Gen Y not too enthusiastic about car ownership

[Jumpinjack]

Have you seen the zip car stuff: http://www.zipcar.com/
Go online and get a car to run errands, take a trip, go to a business meeting. There's a little calculator to figure out how much owning a car costs you and calculate your savings with zipcar http://www.zipcar.com/atlanta/is-it/savings-calculator

Big problem: Gainesville and Miami are the only two places in Florida with ZipCar.

[uptowngirl]

Lunican you are absolutely correct! Also if we had a great affordable delivery company that would work too! I used one in Minneapolis and loved it.

ZIP car is another option  I would certainly use esp if they have drop off and pick up service :-)



Edit Disclosure, I am not twenty something though '-)

[Cliffs_Daughter]

Two people, two cars.  Think of the savings (maybe new car?) if one of you could take public transportation to and from work.  Two people, two jobs; ONE car.

EXACTLY how we do it in our household - although it's not so great when the public transportation won't run as late as someone's job schedule and we have to drive across town at 10:30 at night.

And the irony of this is that he actually sells cars!

[rainfrog]

Have you seen the zip car stuff: http://www.zipcar.com/
Go online and get a car to run errands, take a trip, go to a business meeting. There's a little calculator to figure out how much owning a car costs you and calculate your savings with zipcar http://www.zipcar.com/atlanta/is-it/savings-calculator

Big problem: Gainesville and Miami are the only two places in Florida with ZipCar.

Exactly right. The article mentioned car sharing, and you can't leave it out of the equation. Also biking, and walking, and even old-fashioned car rental. You don't have to own a pick-up just for the occasional haul; renting one when needed saves a ton of money. Bike rentals are a must, too, in our future. Ditching the car is not only about transit. It's about options, alternatives, choices. That is inseparable from design.

The Netherlands is considered a pretty suburban area by European standards. Car ownership is high, single-family (attached) houses are more the standard than canyons of flats. High-rises are rare. Yet because different ideals from American suburban life -- importance of community and closeness, preservation of the countryside, and close access to shops -- 70% of trips are by bike. Young and old, all weather. We can't do that here, by design. But the point is... it doesn't take New York or San Francisco density. It takes reasonable densities and smart design, which don't conflict with the ideals of the community. Jacksonville's densest areas hardly top 7,000 ppsm, but suburbs -- detached houses, yards and all -- can top twice that number, even thrice, when planned for anything other than cars. And there are examples of that not just abroad, but here in the US. There's a lot of room for improvement... it's not as if we've reached high densities and can't figure out how to live without cars. We're simply built for them.

Just for fun, in comparison, the city of Sao Paulo fits 11 million in an area 200 sq miles smaller than Jacksonville proper, and it has a middle-class suburb, Guarulhos, that has our entire metro population (1.3 miliion) in only 120 sq miles.

The younger are more globally connected and see urban living through different eyes than their parents did, focusing not solely on the blighted inner cities of past decades within our borders, but the long-vibrant cities and towns outside them, and the common threads they share, which our cities have lost and are slowly regaining. There's a greater variation to how cities are organized than our own model, and I think younger American generations are more aware of that and desire perks of what world cities offer. And not just in our New Yorks and Chicagos, but in the Richmonds, Omahas, Jacksonvilles, too.

[brainstormer]

I think the huge drop in ownership is really a result of two people, one car compared to my parents generation which was two people, two cars.  Unfortunately, Jacksonville mass transit sucks!  My partner and I survived for over a year with only one car, but then when his job moved, it was virtually impossible so we had to break down and get another vehicle.  I have many friends who live in Minneapolis, New York, Denver, Atlanta, etc who all make their lives work well with only one vehicle.  It isn't so easy here.