> And having the ability to just drive out of the city whenever I want is awesome!
This is what does it for me. And a rental just doesnt cut it. My family and I enjoy road trips, even just weekend getaways, and owning a vehicle makes that possible. Also, just regular things like getting kids to rowing practice after school makes all alternatives impractical. There’s no way to get them there on time with public transit and it’s def. too far for an e-bike to get there on time.
The period of one's life during which one needs to drive the kids to rowing practice passes by fairly rapidly, in the course of the entire life. Structuring our entire society around the use cases of the very few isn't a good idea. Indeed, it would be highly beneficial to busy parents of busy kids if everyone else would get the hell off the road. Most of the people on the road have little reason to be there, other than that we've made it the default choice and outlawed everything else. If people could easily walk to the grocery store, or bicycle to the dentist, or ride a bus to their office, your trip to the boathouse would be ever so much easier.
Why not long train ride in the countryside? Or a train tour through the mountain peak. If we're talking luxuries, it's possible to make trains luxurious. They have sleeper trains for example.
A lot of thing are possible or the equivalent in a train oriented society.
This is what does it for me. And a rental just doesnt cut it. My family and I enjoy road trips, even just weekend getaways, and owning a vehicle makes that possible. Also, just regular things like getting kids to rowing practice after school makes all alternatives impractical. There’s no way to get them there on time with public transit and it’s def. too far for an e-bike to get there on time.