Do You Really Need a Car? Seems That Not All Younger Folk Think So.

When I grew up in Southern California, getting a driver's license was a rite of passage.  I actually got mine before I was 16, and Lee didn't even ask me out when we were at Berkeley until he could take me some place in a car (where that was is a story for another time!)

But ease of public transportation was a major reason behind choosing where we live.  Lee could walk to work, and, even though Elin was only 7 months old when we moved in, I foresaw that it would be easier to control drinking and driving in adolesence if the kids could catch a bus home (or walk as Lukas did frequently.)  The result was that neither one of them were in a hurry to get a license: Elin was 26 before she got hers, even though she's 5'3" and plays an instrument whose case comes up to her shoulder.  Lukas and Sophie actually own a car, since she needs it because she teaches in the 'burbs, but Lukas is still working on his learner's permit.

It seems though that they may be "early adopters."  At least, The New York Times today reports that Americans are driving less, and that the trend is being led by the Millennials, young people who've come of age in this century. 

Always knew I had cool kids....


The photo, BTW, was chosen to show the waves of the future--buses and "he force that through the green fuse drives the flower."