noteworthy wrote:
Nate Silver:

This is surely one of the signs of the apocalypse: Americans aren't driving as much as they used to. The downward trend last year was stark.

Perhaps the only good thing about losing your job is that you no longer have to endure the drive to work.

The exceptionally sluggish pace of new-vehicle sales in the face of extremely attractive incentives being offered by the automakers might imply that Americans are considering making more-permanent adjustments to their lifestyles.

Verlyn Klinkenborg:

Every now and then I meet someone in Manhattan who has never driven a car. I used to wonder at such people, but more and more I wonder at myself.

Driving is the cultural anomaly of our moment.

Louis Menand:

The interstates changed the phenomenology of driving.

Believe me, this has been bittersweet for me. Being a product of Detroit, and a die-hard gear head, I've been wondering how this is going to look in 10, 20, or 50 years. I'm a big greenie, and I've reveled at the awakening of people to sustainability in their lives. But I enjoy car culture. I ride. I race. I break and fix things. It's fun. And there are times when I feel like I might really miss the smell of gasoline. Or the noise of exhaust. You can feel the era passing. Sometimes, it hurts.

RE: The End of Car Culture