a somewhat related anecdote (at the time i had no kids though). i too never owned a car. never even learned to drive. and when i got a job in the US, in san die

a somewhat related anecdote (at the time i had no kids though). i too never owned a car. never even learned to drive. and when i got a job in the US, in san diego which is very spread out too, i thought "this is it, i'll have to learn to drive now". to my surprise, i didn't. i managed to arrange my life such that i could either walk or take a bus to work, shopping etc. the same in los angeles and later in auckland, nz, also a very car centric city. again, i was single without kids, so i didn't have to consider the needs of others when choosing where to live. now with kids we live in places with better public transport and i still haven't learned to drive.