Actually our area is doing ok. It was dead over the winter but she's had 5 closings in the past 2 weeks and 2 more coming up. Now they are nothing spectacular with most averaging in the $100,000 range. The $150,000+ houses are slow to sell around here right now. My 20-30 mile area is primarilly a blue collar area is why the higher houses are slow. 40 miles from me is the Huntsville area (where i grew up) and the market is slowed but still booming over there. Of course they have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country and i'd say 50% of the housholds have $150,000 + incomes.
The news preaches about housing being down because it is down in the areas that over-boomed 5-10 years ago. Besides, the media thinks that NYC, LA, Miami, Las Vegas, Denver, Dallas, and Chicago etc. is America and there are no other economies that exist.

 

To add to the housing drop topic. From what I saw, the areas that they are really crying about being down have just dropped to the level that they would be at if they climbed at the same rate as the rest of the country. They aren't lower than they were years ago, they just leveled back out. But the people that have bought in the last 2-3 years are eating the previous owners profits and hurting.
I guess what i'm saying is it isn't a permanant problem but many suffering from buying during a high spike and then a lull. Just like the stock market.

On the gas...check this link out. Cool as hell. I live in the dark green county in northern Alabama. I guess I can consider myself lucky.

http://www.gasbuddy.com/GB_Map_Gas_Prices.aspx

 

Damn I wished I lived in AL!! You should get a motorcycle or even better a Can-am spyder which gets 45 mpg yet you'll still be alot safer than being on a bike!

 

I used to drive 100 miles round trip to work a few years ago. I saw the writing on the wall 3 years ago and moved. Now my commute is 3 miles a day and my wifes is 6 miles a day round trip. I dont even have to get on the freeway. My truck is 10 months old and I have approx 3200 miles on it

 

Did the same thing 3 years ago too, and I could care less what kind of gas mileage my trucks make. I've even thought of trading the crewcab for a nice used H2 just to **** off all the smug car owners. There's a lifted HD here in town that has a sticker on the back window that say something like 'Proudly wasting the gas that your hybrid saves'.

 

im at 60mile round trip, and wife is about to start working and will also be 60mile round trip, thats not counting the toll road fees, for me its $5.50/day!!! ouch!!!! i could move closer like other people but i work at a chemical plant, so there is no way i would make my family live close to one of those (pollution sucks), and there is no way i'll quit either cause it pays $$$$, so i'll have to just suck it up or do what im thinking to do again, buy another civic!!!

 

i want a sticker like that! lol