Our lack of public transportation and zoning are going to put the poorest Houstonians in a really terrible spot as gas prices hit $5-6/gallon.

I’m not sure what the next 6 months has in store for Houston but it’s going to be really, really ugly. Over the last 2-5 years oil companies have spent basically nothing are running on bare minimum staffing with little to no investment in exploration or expansion . There is no magic spigot to turn back on and bring back the good times for the average middle class office worker or oil hand. Even if the oil companies put all their chips on the table tomorrow it will be at least a year or two before they recognize profits.

Worse, the inner loop revival of Houston has pushed the working poor out to middle ring suburbs where there is effectively no useful public transportation. This means service workers and other working poor are going to be demolished by this spike in gas prices. Jet A at hobby airport FBO is now $7/gallon, typically one of the fastest places to reflect changes in fuel costs. This spike will very quickly be reflected at the pumps over the next week or two.

Once again even if the city put all its chips on the table and instituted zoning and affordable housing it will takes years or decades for people to see the benefit.

Be nice to your service workers, janitors and people in other low paid positions. They are likely under an unreal amount of stress right now.