5 ms·

I think it's actually just anglo countries. The UK is batshit about cars as well, and I don't think the Aussies are much better.

giobox 3y ago
This is seemingly changing in UK - younger generations increasingly don't own a private vehicle, due to a whole host of factors including the fact there simply isn't nearly as many affordable cars on the UK market as there was say 20 years ago, as well as the cost of fuel/insurance. It will be interesting to see if trends reverse once cheap EVs inevitably become a thing over the next decade - even entry level EVs are generally significantly more expensive than entry level gas cars used to be in the UK for the time being. > https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a81dd5340f0b62305b9137e/young-peoples-travel-whats-changed-exec-summary.pdf https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a81dd5340f0b...
ChrisKnott 3y ago
By what metric? The UK doesn't stand out in this list - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_vehicles_per_capita https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_vehicle... - it's below most of its peer nations.
- bigfudge 3y ago
  We are tiny though, mostly high density and had a great rail inhertence. Given where we could be, I think we are car obsessed. Note also that car use and the right to use residential streets as commuter rat runs is becoming bound up with stupid culture war politics.
rootusrootus 3y ago
For all the chatter on HN, Europeans in general drive quite a lot. It's fascinating to hear people rail against cars here, and then step back out into meatspace. I just chuckle at the contrast between the dreamers on Reddit/HN and folks in the real world.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- moojd 3y ago
  I just got back from a road trip in France and the UK and it's funny how much of the reddit-tier discourse is correct yet simultaneously so wrong. There are plenty of rural towns where everyone owns cars. There are highways, strip malls, large shopping centers with massive parking lots, and populated areas with bus service at best. The difference is the scale and the US lands embarrassingly far on one side of it. Even in the smallest rural towns in France we visited, we could hop on regional rail to the nearest large metro area.

giobox 3y ago

This is seemingly changing in UK - younger generations increasingly don't own a private vehicle, due to a whole host of factors including the fact there simply isn't nearly as many affordable cars on the UK market as there was say 20 years ago, as well as the cost of fuel/insurance. It will be interesting to see if trends reverse once cheap EVs inevitably become a thing over the next decade - even entry level EVs are generally significantly more expensive than entry level gas cars used to be in the UK for the time being. > https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a81dd5340f0b62305b9137e/young-peoples-travel-whats-changed-exec-summary.pdf https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a81dd5340f0b...

ChrisKnott 3y ago

By what metric? The UK doesn't stand out in this list - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_vehicles_per_capita https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_vehicle... - it's below most of its peer nations.

bigfudge 3y ago
We are tiny though, mostly high density and had a great rail inhertence. Given where we could be, I think we are car obsessed. Note also that car use and the right to use residential streets as commuter rat runs is becoming bound up with stupid culture war politics.

rootusrootus 3y ago

For all the chatter on HN, Europeans in general drive quite a lot. It's fascinating to hear people rail against cars here, and then step back out into meatspace. I just chuckle at the contrast between the dreamers on Reddit/HN and folks in the real world.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
moojd 3y ago
I just got back from a road trip in France and the UK and it's funny how much of the reddit-tier discourse is correct yet simultaneously so wrong. There are plenty of rural towns where everyone owns cars. There are highways, strip malls, large shopping centers with massive parking lots, and populated areas with bus service at best. The difference is the scale and the US lands embarrassingly far on one side of it. Even in the smallest rural towns in France we visited, we could hop on regional rail to the nearest large metro area.