Energy use and living space

Our house started to use Bullfrogpower yesterday. It's electricity provided by wind power and certified low impact hydro power. We are still connected to the grid. If you're interested, Google Bullfrogpower and get the details from the website.

I'm walking to work now, most of the time. I take the bus sometimes, partly to get there on time, or in inclement weather, but also to support public transit. It's expensive, and the schedule is variable. Also, the buses only run every half hour. I'm not really complaining, because the bus usually has only about 8-10 riders, so more frequency is not warranted.

I really feel that suburbia is a bad idea. Where I live, there are large subdivisions with long, rambling crescents and very few through streets. Thus, the traffic all pours out onto 3 or 4 main streets to get anywhere. The prospect of having to walk anywhere is quite daunting. Nothing is in a straight line, except the 3 or 4 main streets, where the traffic is awful. I'm fortunate in that the line from my job to my house cuts across the major traffic paths, so I only need to cross at a couple of main intersections, and the rest of the time, I pretty well have the sidewalk to myself, on quiet streets.

Do you have any ideas about how to get people walking or biking more? What about redesigning suburbia? Or rethinking where you should live?

I heard that Oprah had a show about people starting to live in small spaces. I wish I'd seen it. It sounds intriguing. A YOUNG woman with whom I work just told me that her next door neighbour's house is 3600 square feet. She didn't say what hers was, but I was left to assume that it is similar. She's a professional, and so I suppose she wants her portion of the good life.

I don't want to judge, but it scares me that young people are still thinking that they need huge living spaces. If this trend continues, according to all that I'm reading, we're all doomed. Literally. I would like to think that there are others who are paying attention, and actually adjusting their habits.