kevmk81

https://news.yahoo.com/americas-gener...0--sector.html

I find the comments disturbing, let alone the horrible article from Yahoo. The article is basically saying gen y'ers are not wanting to drive a vehicle and get a license.

The comments show how much a vehicle is looked at as a right, as something that gives you 'freedom'. People are saying these young individuals are lazy... I don't understand. Not driving = lazy?

Mos6502

You do have to understand that the majority of people in this world are fantastically stupid.

Also I have found that there are people who create multiple accounts on yahoo apparently just so they can make it look like others agree with them. You'll sometimes find two or three "different people" say the exact same things verbatim if you scroll through enough comments. Some people are really demented.

SkippyX

Trust me in this.

If you want hard evidence of the breathtaking stupidity of far too many of your fellow citizens, look no further than the comments section of just about any story in Yahoo news.

You'll also see evidence that many of your fellow citizens would appear to love the idea of seting people on fire and roasting marshmallows over their smoldering corpses.

It's best to avoid the comments section of any news outlet.

DVC45

It's Yahoo. Lower your expectation a bit.

no1mad 

Not so much laziness as realizing that it's better to let someone else drive while they continue to keep their eyes clued to their iProducts and 'Droid Devices.

DVC45

But that's where the real entertainment is.

locolobo13 

I didn't see it in that light. More like not learning to drive, being dependent on others. I don't think there has been a significant increase in bicyclists from other generations. IDK.

I saw another article somewheres where the author referred to alternative modes of transportation as "active" including riding the bus, subway etc. I disagree. Yes bicycles are active. Letting someone else drive you there is not. Driving safely like riding is "active". IMO.

That said I do ride the light rail in Phx occasionally. I commute 5 days per week by bicycle. I don't see anything wrong with not owning a car, nor anything wrong with owning a car. You should do what makes sense for you.

SkippyX

I used to feel that way.

Then I thought "These people are eligible to vote - and many of them DO!"



Ever since then...............

FenderTL5

As for the additional comments on the Yahoo site; no comment.

I have two children that fit the profile; my daughter is 24 with no DL. She has said, "Why bother, I can go anywhere I want using the MTA (public transportation)."
My son is 18. He has a learner's permit that he has renewed a couple of times. He keeps procrastinating getting his actual DL.
For my daughter, laziness is a factor but it's not the only issue at play. My son otoh simply ahs a different attitude toward driving than I had (and many others) when I was his age. When I was 18, to go across the street i would get in the car and drive. Now, even I'm riding my bike or walking at every opportunity.

alan s 

"Gen Y-ers, also known as Millennials, tend to ride bicycles, take public transit and rely on virtual media."

Why would a person born in the 1980s to mid-1990s be called a Millennial?

Bethany

I don't see it as being lazy at all. From the article and the comments, it seems like most of the Y generation don't see a need for driving due to bikes, high cost of ownership of a car, and public transportation. Add in a tough economy that is going on now and it's hard. Plus, those kids got the education of recycle and save the environment changing how they see the world. Owning a car is a PITA now and I'm a generation x. My insurance is 100 dollars a month (if I added my 16 year-old-son, it would go up to 180 a month), gas is 60 dollars to fill it up and I have to make a tank of gas last two weeks. When you live 80 miles from civilization a half tank of gas gets there and back so you don't get out much.

Technology has made it that much easier to communicate with friends and family and do so much from home. It's not about entitlement, it's how the world has changed. My son has looked for work since school got out. No one is hiring and he gets frustrated. All it means is he has no disposable income for doing extra stuff. When I was 16, I just walked into the nearest store and was hired instantly. My kids don't have cell phones as I feel they don't need them. They use their iPod Touches. Generation Y is growing up in a world that is vastly different than what the rest of us have had.

FenderTL5

GUESS: they came of driving age/adulthood around the turn of the century?

alan s 

Someone who was born in 1995 was 5 years old at the turn of the century. They would now be around 17.

