The End of Car Culture

[wtmusic]

"PRESIDENT OBAMA’S ambitious goals to curb the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions, unveiled last week, will get a fortuitous assist from an incipient shift in American behavior: recent studies suggest that Americans are buying fewer cars, driving less and getting fewer licenses as each year goes by.
The New York Times

That has left researchers pondering a fundamental question: Has America passed peak driving?

The United States, with its broad expanses and suburban ideals, had long been one of the world’s prime car cultures. It is the birthplace of the Model T; the home of Detroit; the place where Wilson Pickett immortalized “Mustang Sally” and the Beach Boys, “Little Deuce Coupe.” "

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/sunday-review/the-end-of-car-culture.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

[mopinko]

1. i don't really count, as i was raised at the height of the car culture, but

of my 5 kids, all over 20, only 2 even have drivers licenses.
i do live in a big city, so it is easy. we never discouraged them, but we didn't encourage them, either.

[wtmusic]

2. Interesting.

I find this new extremely encouraging - maybe society can change its consumptive habits after all.

[hunter]

7. My kids and their peers are pretty indifferent to cars too.

I think the biggest issue is that cars are so expensive now.

When I was their age I was paid enough that gasoline wasn't a huge expense. What's sixty-something cents a gallon when you are making $8-10 an hour for entirely physical labor? Nothing. I was loading and unloading trucks. Gas was almost free. A couple hours work would get me from Los Angeles to San Francisco and back on any three day weekend.

The jobs I picked up as a young man pay little more these days, still $8-10 an hour, but look at the cost of owning and driving a car...

[oldhippie]

3. It's still alive here in Central Texas .....

Old classics, pickup trucks, and import performance cars. My son is a 33 year old "tuner" of Hondas and Acuras. There are more shops with dynos in this area than I can even count.

We still have the impromptu "car show" every Friday night at the local Dairy Queen (locally known as the "Texas Truck Stop.&quot

[AndyA]

4. I think people are keeping the cars they have longer

It costs less to maintain an older car than it does a new one, especially since the car makers are now building them so that even a basic oil change is difficult. When you consider car payments, depreciation, the high cost of maintenance on a new car, insurance, etc., keeping an older car with occasional expensive repairs is still less expensive.

Also, new cars are boring. So many look alike, and the assortment of colors is gone. Everything now is black, white, red, or gray/beige metallic with gray/beige or charcoal interior, and that's about it. The ones that offer different colors still look the same as everything else on the road.

I haven't found a new car that I love enough to buy in a long, long time. The new cars look cheap to me, and seem to have a lot of plastic parts that discolor or deform over time.

[Rod Walker]

5. It depends on where one lives, I suppose.

In my case, with a 30+ mile commute and minimal public transportation, I would never even think of not having a car...heck, I have two, one for good weather (a hybrid), and one for bad.

I just bought a "new" bad weather car, a slightly used Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. I have to admit, I think it's pretty cool...

[Buzz Clik]

6. Those who can avoid driving and are inclined to avoid driving will do so.

In some places, the car is the only option.

[GliderGuider]

8. Eventually, living is such places will not be an option

And so we won't.

[Buzz Clik]

9. Electric vehicles and alternative liquid fuels.

That's the whole point of having them: to allow driving where mass transit is simply not a viable option.

[GliderGuider]

10. I'll see your electric car

and raise you a climate chaos...

[Buzz Clik]

11. Double Cranko!