America's most expensive gas? It's in L.A. Land.

I'll give you the bad news first, then the not-so-bad news.

First: Los Angeles has America's most expensive gas, at an average of $4.59 per gallon, according to the Lundberg Survey of 7,000 gas stations. The survey reports the nationwide average is $4.10 a gallon, and the most expensive gas in America is in Los Angeles and Fresno -- where regular averages $4.59 per gallon.

Now the better news: Gas prices in Los Angeles have been fairly steady for about a week now. The attached photo was taken June 13 in Santa Monica, and the price at that station (Lincoln and Santa Monica boulevards) hasn't budged in nine days, still $4.89/gallon.

LosAngelesGasPrices.com, an excellent resource, reports that regular gas averages $4.60 per gallon in L.A., unchanged from a week ago.

Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com
Photo Credit: LA Land, via the Pain at the Pump gallery in Your News at Your Scene at LATimes.com.

Comments

[Housing Bull Chorus]

So how are you renters gonna get to your McJobs now?

Try HELOCing a tank of gas from your filthy rented rattraps.

You'd better buy a home now or else you'll be priced out of motorized transportation forever!

[Laker]

Peter,
After really putting some thought behind gas prices, i start to believe like others here that this is no issue for the average driver. I don't like to pay $95 to fill up my car, but still I don't think it changes even a little from my plans.
Also, many people hear the news and do change their habits by carpooling or taking the bus. Some of these people will stay with that type of transportation even if/when prices start to come down. That will reduce long term demand, and therefore gas prices will go down.
I think many here understand that gas/oil is in a bubble condition. The good news here is that it would not take 7 years for this bubble to deflate. Oil is traded locally in the NY mercantile exchange, in London and other places and is very similar to stocks. Correction in such a bubble would occur pretty fast watch and see. Oil will get down to $70 and gas will be $2.00 a gallon.
(very similar to our LA housing...reduction to half the price...)

[Michael Snyder]

Isn't it fun when the Fed capitalizes a market with a few billion taxpayer dollars? If nature had been allowed to take its' course and the "financial sector" had been forced to take its' lumps we might be bouncing along the bottom right now headed for a recovery. As it it the Wall St. brain trust has run out and built another bubble. Why am I not surprised by this? I can hear the announcer now, "Live! From the heart of Wall St.! It's "Build a Bubble"! Brought to you by the "Three Stooges" of Finance, Hank, Ben & George and a major contribution from you, the American taxpayer."
Any bets on yet another round of bullish predictions on oil futures as the stock markets continue to tank in the face on consumer non-participation on the marketplace? Toss in a little saber rattling in the Mid East (do they ever put those things away?) and wallah! Oil's headed back to $141 so Lehman can repay their loans.
Did I mention the article buried on page two of the financial sections last week detailing Hank & Ben's next good idea? Remember that ONE time trip to the Fed's loan window for investment banks? The new plan is to "temporally" extend these privileges for an indeterminate period of time. So we the taxpayers can now look forward to financing speculative investments made by Wall St. "investment banks" and receive nothing in return but higher prices for the goods vital for our survival.
This is a h*#l of a time to lose a voice like George Carlin.

[THOMAS]

Wake up people, these gas prices are building cities like Dubai. Everytime you fill up, you are paying for there cities. They want us to think it just us greedy American speculators.

[keith]

"Wake up people, these gas prices are building cities like Dubai. Everytime you fill up, you are paying for there cities. They want us to think it just us greedy American speculators."

Sigh - Dubai's been around for a long time already. It's speculators worldwide. It's really no different than the metals markets or whatever lately, you just don't have to go buy a couple of tons of steel every week to get to work.

Reminds me of the electricity scandals a few years ago though. All this swearing up and down before ever so serious gov't panels that nothing was wrong, then I believe the Enron scandal broke for a completely different reason and all the electricity trading BS was exposed.

Just remember this, the fed gov't has refused to step in and even the playing field on this, not just the cowboy in office, but any and all of them up there. Liberal or Conservative, none have any interest in protecting the consumer on this point. It's all a big pile of stink, just like anything to do with the tobacco industries. Oh, if we only did more solar, oh, if we only did more wind, is crap. How you gonna ride the wind to work? Better start flapping.

[TakeFive]

If people are still buying bottled water, then gas is not too expensive.

BTW, did you know you get taxed on the nickel deposit, but that tax is not returned to you when the bottle is redemed. That water is even more expensive than you think.

