Exactly. But yes, sven, there is a “regular” job where a two-month break is possible. Now ask yourself, how many teachers do you know that can afford to jet off somewhere for two months?
The same goes for my job. I’m required to have a license, but not a car. I am not required to have a car because when I travel on state business, my agency prefers that I drive a state vehicle. When I’ve traveled out of state, my destination and /or purpose have always required that I pick up a rental car at the airport. Since I live and work in NYC , many of my coworkers have licenses but don’t own cars. Lots of people in NYC don’t have licenses , and plenty have licenses but don’t own cars.
Most of the US population does not live in rural areas. However, I don’t think that the change in the percentage of 18 year olds with driver’s licenses is simply due to a higher percentage of people living in a metropolitan area of more than one million. I’m sure those metropolitan areas have expanded their boundaries greatly since 1960. I don’t think Pike County PA was part of the NYC metropolitan area in 1960, but it sure is now. All that really means is that a lot of people now commute from Pike County to NYC, and there are commuter buses from places like Stroudsburg ,PA to NYC. It doesn’t mean that Pike County became more urban, but it does mean that the residents contributed to the increase in the percentage of working Americans living in a metropolitan area with a population over 1 million. Even within those huge metropolitan areas, there are large suburban areas without good public transportation where a car is necessary. People I know in those places still say their kids can’t wait to get a license and the parents can’t wait to stop driving the kids around, while my NYC-raised off spring are just starting to think about it at 21 and 22.
I think it is good there are parents who actually care enough about their kids to drive them around, and to make sure they are doing okay. When I was a teen it seemed like so many people were just ready to have their kids out of the house, and really did not care what they were up to. Perhaps some teens have closer relationships with their parents and vice versa, and actually enjoy spending time together.
But then the parents know where the kids are going and what they’re doing. That would’ve been completely unacceptable when I was 17.
I’m crazy about my kid, and hope we stay close. But I’m going to do everything in my power to teach her independence and self-reliance, and that includes learning to drive and possessing a license at the earliest legal age. That’s my job: to teach her how to be a self-sufficient, capable adult. Her job will be to take advantage of the perks of living in this country, including driving, having a part time job, and running around with an age-appropriate crowd.
I keep wondering how people who don’t drive a car get their new 46" flat screen home from Target, or do any serious grocery shopping. Do they go to the store more often and only get what can be carried? Find someone with a car to drive them to pick up big items?
How does not being able to afford to buy a car or gas being too expensive make it a logical/understandable position to not want to even get a license? That seems like cutting off your nose to spite your face. To sacrifice the very ability to legally get behind the wheel of a car and operate it, simply because you can’t afford to buy one for yourself-or even consistently put gasoline in it-is silly and nonsensical.
I live about half a mile from the subway, and there is a grocery and drug store en route. Typically I swing by after work to pick up that nights dinner. It takes 5-10 minutes.
Bulky stuff like paper towels and bulk dry good can be shipped by Amazon Prime.
I’ve had a taxi help me get awkward purchases home, but I’m more likely just to order it online.
For home furnishing, Ikea will deliver an entire apartment of stuff for $60.
Dozens? (I work in international education). Typically they aren’t going off to spend the summer in the South of France, but with some prioritization, most teachers can afford the $3000 or so it’d cost to spend the summer on a nice Thai beach.
My wife just bought a few shelves for kids’ toys at IKEA. They wanted $90 to deliver them. I swung by in an SUV to pick them up instead. I don’t know where you got the $60 for an apartment-full price quote.
Most people who don’t drive either live with people who do or live in a city where driving isn’t necessary due to good public transit. Although I drive and own a car, I don’t need one and haven’t always had access to one whenever I wanted. Living in a city with good public transportation (I have at least 6 bus lines and a train within 4 blocks of my house) means that there will be a lot of people without cars, and neighborhoods are set up to accommodate people without cars in the same way that many suburbs are set up to accommodate cars. The 46 inch flat screen- the local electronics store will deliver it. I don’t have to buy it from Target. Grocery shopping- since my kitchen does not have as much storage space as the average suburban kitchen I don’t buy a carload at a time anyway. All my groceries will fit easily in a shopping cart for the two block walk home from the supermarket - if I even decide to buy that much in a single trip. Because I can easily stop at the butcher, the fruit store and a smaller supermarket and pick up a few things on my way home from the train each night
Wow, I didn’t realize this was a thing either. My nieces and nephews didn’t get their licenses until they were 18 (or older). We live in a small city and in the surrounding suburbs. Public transportation is crap here and cabs are outrageous. I thought they were lazy (they don’t go many places). I bugged the crap out of my mom the MINUTE I could get a drivers license.
It may vary by region. I furnished my apartment last year from the College Park Ikea, and I paid $60.00 to haul three enormous flats of furniture, including everything from dinner plates to a couch. They even delivered items to my second-story room, and the delivery was same-day.
I do think the delivery is pretty much a flat fee, however, so if would be a bad choice for single items.
See here for more details:
Funny thing, the IKEA was the same College Park IKEA. $90 to deliver to the Columbia area, two book shelves. Looking at your link - it applies to Zone 1 area only. I guess I am out of Zone 1 area.
I know how to drive but don’t anymore. It’s cheaper and better for the environment if I don’t drive, so I don’t. Less dangerous for me and my family, too.
I’m not sure if I’ll encourage my kids to drive or not. Probably not. I don’t really think it should be encouraged for anybody because of the carbon. I know that people say the answer to that is to merely drive less, but I think that to be a good driver, you have to do it regularly. I also believe that young drivers tend to be bad drivers. I’ve been in a few accidents. The ones where I was at fault was when I was under twenty one. Insurance companies agree.
As for how we get by without a car to get stuff, I can schlep a lot. When we got our TV we got them to deliver it. I got the impression that lots of people do-- some of those TVs are too big to fit into a car. We get groceries delivered for 5 bucks. In a jam I can get a maxicab or hire a guy with a truck. That gets expensive but I wouldn’t have nearly as big a problem paying $80 for a delivery once in a (great) while than I would paying thousands of dollars a year for something I don’t need and contributes more than anything I currently do to global warming.
I might change my tune as my two younger kids grow up. Sports is one thing where having a car is a real advantage. The organizers don’t take public transport into consideration. It’s just assumed that all parents drive so they schedule games way out in the suburbs at 8 in the morning on a Saturday. You just can’t get there with kids via bus or train.
My 15 and a half year old son is counting the days until he can get his learner’s permit. Every time we drive he peppers me with questions about cars and laws and safety. My neighbor’s son is 21 and has no licence, car, or interest in either. He’d rather take the rotten buses around here. But then again, he still lives with his parents and has no real drive to do much with his life. It seems to me the kids with passion and zip want to have their independence and learn how to DRIVE!
So will you encourage them to not even get driver’s licenses either?
If you don’t have a car, there really aren’t a whole options for your kids to get drivers licenses. The assumption is that anybody who wants a license already has access to a car.
Driving is dangerous, expensive (insurance, tax, gas, parking, maintenance, repairs, fines if a cop or machine decides you were speeding, opportunity costs) and can be really unpleasant if you’re prone to/encounter another driver prone to road rage. I’m surprised it’s so prevalent, really.