http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/06/05/f...esent-freedom/

Has all sorts of links to American recent studies on a trend for younger generation not buying/driving cars at the same level as it was 30 years ago...when having a driver's license was considered a rite of passage into adult hood.

Frankly I think the young ones I know:
*can't afford it. They are in debt after finishing university/college
*can't afford it because of higher housing costs. Or if they are still living with parents, they borrow the car occasionally.
*spend their money on technology instead
*other spending priorities

My 26 yr. niece and boyfriend do have a car. I think it's more his. She takes a commuter bus actually from mid-town Toronto to work out in the suburbs. They both avoid using the car whenever they visit family in the core of the city. They live about a 15 min. walk from subway station.

Her brother can't afford a car. He's studying on scholarship in U.S.

Dearie's 2 adult children didn't each have a car until son got one this year only because he has a baby. Each adult child lives near transit in Vancouver and Toronto. They are each in their early 30's.

Or is this phenomena just in big cities?