Greener, Greener

About the expansion of the highway: Can California not think of any other solution than wider? Don’t we have 12-lanes-across down south, and each lane makes it feel worse? One of the things that makes coming into Santa Barbara special is that you do feel yourself leaving the city and coming to a place that is special. The trees in the center, the ocean and foliage, all make it a beautiful place. We’d love a moped and safe bike lane and another railroad or rapid-transit train lane.

The radio news says high gas prices will alter America’s living for good; that suburbanites are already moving into the city and giving up their three cars for one and a loft; that people will only fly if it’s over 500 miles and that the train is our best option. People back east live without cars and don’t want one.

Do we need to move ahead with a plan that was an old way of thinking: wider, wider? Or is it time to react quickly and put those dollars into options that make it greener and better for our pocketbooks, along with making Santa Barbara an environmental leader?