Hacker News Reader

Comment by Justsignedup | Hacker News Reader

The united states is designed to be driven. It was very intentional. In NYC, depending on where you live you don't need a car, but once you get to the outskirts of the boroughs (like outer queens, outer brooklyn, any of staten island that isn't right by the ferry, upper bronx) you basically drive or getting anywhere to anywhere can take hours. And NYC is the best in the country regarding not needing a car.

Many places "going to the corner store" is a 20 minute drive. I still remember going up to long island to visit a friend, and we wanted to eat. The absolutely closest place to get food was a 45 minute walk each direction.

View on HN

That's all fine; none of it precludes voting with your wallet by e.g. buying an older car. It's not necessary for literally everyone to do this for it to have a noticeable impact on auto makers.

At least in my area, buying a used car that’s safe and reliable is effectively buying a new car. Over the past few years the used auto inventory has fluctuated significantly.

How long do you figure we'll be allowed to drive old cars that can go more than 500 miles at a clip and aren't loaded down with spyware?

I’d say aim to always stay as many years behind the current models as you can. They might eventually ilegalize very old models due to emissions, but economically they can’t force you to drive latest models. That should hurt dealers and auto makers. In my country, I often see people buy Toyota Land Cruisers (which are built to last a lifetime of abuse) and upgrade every 2 years. New car is shiny, lets you show your friends, but it means you grossly overpaid for your previous car (bc you actually did not need that robustness for just 2 years), and you are now driving a spy on wheels.

> How long do you figure we'll be allowed to drive old cars that can go more than 500 miles at a clip and aren't loaded down with spyware?

At least for the remainder of my life, I recon. (I'm in my 40s.)

Because building code is US don't allow mixed living/business areas - so you CAN NOT FIND business near the place you are living and YOU MUST HAVE A CAR...

(I assume you meant "zoning", not "building code". Zoning is what says what kind of building you can make, such as business or residential. Building codes cover things like electrical service and safety, plumbing requirements, what building material you can use, and stuff like that)

Around 92% of US households have a car. Comparing to Europe Italy is around 89%, Germany 85%, France 83$, Spain 79%, and UK 74%.

Unless those countries are also restricting mixed living/business areas they suggest that there is some other more general factor that drives (no pun intended) people to car ownership. US zoning might explain why US car ownership is higher than in Europe but seems unlikely to explain more than maybe 20% of US car ownership.

Run the stats again, this time on 2 cars. And 25% in US have 3 or more. Montana has 2.4 vehicles per licensed driver.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com