On my daily dog walk through the neighborhood, I encountered an elderly neighbor I’d never seen before, also out walking her dog. After exchanging pleasantries and walking on, I hit upon a thought that should have been obvious all along.
When we were living in North Raleigh I saw the writing on the wall that one day I will be too old to drive safely around town. Since I expect to retire in Raleigh some day, I wanted to live where driving wasn’t necessary. Thus, we now live within walking distance of downtown, buying our house as much as an investment for our twilight years as much as an investment for right now.
That was several years ago, and only now did it occur to me the huge impact that fuel prices must place on our senior citizens. People old enough to be living on fixed incomes may stop being able to actually afford gasoline long before they’re no longer physically able to drive.
That led me to consider light rail system being proposed for Raleigh is much more important to the long-term health of the city than I previously gave it credit. I hope one’s available when I’m old enough to depend on it.
I spent over $800 on gasoline in July. I am not a senior citizen. Gas prices may ensure I don’t make to senior citizen, because they are killing me.
You may have seen this before but,
http://marshallbrain.com/raleigh/index.htm
Former NCSU instructor and found of How Stuff Works. Check out the monorail section. NCSU also has a monorail in the Centennial Master Plan