After reading a NYT article today on how rising gas prices have curbed teenage cruising, I realized that my high school experience in suburban DE would have been completely different if gas had been more expensive. In addition to the daily 40 minute drives to high school, I spent much of my leisure time driving to visit friends, many of whom lived 30 minutes away in Chadds Ford or West Chester, PA. Our favorite weekend activity, however, during junior year of high school (1998-1999) was cruising the "Conc" or Concord Pike in Wilmington. This was your typical strip with a Dunkin Donuts, TCBY, Borders, fast food chains, etc. and one DE hotspot, the Charcoal Pit. We spent hours driving from one parking lot to the next to see who was there and who we could chat with. On more low key nights, we'd just drive to Acme, the local grocery store 5 minutes from my house, and just loiter in their parking lot. What a stimulating adolescent lifestyle I led.
In any case, my point is that at the height of my cruising days (probably Fall 1998), gas only cost about $.98 per gallon!!! By the time I graduated in May 2000, the price had risen to about $1.40. If you're curious to see the data yourself, click here. At $4.00+ per gallon in 2008, I would not have been able to afford cruising. Maybe that would have been better for me developmentally if I lived near a city which provided actual cultural opportunities. But what was a teenager in Delaware supposed to do! Philly is close (a little under an hour drive), but you still have to drive there, and it just seemed farther than it was. This is why I won't be rearing any children I have in DE.
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I think it's the same in all suburbs!
Anyway there's any easy trick to the problem for multi-car families. The kid shouldn't get a car (citing the costs), and then always drive the parent's car who has the fuller gas tank. Never need to fill up. Works great. Even when I had my own ride, I used it for years =P
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