Exactly. Cheap energy (and therefore, cheap transport) allows one to live in a relatively low cost-of-living area where land is cheap (suburb), but work/shop/re

Exactly. Cheap energy (and therefore, cheap transport) allows one to live in a relatively low cost-of-living area where land is cheap (suburb), but work/shop/recreate in a higher COL area (city). The rich can afford to live in the more expensive areas like Manhattan, while the working class have to live hours away from where they work (New Jersey, upstate NY, etc). In the modern era of stagnating wages, this is the primary way a working family can give themselves an effective "raise", by living in a cheap area and working in an expensive area. It should come as no surprise, therefore, all the megacommutes people are doing as a result.