[MyLessThanPrimeBeef]

I read over the weekend that a Japanese company has developed a car that runs on water, any water, rain, river or sea.

http://www.nowpublic.com/environment/
japanese-invent-car-runs-water

Imagine this scene:

Husband: Honey, make sure you have enough water in the car.

Wife: Don't worry, sweetie, I drank a lot of Perrier this morning. I should be fine. If the car needs water, I will just pull over to a bush. OK, gotta go. Don't forget to do the laundry. Bye!

[jsknow]

IT'S TIME TO TAKE STRONG ACTION ON FUEL. Email your representative in congress and push the issue: https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

Don't let them lie to you about there not being enough farm land. We have over 100 million total farm acres in the USA and only use about half. The half that's not being planted is more than enough to grow ALL our fuel. Not only that but the government is still paying farmers not to plant. Watch the video titled "HEMP FUEL Can Supply All Our Energy Needs" and read the article titled "Marijuana Facts The Government Does Not Want You To Know" on the website referenced at the bottom of this post.

Hemp can produce several different kinds of fuel. In the 1800's and 1900's hempseed oil was the primary source of fuel in the United States and was commonly used for lamps and other oil energy needs. The diesel engine was originally designed to run on hemp oil because Rudolf Diesel assumed that it would be the most common fuel. Hemp is also the most efficient plant for the production of methanol. It is estimated that, in one form or another, hemp grown in the United States could provide up to ninety percent of the nation's entire energy needs.
Source: Schaffer Library of Drug Policy

Hemp is 4 times more efficient than corn as biofuel. Hemp pellets can be used to produce clean electricity.

... so powerful it could replace every type of fossil fuel energy product (oil, coal, and natural gas).

... This plant is the earth's number one biomass resource or fastest growing annual plant for agriculture on a worldwide basis, producing up to 14 tons per acre. This is the only biomass source available that is capable of producing all the energy needs of the U.S. and the world...

Hemp will produce cleaner air and reduce greenhouse gases. When biomass fuel burns, it produces CO2 (the major cause of the greenhouse effect), the same as fossil fuel; but during the growth cycle of the plant, photosynthesis removes as much CO2 from the air as burning the biomass adds, so hemp actually cleans the atmosphere. After the first cycle there is no further loading to the atmosphere...
Source: USA Hemp Museum

JOIN THE EMAIL LIST, WATCH THE FUEL VIDEOS:
Internet Explorer: http://jsknow.angelfire.com/home
Other Browsers: http://jsknow.angelfire.com/index.html

[yours truly, Johnny Dollar]

Colonel Tom to Tower:
Posted price of gas at the Union 76 station at
Barrington and Pico at 0935: $4.89 point 9;
Diesel: $5.79 point 9 (hasn't the point 9 become
well, pointless?)

[yours truly, Johnny Dollar]

LA and Fresno has the most expensive gas at $4.59/gal.
Tulsa has the cheapest gas at $3.76/gal.
(I think I drive to Tulsa and fill 'er up).

[Uncle Billy Runs On C8H10N4O2]

Don't have to drive to Tulsa. That's just silly. You can go down to TJ where you can fill up for 1/2 price. Unless you need diesel, in which case you have to wait by the side of the road until pemex mixes up s'more. I think the mix for the regular gas is 1 part fuel to 3 parts corona and tijuana river sludge.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/
tijuana/20080619-9999-1m19tjgas.html

It's awfully nice of the gas people down there not to gouge us in our time of need. Maybe they're keeping prices low to generate a little tourism?

It's a great time to buy Mexican real estate too!

[MyLessThanPrimeBeef]

Here is an AP story by way of San Francisco Chronicle:

L.A. seeing more people living out of their cars
By CHRISTINA HOAG, Associated Press Writer

Monday, June 23, 2008

(06-23) 12:24 PDT LOS ANGELES, (AP) --

Having lost her job and her three-bedroom house, Darlene Knoll has joined the legions of downwardly mobile who are four wheels away from homelessness.

She is living out of her shabby 1978 RV, and every night she has to look for a place to park where she won't get hassled by the cops or insulted by residents.

"I'm not a piece of trash," the former home health care aide said as she stroked one of five dogs in her cramped quarters parked in the waterfront community of Marina del Rey.

Amid the foreclosure crisis and the shaky economy, some California cities are seeing an increase in the number of people living out of their cars, vans or RVs.

Acting on complaints from homeowners, the Los Angeles City Council got tough earlier this year by forbidding nearly all overnight parking in residential neighborhoods such as South Brentwood.

