The vast, vast, majority of the population lives within biking or public transport distance of some shit corner store for a kid to work in. Right now most of them are hiring. 10 weeks of part time labor is enough to buy a fairly old 49cc scooter, which in many states requires no license.

I'll disagree somewhat.

If they're planning on becoming a lifetime Manhattanite who rarely leaves the city sure. (Substitute international locations.) Sure.

But I think parents insisting that not being able to drive is a poor life choice for a bunch of reasons--that they're not going to support through driving their kid around--seems pretty reasonable.

Strictly in terms of employment (and even job interviews in my experience) the ability to rent a car, even if not owning a car, is pretty common.

A need for driving can arise much more quickly than you can learn and get licensed. So many teenagers assume they're going to live in places with dense public transportation networks, but it will take decades to build enough housing and transit for them. The economic winners will get to live their desired lifestyle of density and transit, and the rest will find themselves awkwardly bridging the lag between our aspirations and our infrastructure.

"The future is already here – it's just not evenly distributed."