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Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on October 26, 2013 at 3:44am

wow, that's insane and awesome.  

And Americans..... sounds like we aren't there, but may be getting closer:

The U.S. has fared much better. Last month, car sales jumped to pre-recession levels. But U.S. automakers face another problem:Millennials aren't interested in buying cars. Bike sales, on the other hand, are solid.

And that article about younger folks not buying cars is from the car magazine Motor Trend!

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Permalink Reply by El Dorado on October 26, 2013 at 1:41pm

Maybe it's because in Europe, bike shops are more friendly and their employees are more approachable?

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Permalink Reply by Mickeal Teague on October 27, 2013 at 5:37am

Thanks. Interesting share...

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Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on October 29, 2013 at 5:12am

Cars are also more expensive and more difficult to use in the EU as compared to the US.

El Dorado said:

Maybe it's because in Europe, bike shops are more friendly and their employees are more approachable?

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Permalink Reply by Tricolor on October 29, 2013 at 8:04am

And the mechanics aren't as nice.

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Permalink Reply by KayCee on October 29, 2013 at 11:44am

The U.S., i think, has very different geography. I'm reading this on a bus from Green Bay to Milwaukee... in the city it's been painless to go without a car, but there arent many great options to travel in a lot of places in our country. We were talking about this on the 2.5 hour drive South to Green Bay- my dad said there used to be lots of passenger rail lines, and now it takes a real effort to find affordable ways to travel... and there is definitely a stigma associated with not having a car where I'm from. And bikes and walking are recreational activities- because the roads are built for cars and I joke- if you ride to do errands in Chicago, you're going green, but if you do it in the U.P. you probably have too many D.U.I's. Car culture has a strong grip. I love the city and being able to walk or bike everywhere. But I think ill be renting a car the next time we head North!

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Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on October 29, 2013 at 2:05pm

Agreed. It's harder to travel around the US car-free, partly because the States are so much less dense than Europe. You can certainly travel without a car if you are creative, though, especially if traveling by air.

KayCee said:

The U.S., i think, has very different geography. I'm reading this on a bus from Green Bay to Milwaukee... in the city it's been painless to go without a car, but there arent many great options to travel in a lot of places in our country. We were talking about this on the 2.5 hour drive South to Green Bay- my dad said there used to be lots of passenger rail lines, and now it takes a real effort to find affordable ways to travel... and there is definitely a stigma associated with not having a car where I'm from. And bikes and walking are recreational activities- because the roads are built for cars and I joke- if you ride to do errands in Chicago, you're going green, but if you do it in the U.P. you probably have too many D.U.I's. Car culture has a strong grip. I love the city and being able to walk or bike everywhere. But I think ill be renting a car the next time we head North!

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