You know what's interesting? Early in this country's history, as well as in Europe, lots of people worked from home; they had their shop downstairs, and lived upstairs. In the aftermath of the Northridge quake, quite a few people worked via telecommute. As the freeways were impacted by the quake, it kept the surface streets clearer for traffic. Of course, if you owned like a restaurant or store and it was hit hard enough, you wouldn't be going to work either because the refrigeration system was trashed. There was a restaurant near where I lived that had that happen--they closed and I don't think they ever re-opened because the refrigerators and freezers were pulled from the walls, completely ruining lots of food. They had a fish tank in the foyer--I ate there once with friends--and I heard that broke and they lost their ornamental fish.  Talk about a huge stinking mess!

Yep, that's what it's coming to--people are going to have to become entrepenuers just to survive. But look on the bright side--no commuting, less pollution, more productive time which formerly was spent stuck in traffic. And with less oil being used for driving, and the old supply and demand bit, maybe oil prices will drop. Or not--the oil companies are incredibly greedy.