You got the Love

Mr. J and I live in the city.  It’s not the biggest city in the world, but it is the biggest city in our state.  It’s big enough that each part of town often seems like an independent burrough.  Downtown is being reclaimed and is the chosen location of those who love the condominiums overlooking the river.  The West is where those with more income go to live and play.  In the middle, the city is divided by an interstate.  North of the interstate in midtown is where the artsy types live, and of course.  North, east, and west all have representatives from all races and nationalities, but the largest number of minorities live south of the interstate that runs through the city.

Mr. J and I have chosen to make our home in south of that interstate, and although there are times that I have regretted our decision (i.e., after each burglary), I actually enjoy our neck of the woods.  Last night, Mr. J and I were driving home from the grocery store and we passed a gas station on a street that runs north to south.  On the north end, where we were (the artsy part of town), gas was approximately $3.76 a gallon for regular gas.  One mile to the south lies the gas station in the “hood” I always go to for my own convenience store needs.  Less than a mile away, gas cost only $3.47. 

A $.30 cent difference????  That is INSANE, and I hardly ever see white people there, and that has been bothering me since last night.  There are websites on the internet that will let you know where to buy the cheaper gasoline.  Mr. J uses them.  At a time when everyone is feeling the pinch from higher fuel costs, how is it possible that I pay approximately $.30 less a gallon than most of the people I know? 

Part of me wonders if people just don’t know.  Another part of me thinks there are some who don’t care, who believe that greater incomes allow them the luxury of not giving two figs where cheaper gasoline can be purchased.  But you know, another part of me wonders if it’s white people who will not venture into a “black” neighborhood, even when it is economically beneficial for them to do so.  The three gas stations with the lowest gas prices in the city are all south of the interstate in predominantly black neighborhoods, but they are not in BFE.  They are extremely close to the interstate.  So what’s the deal?  Is it lack of information?  Fear of “that” neighborhood?  Whatever it is, I know that we pay a lot less for gasoline that others pay by their own choice.  It makes me want to punch something when I hear someone I know who would not be caught dead south of the interstate complaining about how much they pay for gasoline.  There are choices . . . if you look in the right places.  So why aren’t people looking?

Just proof that I am started to become very jaded, because I think the reason is NOT because people don’t know or care that gas is cheaper over in my hood.  C’est la vie . . .  I’m not hunting for a gas station with fuel, what do I care?

Question:  I have heard of $.5 cent differences between stations in close proximity to one another, but has anyone else seen such a drastic difference?  What do you think the reason for the difference is?