This is a car state

Growing up in little Willcox, Ariz., the idea of not having a car seemed beyond absurd to me.

Not to mention to the fact that Willcox could fit onto the UA campus. Or that you wouldn't have to worry about getting obliterated in traffic there as a pedestrian.

Everyone in Willcox had a car except for poor people, and it definitely wasn't cool to be poor. No, you need to have a car. And so does your spouse, each of your children, and you need to have a backup and a truck for hauling. For example, there is a family of three in my neighborhood with six cars lining their lawn, driveway and sidewalk. And these cars aren't the old, rusty ones you see heaped up to rot in the fields outside of city limits--all of these cars still function.

So it was completely natural that I got a car when I was 15. My parents didn't want me walking anywhere, after all. They were convinced it wasn't safe to do so, especially in the morning or evening. When I was 16, I got a new car (because the old one was on its way out, really). And when I was 17, my dad traded in his old car to get me a new, safe one for college. Today my parents have two trucks (one of which they're trying to sell), an Explorer, a motorcycle and the car I drive. That's five vehicles we've accumulated for a three-person family in which only two people know how to drive.

Thus I have always been perplexed when someone's parents refuse to buy them a car, or someone doesn't have a car waiting at home for them--even if they don't drive it regularly. The way I was raised, a car is a necessity for everyone. And I'm definitely not the only person who was raised that way.

I just read an article about the possibility of living with *gasp* just one car per family. One of the lede paragraphs stated, "According to a 2004 Department of Energy report, the average household with two drivers owns 2.1 vehicles. Those with one driver have 1.2 vehicles." And therefore, there are more cars than people in this country. That's actually kind of mindboggling.

In light of the rising cost of fuel and impending effects of global warming, the article discusses how the concept of the single-car family is on the rise, as is public transportation use. At the same time, the number of SUVs on the road is also increasing.

Since I've gotten out of Willcox and educated myself a bit, I think it's smart to stick with the single-car solution. After all, if more people rode public transportation in Tucson (like they do in big cities and all over Europe), it wouldn't seem so scary.