> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # High gas prices may work for us - URL: https://www.smdp.com/high-gas-prices-may-work-for-us/ - Published: 2008-04-22T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T23:55:10.000Z - Author: David Pisarra - Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import FUN IN THE SUN IS HERE, AND THAT means people are starting to plan their vacations for this coming summer. I just took my first vacation of the season to my usual Rendezvous with the Redneck Riviera, where I go jet skiing with friends for a “boys weekend of chicken wings, cheeseburgers and fossil fuel burning fun.” If what I saw there is any indication, and I believe it is, of what we can expect this coming summer to be like, we are in for a world of good news for our local economy. I was paying over $4 a gallon for gasoline. Playtime is not cheap, and more so when you like to enjoy the types of sports and recreation that involve being outdoors and an internal combustion engine — it’s going to cost money. This year, however, what I saw at the river was a canary in the coal mine for our local economy. I’m speaking of the middle class that have kids and need to get away from their homes. These are the people who we see on the river in their boats, towing a couple of kids and then stopping for a burger at the bar and grill. The middle American who wants to provide an exciting time for their family, in good clean fun is the sort of person that normally will be going to the river. But this year, we were seeing people who were at the river, but rather than cruising up and down the way most of us do, there were more cove parties. Where a group of people, and their two, three or four boats are just moored at a cove, hanging out, drinking something cool, and letting the kids play in the water. I think it is because the high cost of fuel. This price level is still a shock to many of us, when it takes $80 to fill my gas tank, it still gets my attention, or worse, when the machine shuts off before my tank is full because they haven’t upgraded the pre-authorization amounts high enough. It is my feeling that the local economy on the Colorado River is going to suffer immensely this season, as more and more of the people who have been the traditional patrons, are going to be losing their homes to the banks this year. Many of the people that we have been playing with for the past few years out there, are residents of Riverside and San Bernardino counties. I can remember vividly a Riverside couple we met two years ago. They had recently purchased their home, and the first thing they did was to extend their equity line. They bought a water-ski boat, a trailer and a new truck. Haven’t seen them back in any of the trips we’ve made recently. They are people who have bought their toys with the equity in their homes, and now that the homes are not worth as much, and the mortgages are starting to reset, they are losing their homes. But before hitting rock bottom, they are going to give up their boats, their jet skis, the trailer to stay in and the trucks to pull it all. So how is this going to help us? I think that what will happen is there will be a great many more day-trips to the beach. I think that we are going to see an increase in the number of greater Los Angeles basin patrons at our local beaches and restaurants this year. I think people will not be able to get away for a 2 week vacation at the river, or be able to afford the gas and a hotel for a trip to Yosemite. So instead they’ll settle for a day trip, or maybe two days, to Santa Monica, to take the kids to the beach, enjoy the pier and have some inexpensive fun. This is a golden opportunity for our local businesses, many of whom seem to be suffering (at least by the rate of open commercial spaces that I’ve been seeing), to take advantage of the downturn in the economy and market themselves as the perfect getaway to those people in Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange County. If the local Chamber of Commerce coordinates a public relations effort to get out the message of all the low cost ways to enjoy Santa Monica to our neighbors, we could end up having a banner summer, even though surrounding us is a financial quagmire. DAVID PISARRA is a family law attorney focusing on father’s rights in the Santa Monica firm of Pisarra & Grist. He welcomes your questions and comments. He or (310) 664-9969. *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 22, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/042208.pdf?ref=smdp.com)