Gas prices: 'It's not impossible' the national average reaches $2.99 by end of the year, analyst say

[usonian]

8. Some observations. Solutions are beyond my pay grade!

Zoning laws (NIMBY) are being addressed. They have been exclusionary, and prices driven out of this world by speculators and "investors", pushing people out to the wild.
Also, the water situation is a balance between subsidized agriculture and residential needs.
Despite the blue politics, regulatory agencies are the best that money can buy.
The two gems are the agriculture and the critical mass of talent that other areas try to match but can't.
Climate near the coast is still the best, and it attracts people.
Cool enough (it's the fog) to grow artichokes and Brussels sprouts.