FenderTL5

LOL! I was thinking on the earlier side of the equation.

nashvillwill

Well, apparently, I (born in 1979) fall into this demographic.

I don't get the whole "laziness" angle. Could it be a correlation between the large number of folks from this generation moving from the suburbs where they grew up, to the city where older generations grew up.

Personally, my grandparents did everything they could to get out of the city wen they were my age. Ironically, I did everything I could to get out of the suburbs. Part of that was learning that I could, in fact, survive without a car.

Its not laziness, it's a choice of needs. Honestly, I consider driving everywhere to be extremely lazy. I have childhood friends who still live in the burbs who drive from one friends house to the next, when often these trips are less than a full block. I used to do it. Now I rely on my own internal engine and my knowledge of transit.

Judgemental oldtimers. Psh. Get off of my lawn!

degnaw

Seems to me like many of the comments simply confer generic inter-generational hate. I sure hope this isn't representative of the country as a whole.

alhedges

The article is interesting, but it's ultimately kind of shallow and leaves me wanting more details. For example, it talks about a 5% increase in the number of people without licenses, which is significant (although I was still surprised that the base level was 20%). However, it doesn't discuss the fact that many states have increased theh age at which you can get a DL; when I was learning to drive, you could get a learner's permit when you were 15, and were eligible for a DL on the day you turned 16. In my state now, it's more complicated to get a learner's permit; you have to drive a certain number of hours and keep a log, and you can't get a DL until 270 days after you turn 16. Given that generation Y ranges from age 16-34, this fact alone is going to account for some difference in the number of people in that range who have DLs, no matter how eagerly they want to drive. (Although not, probably, 5%). It would also be interesting to see more of a breakdown in ages - is this generation *really* not getting DLs...or are they just delaying until they are out of HS?

It would also be interestion to see how this ties in with car usage/ownership - I was car free for 10 years - from age 18 to age 28 (I had a car in HS) - but I did have a license.

no1mad 

Meh. A bunch of youth get the terms 'rite' and 'Right' mixed up these days...

SkippyX

You're absolutely rite.

tjspiel

I was disappointed by the article a bit too. More information would have been nice. At the same time I'm encouraged by the trend. When I was growing up it seemed like getting one's license was soooo very important. Glad to see that some kids at least are fine doing without.

ivan_yulaev

Profound!

azesty

You do know where the word Yahoo comes from, dont you?

z

Koobazaur

Problem is, in a lot of parts of the US, getting a car IS freeing. Take my University, located in a hilly and highly spread out suburban neighborhoods of OC, with absolutely NO public transit. If you didn't have a car or made friends with people with cars, you were literally stuck on campus all the time. It sucked.

That being said, I avoid any online article comment sections exactly for the reason mentioned above. It's like a magnet for everything that is wrong with mankind...

PatrickGSR94

Yeah my family moved out of the city limits in 1993. Have lived in surrounding areas ever since. Now I would love to move back to the downtown or midtown areas, but cost of living is WAY higher there than where I'm at now, even with a car... $11K+ in annual property taxes in some areas as compared to ~$1200 annual on my house.

Now this just had me

Battosaii

Ive been here one the forums just watching and learning but after reading this article i wanted to comment and i finally registered.

i fit into this demographic since i was born in 1987 but im nothing like those people they mention, i learned to drive at a very young age and in my 24 years of living ive owned over 20 motor vehicles, I currently own 2 cars my fun turbo 600whp weekend racecar that i built my self and my 98 mercedes that i use because it gets 32mpg and it cost me $1000. i guess i just love cars it is my hobby to build and race and i do what i can with my limited income.

i do enjoy cycling very much when i was younger i used to go to many MTB trails with my brother and recently ive dusted off my old Giant and im slowly converting her into a commuter i use to ride to the gym and back a 12.5 mile round trip 5 days a week but the more i ride the more i enjoy it!

I honestly feel that i wont ever give up my passion and my hobby of cars but i wont stop riding my bike either it helps keep me healthy and hell its a free ride to the gym everyday lol