Bike Utah Valley

A couple of years ago I remember reading a story about commuting and its costs.  It was about a report from the Center for Housing Policy entitled “A Heavy Load: The Combined Housing and Transportation Burdens of Working Families.”  It intrigued me because it was something that I had never given a whole lot of thought to.  Since that time, I have thought about it a great deal.  My summary of the article and the report is this.  It costs nearly as much to live in a place such as Eagle Mountain or Saratoga Springs and then commute into Salt Lake City or Orem/Provo as it would to pay more for a house up front and live near a Trax station or within walking or cycling distance of your employment.  These communities are called exurbs and around the country are the places where people are having problems with very expensive commutes, to work and to the grocery store, as well as a decreasing quality of life with an ever increasing percentage of household income going to transportation costs.  I know many people who say that they can’t afford to live close to work, but now they are nearly unable to afford to get to work. Everyone has to make their own decisions about where they are going to live.  I believe that they have only just started to explore the option of actually living a life at least a little less dependent on the personal automobile.  Perhaps in the future there will be more impetus to spend our tax dollars on public transportation and people scaled transportation infrastructure, and zoning laws will enable and encourage people to live closer to where they work, closer to shopping, closer to other people, closer to culture.  In fact, in many places it is already happening!  More on this subject will be forthcoming.  I look forward to reading your thoughts on this subject.  Keep the comments coming!  And share this blog with your friends, cyclists or not.  Transportation affects everyone!