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Permalink Reply by Vilda on September 20, 2010 at 12:11pm

Proudly I can say I'm at the high end of that demographic at 30. But owning a car happened by accident twice and I had them for a total of 1 and a half years. Otherwise it's always been bikes and mass transit. One friend, my age has gone car free but won't make the bigger leap to biking yet. And it's becoming more and more common for friends to have bikes so we're doin awright. Now if only we could selectively wipe out motorists ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on September 20, 2010 at 12:15pm

I'm not so sure that this trend is as much as a "choice" as it is a product of the steadily-declining affluence of the USA and a very long recession that is slowly rusting into what big media desperately doesn't want anyone calling a depression.

I agree that fewer cars would be a good thing -but I don't give people that much credit more making that choice. 1 in 7 Americans are now living at or below poverty level. Perhaps they aren't getting cars like they used to because car ownership and all that it entails is slowly pricing itself out of the reach of many Americans. Forget buying a house -a car is quickly becoming out of reach as well.

America has squandered its wealth and now we are going into a period of paying for our choices of the last decade or so. Things are going to get worse before they ever get better -if they do.

Yes, a bike is a good method of transportation that doesn't tax the oil infrastructure very heavily. It's also much easier on a poverty-level budget than owning and maintaining a car -much less driving it. But I hesitate to say that people are choosing riding a bike or walking over driving just because they are making the "right choice" -perhaps it is the only choice available to many of them.

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Permalink Reply by Duppie on September 20, 2010 at 12:50pm

That's probably one of the reasons. Others might be: an increased awareness of the sustainability factor of riding your bike, the fact that on short distances riding your bike is often quicker, using your disposable income on other items, peer-pressure, etc.

In the end how we get there doesn't matter as much the fact that we get there.

James Baum said:

I'm not so sure that this trend is as much as a "choice" as it is a product of the steadily-declining affluence of the USA and a very long recession that is slowly rusting into what big media desperately doesn't want anyone calling a depression.
I agree that fewer cars would be a good thing -but I don't give people that much credit more making that choice. 1 in 7 Americans are now living at or below poverty level. Perhaps they aren't getting cars like they used to because car ownership and all that it entails is slowly pricing itself out of the reach of many Americans. Forget buying a house -a car is quickly becoming out of reach as well.
America has squandered its wealth and now we are going into a period of paying for our choices of the last decade or so. Things are going to get worse before they ever get better -if they do.

Yes, a bike is a good method of transportation that doesn't tax the oil infrastructure very heavily. It's also much easier on a poverty-level budget than owning and maintaining a car -much less driving it. But I hesitate to say that people are choosing riding a bike or walking over driving just because they are making the "right choice" -perhaps it is the only choice available to many of them.

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