Cut You Car-Use Tip - Auto Insurance By The Mile!

I have always thought that there must be some carrots out there that would encourage people to just drive a little less. You know what I mean; walk to the store to get milk or start your kids walking to school instead of being chauffeured. As it stands now, the only thing we would save is a little bit of gas. Until I came across this article by Springwise...

Auto Insurance By The Mile!

Back in 2005, we covered Norwich Union's Pay-as-You-Drive program in the UK to charge consumers for auto insurance based on how often, when and where they use their vehicles. Starting in Texas, the United States will soon see a similar service for the first time thanks to MileMeter's "auto insurance buy the mile."

Like Norwich Union's offering, MileMeter will use consumers' usage levels to determine how much they must pay for auto insurance. Unlike Norwich Union's, however, MileMeter will not use any kind of vehicle tracking device to record that usage. Rather, consumers will buy coverage in advance in increments of as few as 1,000 miles; when their odometer reaches the end of that increment, the coverage expires. The cost per mile varies with the geographic area and the age of the driver, but a reasonable ball park for a 30-year-old driver and minimum coverage in a midrange urban ZIP code in Texas might be 4 cents per mile, MileMeter CEO Chris Gay says. Multiple drivers in a household can also be covered for a single vehicle.

Dallas-based MileMeter will launch in Texas this summer, with plans to roll out quickly to other states, Gay says. In the meantime, it's attracted a fair bit of attention, not least because it was one of only seven finalists in the most recent Amazon Web Services Startup Challenge. Because it doesn't use gender as a basis for determining rates, MileMeter has been ardently supported by the National Organization for Women (NOW). And by rewarding drivers who use their cars less, it has the potential to make an environmental impact as well.

Sounds like a win-win all around—time for more entrepreneurs to start thinking in increments!

I don't know about the legalities of this type of insurance in Canada, but this is something that we should really have access to. I know that my vehicle spends most of its time just hanging out in the driveway collecting dust, and I would be very interested in reduced auto insurance. The more reasons for people to opt out of using their cars, the better the health of our communities.

Gentrification: Dr. Jekyl or Mr. Hyde?

Over the past 20 years suburbia has drawn the tired masses from the urban centres of cities, large and small, with promises of owning a piece of the American dream. Marketed as a haven for low price, high opportunity housing, surburbia blossomed like a toxic plume, leeching residents, retail and real estate investment from the heart of the city. One-time mixed income neighbourhoods were bought up by real estate speculators and absentee landlords driven by profit margins and profit taking. Vibrant neighbourhoods were decimated by a largely disinterested population, exacerbated by tragic civic planning, who were lulled into believing that they were somehow 'less' than the McMansion Monarchy.

Geo-political events of the 21st century have begun to coax some of the suburban masses out of their gated (whether physical or economic) developments into the urban cores. Of great importance are the Gen Xers, give or take a decade, who, upon leaving their parents suburban homes, are opting to buck that elitist trend and exploring home ownership in the rehabilitated cores. Cities are seeing a renaissance of revitalization. Young, educated and often well-funded residents are taking up the cause of restoring the allure of urban living. What starts with one or two 'urban pioneers' quickly becomes a full blown 'urban village' attracting progressive investment, including those elusive real estate dollars, as urban blight is gentrified.

The word gentrification has a polarizing voice eliciting visions of restored real estate, trendy shops and entertainment venues mixed with a diverse social network, albeit built on the monotony of economic prosperity. The opposing voice sees the same physical composition of gentrified neighbourhoods but, instead of celebrating the economic restoration, declares gentrification as a well-heeled battle against the urban poor, lobotomizing true social diversity with Starbucks branded comradare.

The topic of gentrification, both its' benefits and risks, has come up among the ScaleDown staff as we discover our place in the future of Windsor. After contemplating the ideas and visions we are advocating for as part of the process of 'scaling down' we realized that gentrification is product of monstrously misaligned 'supply and demand'-based market. It is not the product itself that causes the gentrification, but a supply void of a product that is so heavily in demand that consumers will pay almost anything to be a part of this urban revolution. Instead of fearing gentrification we intend to harness the effects of this social stigma for the benefit of the entire community. By pushing for strict development standards, advocating for, and designing, socio-economic diversity and engaging urban citizens in acts of advocacy, on both a civic and human scale, the process of gentrification can be tamed to draw investment dollars without impeding the new social fabric. With wide-scale reinvestment into core communities the economic tragedy most often associated with gentrification can be mitigated, if not avoided. Success in establishing 21st neighbourhoods as replicas of the early-20th century communities will prepare us for the challenge of rehabilitating the suburban wastelands that are sure to be the bane of the next generation.

PS: If you want to read more about gentrification, both the pros and cons, Google gentrification and read the diversity of information from both sides of the arguement.