"Why are some young people choosing not to drive?"

Pfft. Hippies.

 

I think its partially hippie and partially convenience. Almost all the professionals I know and I know a lot, they tend to want to live near downtown Vancouver now. The ones with kids, they say the better schools are near downtown, including private. The suburbs are hellish commute wise. Most of our top colleges and universities are near Vancouver commute wise. Plus the young people want nightlife and restaurant options. So the young people want to be near downtown. I now know lots of people without cars. Higher education age would rather have a condo downtown over a leased car. The professionals are all walking distance to their offices. If they want to go out of town, renting a car is cheap and easy.

The other trend in Vancouver is mix use buildings. They have retail shops (grocery stores) at the bottom, office space in the middle and condos for living on top. Full gyms, etc. My lawyer lives in such a building and my accountant is doing the same in another building across town. These mixed use buildings make it possible to never leave the property!

The trend of ditching the car and commute is so strong here. In the suburbs they are closing elementary and middle schools due to lack of kids.

 

Their teachers say it is evil and we are killing the planet. Absent good input from their parents that is their reality.

Same with every other social engineering part of their brainwashing from school.

 

What a wonderful life.

 

I think both are nuts. But they have their home and office space in the same building. Its just like any office tower when you go to their offices. Getting to work is an elevator ride. The lawyers staff all live near the office in condos. Non of them want to live in the suburbs. They are mid 30's children under 10, etc. Almost everyone I know lives in downtown Vancouver or even the same for Toronto.

Cars for most people are just transportation.

 

Agreed but transportation is freedom in a very real way.

 

True...

But like London, Vancouver and even Toronto to a lessor degree is becoming car unfriendly. Vancouver has put in bike lanes and extra wide walking paths. One it encourages walking and cycling. Since in places it makes it a one way, one lane and near impossible to make turns. It makes car travel a hassle. And that's the goal as stated by Vancouver city council, to be so car unfriendly, nobody will want to drive. Vancouver's mayor ran on making the city the most green in the world.

The people I know without cars, they rent them if they want to go someplace. Even my older brother has basically ditched driving. He rents one on weekends.

 

Oh and not to mention the dreaded carbon tax. Designed to push people into more green cars or use their current vehicle less.

 

There are many reasons for people not wanting to drive. Just look at how crowded the roads are. In most big cities there are only a few hours a day when cars aren't bumper to bumper. Then throw in all of the BS schemes the government keeps coming up with to discourage people from driving. It think it is just not fun to drive anymore.

 

Add to all that is the fact that many folks don't really know how to drive. They think of a car the same as an appliance like a toaster. It's a means to an end. Get in, push some buttons, get to where you need to go. They'd be just as happy with letting the car do the driving so they can putz with their I phones and not be bothered with it.

Cars for the masses have become very "homogenized", and I don't mean that in a good way. Yes they all work well and drive ok, but there is no "experience" of driving with them, the steering is numb as are the brakes, the car goes where you point it, but there is no feeling or connection with it. When there is no connection, you don't bond with the car, you simply use it like you would a toaster... I mean, really, can you think about enjoying a minivan or an SUV as you would a real car??? Not really, they are all pretty much the same and all drive the same.

There used to be differences in cars, in styling, shape and the way they performed and this was interesting. Now all cars are "good", but they're all pretty mediocre and the driving experience is going away.

But we don't have to worry, soon Google and Apple will provide us with transportation "pods" that will whisk us on our way and we can entertain ourselves with our smart phones while the car does all the "driving" for us.... (yeech, that's a scary thought)

 

I read the above and appreciate my 1982 911 even more....pure joy, and although I haven't driven one, i'm convinced the Alfa 4c comes closest to it in terms of feel, such as the manual steering. The political incorrectness of the Hellcat also appeals to me. As for the self-driving cars, it will make it easier for the government to control the sheeple, but that's a discussion for another day. already bad enough that you need a laptop to work on a modern car.....

 

This is a side effect of urban migration with a loss of suburbia, coupled with the typical complete neglect of rural and country living.

And honestly, living in a city I hate driving most of my cars. What's the point of a 200mph car if you barely can (safely) get out of 2nd gear. It kills the driving experience, while pot holes and the like kill the suspension.

They are reserved for back roads and highways far from the urban sprawl.

 

Agreed. additionaly driving today is a hassle. Traffic everywhere, cops ready to pounce and ticket for everything from parkign to farting. Driving is mostly an unpleasant burden to get where you have to go, its also now a relatively large expense between isnurance parkign etc.. For the wired generation they also have to go less places.

Leguslation ultimatly killed the car as an aspiration.