But some people are just crowding into other parts of the city, including the seaside community of Venice, where dozens of rusty, dilapidated campers can be seen lined up outside neat single-family homes. The stench of urine emanates from a few of the vehicles, and some residents say they have seen human waste left behind.

"They're nasty and gnarly," said Venice resident Jeff Scharlin. "We've heard about drug dealing and prostitution in them. I've never seen it, but visually they're a blight and they take up parking space."

In Los Angeles, as in many other cities, it is illegal to live in vehicles on public streets. But the law is not easy to enforce. Police have to enter a vehicle to find signs that people are living there, such as cooking or sleeping, and occupants often refuse to answer when cops knock.

An easier way is to restrict overnight parking. In L.A., a first offense carries a $50 fine, and subsequent violations can cost as much as $100.

Parking-enforcement officers often give vehicle owners a warning and tell them to move on before issuing a ticket, and that usually solves the problem, said Alan Willis, a city transportation engineer. But other cities in the area are not as lenient.

"I had my motor home towed in Culver City. It cost me $500 to get it out," said Desiri Hawkins, who lives in a small RV in Venice. "I got ticketed in Santa Monica and had to go to court."

Tourist states with temperate climates, such as California and Florida, have long been magnets for the homeless. Los Angeles is the nation's homelessness capital, with an estimated 73,000 people on the streets. A survey of 3,230 homeless people last year in Los Angeles County found nearly 7 percent living in vehicles, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.

"It's trending toward an increase," said Michael Stoop, acting executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. "People would rather live in a vehicle than wind up in a shelter, and you can't stay on a friend's couch forever."

People living out of their cars or campers tend to be more well-off than the homeless on the street. They usually have jobs or disability checks that enable them to maintain an old camper but do not allow them to afford rent.

"For more working-class and lower-middle-class people, the car is the first stop of being homeless, and sometimes it turns out to be a long stop," said Gary Blasi, a University of California, Los Angeles, law professor and activist on homeless issues.

Some Venice residents are clamoring for overnight parking restrictions. But parking limits in oceanfront neighborhoods are problematic because the California Coastal Commission requires communities to accommodate surfers, fishermen and other early morning beachgoers.

"The complaints are getting louder and louder," said Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl.

For years, some cities such as Santa Barbara, Calif., and Eugene, Ore., have accommodated people who live out of their vehicles. Activists in Venice are looking at some of those ideas. Santa Barbara, for example, allows vehicles to stay from 7 p.m to 7 a.m. in church and city parking lots.

Knoll said she can barely afford to drive around with the rising price of gasoline eating away at the $950 monthly disability check she receives because of mental illness.

She said she is also sick of police waking her up in the wee hours by pounding on her vehicle with their nightsticks, and she is tired of fighting with residents who call her "lowlife scum" and hurl other insults.

"We need somewhere we can have a safe haven, where we won't be harassed," Knoll said as the wind from a passing car rocked her RV. "I never thought I'd be living like this, but I'm stuck. This is it for me."

[yours truly, Johnny Dollar]

Just move your house on wheels to the 3700 block of
Durango where Exposition terminates one block short
of Venice Blvd. It's the best; there is no street sweep-
ing any day of the week. And with Albertsons there,
you can bum day old bread, pastries, beer and who
knows what else from the delivery trucks.

[Phyllis Harb]

The silver lining in this dark cloud:

We can finally eliminate most of those oversized SUV's from the road; people wanting to purchase fuel efficient cars won't feel like a target (once the huge vans are gone)

Traffic should lessen

Maybe people will walk more - in lieu of taking the car for short jaunts when running errands. Americans for the most part, are unfortunately a little hefty.

[Teo Guillermo Visits Ciudad Juarez]

For more on the Mexican connection see:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/us/25gas.html?
th&emc=th

[tealeaf]

Hey Phyillis:

Ever thought about the non SUV cars that are, in some cases, WORSE than some SUV's (BMW 7 series, M-B S class, Infin M45, Chrysler 300 Hemi) and have less utility?

Ever thought about families with large numbers, and how they would get around?

What do you consider an SUV? What about our SUV-looking Subaru wagon that gets 20mpg?

Ever thought about the fact that consumption should be measured by household (as in the economy for all a home's vehicles) not by the car?

Ever considered that speeders burn more fuel than some SUVs?

Have you given thought to folks that don't keep their vehicles maintained (tire pressure, tune ups) are just wasting gas?

Please don't insult my intelligence by saying that SUVs are the root of all our problems. It's CONSUMPTION, period. Sure, SUVs are part of the mix, but so are V8s and trucks, and big cars, and behaviors, like speeding and idling and extra stuff in your coche.