay for the sins committed by our forefathers and foremothers over the past 80 or so years. Primarily, those sins include the … Continue reading

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Filed under Economics, Environment, Peak Oil, Urban Design, Transportation, Walking