Invest in the Future: Support Smart-Growth Planning

Bonus Tip (no extra charge)

This tip won't save you a dime today. But it's well worth it for what it will save your children and grandchildren.

Gas prices are the most painful for folks in the suburbs, where there's often no viable option but to drive from home to school, to work, to the grocery store, etc. Sprawling development gives each family God's green acre, but it makes them pay in oil.

It doesn't have to be this way. Legions of planners, advocates and a young generation of home buyers are reinvesting in city and village living. New development can be clustered around existing public transportation infrastructure, integrated with employment, schools and shopping, and connected by sidewalk into walkable neighborhoods. Another advantage: This pattern preserves outlying farms, which can supply local food, and nearby forests, where urbanites can take a hike.

Tax money can be used to invest in new public transportation routes. Local laws can be written to counteract sprawl. If you want to see the next generation have an easier time dealing with high oil prices (and there's little reason to expect the price of oil will drop significantly), then start thinking about the bigger picture. Tell your representatives in Congress, the statehouse, at the county commission and town council to plan for the next building boom now, while housing starts are low.