this post was submitted on 15 Apr 2026
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A Boring Dystopia
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Started living there and working in that job before covid, continued after. Never lived in a city though, that was a mid sized town. At the time I didn't have a car or garden. Still don't have a car.
In the United States (which I'm mentioning because that's the location of the survey we're discussing), something like 85%–90% of people live in places that are car-dependent. It's closer to 100% outside of cities. So a vehicle is an expense that can't be avoided. We're looking at loan payments (probably), insurance (definitely), gas, and repairs. The lower your income, the better the odds that all four of those expenses go up, as you're less likely to have a good down payment or buy in cash, and more likely to have your options reduced to older and lower-end vehicles. That typically means lower gas mileage and guarantees more frequent repairs. You're also likely to live in a lower income area with higher insurance premium rates.
Of course, despite the rate of car dependence, about a third of Americans do not have reliable access to a dependable vehicle. That's some very unfortunate math.
It's hard to be poor in the U.S.
A lot of people own cars here too and insist its required. Either way I don't have one. Scooters are pretty cheap to run if you actually need to drive around.
Most of the United States is designed to be so hostile to alternative transportation that scooters and bikes are mainly reserved for trail exercise and suicidal thrill seeking. It's simply not a practical recommendation, unfortunately; neither is public transit outside of a select few city centers. Many of us wish we had a way to ditch cars, but we don't.
125cc scooter, not a kids scooter.