 

that's why i like the scat pack challenger so much-big and comfy, suspension won't kick your butt and you can actually see out of it....i live in westchester and my roads are a mess also.

 

This ^^^

The romance of the open road for a nice drive is long gone in many places throughout America, especially for the scenic areas. I went on two road trips recently (Cocoa Beach to Houston and CB to NJ/NY/CT) and the interstate was fully congested the entire way with gridlock in Houston and from N. VA to north of D.C.

It wasn't too long ago that there were open stretches of light traffic through the Carolinas and the Gulf coast States. Not anymore.

In today's news:

America has the worst traffic in the world

 

A better question is given all the bland toaster like cars, all the traffic, all the official predations why would someone choose to drive. Answer only if for some reason they have to.

Actualy the surveys show 40% of kids are still gearheads, its the other who dont want to drive.

 

I would in a heart beat commute to work in a self driving car..no problem. It would be great to have your coffe and catch up on the news, just plain relax and great ready for the day ahead, without the worry of some moron cutting you off and getting the blood boiling before you even set foot in the front door of the office.

After a stressful day, sit back and relax on the way home.

On the weekends or evenings jump in your car of choice and rock and roll.

 

This. Driving in southern California traffic is mind numbing. We have some great roads, but they're not part of the daily commute.

And this. As a car enthusiast, I have a hard time getting excited about new car shopping. Once you get to a certain price point they're all the same. Most people have never been in a vintage Porsche or classic Ferrari, and if the options are a $20K generic econobox or Uber, then convenience wins.

 

Are there more kids today who live in cities that don't need to drive? Absolutely. But kids still want that freedom that having a license brings. I have been a teacher and school administrator for 22 years and have friends working in schools from El Cajon to Boston. I'm not sure what high schools you have been in recently, but I have never heard of a driver's ed. teacher "brainwashing" students that cars are evil. AP Environmental Science teachers who bike to work in January, yes. Driver's Ed. no. Every year when I teach Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, about half of my students (male and female) want to take auto shop classes (which of course we don't offer because I'm at a magnet school). NCLB killed industrial education in this country. The decimation of industrial education combined with rising insurance costs is killing the car culture in this country. Kids still read travelogues and fantasize about driving cross country. Unfortunately, most students today can't afford a car and their parents don't want to pay the outrageous insurance rates. Even in affluent districts, more and more students are choosing not to get their licenses because of the insurance costs. Twenty-nine years ago when I got my license and bought a beat up 68 Impala convertible, my car insurance in Chicago was about $600 per year. Today, my students pay almost triple that just to be able to drive their parents' cars. On the bright side, the auto shop program at one of the local suburban high schools helps organize Monday night car shows from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Even in the middle of summer, they always have students willing to work the events, so there is hope!
y

 

I had to run an errand yesterday afternoon, left at 1:15pm traveled 1.5 miles only to spend another 15mins trying to find somewhere to park... spent less time in the store, then headed to my second stop ~3 miles away, that took... ready for it? 45 mins on surface streets! then again spent another 15 mins looking for a spot to park, and I don't care if it's out in the north 40! it was of sorts, just beyond the north 40 on a side street. that last stop was under 10mins. I didn't get back home till 3:30pm WTF! a 9.5 mile round trip!

I hate running errands and driving around town because it takes way way to much time, no wonder amazon is so popular.

Also, just what in the hell is with all the people on the road in the middle of the day! do they not work? how can there be this many people at malls and stores in the middle of the day and still afford to live around here?

 

Why should I buy cars, which are not my dream cars?

It is not about if young people can afford a car or not. It is rather about if they can afford and drive their dream cars.

In Germany, young people drive Mini, BMW 1 serie or other small vehicles. I could afford them, too, but do I want to drive something, that millions of people already drive?

Another point to mention: Modern cars are just emotionless and boring from point of my view as carpassionist (It is only about being bigger, faster, louder without any innovations).

Surely, living in a downtown is also a reason why more young people prefer public transportation, but every weekend, they could have a trip with their cars. Couldn´t they?

 

Interesting thread this.

That's the thing though...buying a car purely for trips out of town? Pretty expensive proposition, so much so that it would probably make sense to either take a taxi or uber when you do want to go out of town.

Strangely, I rather understand these mixed used buildings. I fully understand people who don't understand my love for driving, as these people normally don't like cars, and their driving is daily rush hour, which is many hours of pure hatred.

If I didn't like cars I'd do the same. Actually. That's a lie, I wouldn't. If I didn't like cars I'd figure out a way to live in a beach hut and be in the ocean all day.

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