of course they are, cars are expensive, dangerous, and dirty… traffic is miserable, maintenance is expensive, you can’t trust anyone else on the road… a car might be the worst thing I own but I live in a place where I couldn’t eat or get to the doctor’s office without one
Throughout the rich world, the young are falling out of love with cars
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Re: Throughout the rich world, the young are falling out of love with cars
#22Millennial: same feeling here. When I talk to people of my parents generation they always talk about how cars let them roam about and give them freedom. I never felt the same way, and I think a large part of that is that I grew up with the Internet; I could always AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) my friends or use ICQ. I was always connected even during an era of dialup. With the always-on functionality of modern phones,…
And if you want to choose not to own a car? Too bad! The laws are structured such that cars are forced on you. So now, having been made to buy a car you now must:
1. Spend thousands of dollars a year on gas, whether you want to or not
2. Buy auto insurance
3. Pay for routine maintenance like oil changes and brakes
And none of this is by choice.
I hate cars. Yet I am forced to own one in order to live.
Re: Throughout the rich world, the young are falling out of love with cars
#23Cars are falling out of love with them. How is one expected to pay for a $1500/mo apartment and a $40k car on a $60k salary?
Plus car insurance - which tends to be very costly for younger drivers.
Re: Throughout the rich world, the young are falling out of love with cars
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
Cars have always felt more restrictive to me. I don’t want to have to worry about parking or road access or fuel when I’m visiting somewhere.
Cars are a viable option only on low-density rural areas + long distance trips. Short distance you can do by biking (e-bikes are the modern evolution of the old two-stroke scooter) or walking. In high density public transportation is massively faster, cheaper, and more efficient that personal automobile.
>In high density public transportation is massively faster, cheaper, and more efficient that personal automobile.
This assumes the public transportation is competently run, which is a rarity in the Anglophone world. In the UK I think the only good one is TfL.
Meanwhile Birmingham has a million people and no metro.
The one time I visited NYC the subway seemed third world.
Re: Throughout the rich world, the young are falling out of love with cars
#25I can't get through the paywall, but I'm one of these car-less youngs (although less young by the day). Mainly it is for idiosyncratic reasons: I hate being confined where I can't stand up if I want to, and I don't like "car smell". There's something about the air inside motor vehicles that puts me on edge. I get the same feeling on buses and planes, but oddly not on trains, even though rationally I know the air must…
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Re: Throughout the rich world, the young are falling out of love with cars
#26In Montreal(and other places throughout Eastern Canada) we have a "car-sharing" program called communauto.
It's pretty cheap and is competitive with a bus pass depending on where you're going. It covers gas, insurance, maintenance, and you have access to all local parking permits. You can get essentially 'unlimited rides' for less than 100$/month.
I had a car off and on over the last couple of years, and I would barely use it, mostly just to change parking spots. I also sank a couple ~4k into repairs only to finally scrap it (I'm a bit of an idiot).
Communauto is a great inbetween, where I can do groceries, can go on extended trips. It's a great option for the occasional (<3/week) or frequent in-city motorist.
Re: Throughout the rich world, the young are falling out of love with cars
#27I really wished this demonisation of the car stopped. Modern cars are way more climate friendly than merely 10-20 years ago and many climate-conscious persons do pool to commute.
But we need to understand. There are cases where the car is a must. Unavoidable. Imagine having toddlers, having to do heavy groceries, and living in a place with difficult landscape or challenging weather. Imagine having a neurological disease or some other disability.
Re: Throughout the rich world, the young are falling out of love with cars
#28The article specifies rich, maybe beacuse, at least in the US, only the rich can afford to live in places where cars aren't strictly necessary? Some choose to live elsewhere anyway, for scenery or privacy, but the poor or even median 60% can't choose an area with a 15 minute walk to necessities. The Seattle walkability map on hn recently highlighted that fairly well I think? I also wonder if it is truly cars or just…
This is the situation where I live too, in a non-London part of the UK. There are buses and trains but they mostly just link you to the larger cities, outside of the cities it isn't a viable replacement for car ownership.
Also if you're planning to have a family, a car is essential. Herding children on packed public transport is a no-no. I can imagine it being easier to walk with children if you're living in high trust communities where all amenities are available within walking distance, but that might also be a wealth thing too.
Re: Throughout the rich world, the young are falling out of love with cars
#29There's 138 trains per day between Amsterdam and The Hague. It's faster to take the train than to drive on that trip. Driving in either city in an exercise in frustration. Why would anyone in a rich country with a high functioning rail system like The Netherlands want to drive? I don't know how many rich countries that describes, but I lived happily for years in Boston in the USA without a car. I have one now but onl…
It’s faster if you live next to the train station and your work is next to the destination station. Anyway, for some people is better one way than the other
Re: Throughout the rich world, the young are falling out of love with cars
#30Cars are falling out of love with them. How is one expected to pay for a $1500/mo apartment and a $40k car on a $60k salary?
The average American spends $3000 a year on gas. Imagine if you didn’t have to do that.