You may have to move to get away from the high cost of gasoline.

Well, you really can't get away from the high cost but a move could help you use less gas. That is, if you move to a transit oriented development (TOD).

If your next home is in a TOD community, your housing choice could help defray the cost of gasoline by lowering demand and dependency on its use while easing the environmental impact of burning fossil fuels and sprawl.

With a gallon of gasoline around the $3.75 mark -- up more than a buck from a year ago nationwide -- a group of organizations say housing affordability isn't only a measure of what portion of your income you shell out for the mortgage and related costs, but also the cost of transportation to and from work, school, worship, shopping, medical

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Paramount in new federal regulations approved to foster more responsible mortgage lending, are the implications for consumers shopping for a home loan.

The Federal Reserve Board's new rule amends the "Truth In Lending Act," Regulation Z under the "Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA)".

HOEPA was originally passed in 1994 to target abusive practices in home equity lending. The Fed's new move extends protections to home purchase loans.

Critics complain the rule is long over due because unfair, abusive and deceptive home mortgage lending practices get much of the blame for the current housing crisis that has already put millions of properties in foreclosure and former owners on the street.

Also, most lenders long ago curtailed many of the practices now forbidden by the new regulations, critics say. The horse is already out of the barn, so to speak, and the new regulations will do little to corral the market's downward stampede.