Are we a reflection of our vehicles, or are they a reflection of us?
I live in a little small town, total pop less than 7000. Semi-rural, big city is 10 miles away.
I live on a corner and my neighbor and I were cussing and discussing traffic through our neighborhood yesterday. He’s retired and likes sitting on his porch watching the world go by, since he’s NOT a big TV fan. I go out in my garage to smoke, since I don’t smoke in the house, so we have similar perspectives… And both cuss the number of people that run the 4 way stop… Easily 30% of the total traffic. And we have seven small kids within a block! We also have a lot of walkers early in the morning/late evening especially during the summer.
80 to 85% of the vehicles that drive through are either pickups, work trucks, or SUVs. Probably 5% are Jeeps, 5% are cars, and the rest are a mix of hot rods, old/restored cars/trucks, and large vehicles. Within about 2 blocks there are, I think, five or six cars, mostly owned by little old ladies, and a couple of vans owned by families with 3 or more kids. That I know of, there are TWO Tesla EVs in the entire town, and one is owed by a sheriff’s deputy, because her mother and dad bought one before they moved here.
Many of the trucks and SUVs are muddy, depending on the time of year, and are working vehicles. Granted we do have a couple of blinged out pickups, but not many, and those don’t seem to be out/about when it rains…LOL
I’d say our neighborhood is a mix of older folks and a few younger couples, but we all get along, often talking and keeping up with whom is on vacation, keeping an eye on houses, etc. which is a HUGE change from what I had for neighbors in northern Virginia!
Anyhoo, back to vehicles. I ‘think’ we tend toward practicality as opposed to keeping up with the Jones/latest fad. And we do see the occasional snow/rain events that cause flooding, and the need to actually haul stuff (folks seem to be pretty handy and not afraid to do house/yard stuff as necessary), rather than hiring somebody to do it. A lot of folks work for ranches/oil field/businesses that pretty much require trucks to get to/from work in the field.
The Jeeps? Sigh…don’t ask me…
I know for ‘some’ of us old farts, an SUV is easier on our broke old bodies to get in and out of, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it! 🙂
YMMV, IANAL, and I sure as hell didn’t stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night…