March 25, 2012

There were 3 posts published on March 25, 2012 (this is page 1 of 1).

Young Americans not buying cars

Wow. Transformational. The world is truly going to look a lot different very soon.

Kids these days. They don’t get married. They don’t buy homes. And, much to the dismay of the world’s auto makers, they apparently don’t feel a deep and abiding urge to own a car.

This week, the New York Times pulled back the curtain on General Motors’ recent, slightly bewildered efforts to connect with the Millennials — that giant generational cohort born in the 1980s and 1990s whose growing consumer power is reshaping the way corporate America markets its wares. Unfortunately for car companies, today’s teens and twenty-somethings don’t seem all that interested in buying a set of wheels. They’re not even particularly keen on driving.

The Times notes that less than half of potential drivers age 19 or younger had a license in 2008, down from nearly two-thirds in 1998. The fraction of 20-to-24-year-olds with a license has also dropped. And according to CNW research, adults between the ages of 21 and 34 buy just 27 percent of all new vehicles sold in America, a far cry from the peak of 38 percent in 1985.

via Why Don’t Young Americans Buy Cars? – Jordan Weissmann – Business – The Atlantic.

James Cameron begins solo dive to the bottom of the ocean

Film director James Cameron has the biggest balls of anyone I know. Titanic and his other hit films made him boatloads of money. Cameron never has to work another day in his life and still he chooses to dive to the most remote. most inhospitable place on our planet … alone!

I am in awe.

Film director and ocean explorer James Cameron began his one-man plunge to the bottom of the sea Sunday afternoon, Eastern Time, in a scientific and film-making quest to touch the deepest spot on Earth, a gash in the western Pacific Ocean that reaches nearly seven miles below the surface.

Seven years in the making, the descent by one of the most successful Hollywood directors of all time (“Aliens”, “Terminator”, “Titanic”, “Avatar”) was delayed for some 16 hours by choppy seas.

via James Cameron begins solo dive to the bottom of the ocean – The Washington Post.

Land once home to Raleigh baseball field now eyed for urban park

News and Observer reporter Matt Garfield wrote a captivating article about the Devereux Meadows site one day being a park again after 30 years as a trash truck parking lot.

It reminded me of Leo Suarez’s look back at the old ball park from two years ago.

RALEIGH — An expanse of land just north of downtown moved closer to a greener future this month when the city began relocating a sanitation and fleet yard to a new home outside the Beltline.

The land, which has spent the past 30 years as a parking lot for garbage trucks, is envisioned as a park and greenway that supporters hope will enliven an aging gateway into downtown.

Called Devereux Meadows, the planned 15-acre park takes its name from the minor league ballpark that once anchored the site along the west side of Capital Boulevard between Peace Street and Wade Avenue.

via Land once home to Raleigh baseball field now eyed for urban park – Wake County – NewsObserver.com.