Boomers on bikes

By Steve Price

Photo: Steve Price

I’m a Baby Boomer. My generation is the wealthiest in human history, wealthier than generations before or after. In the United States we possess 52% of the United States’ wealth, the wealthiest nation in history. We benefited from affordable housing in the 1970’s that has appreciated to a fantastic degree especially in California. Also, decades of a strong stock market has boosted retirement savings. Also, when we were young things generally cost less. We got a good start. Millennials and Generation Z, by comparison, struggle with not only rising housing costs, but also face expensive health care and education, stagnant wages, and the decline of progressive taxation.

Yet not all Boomers are prosperous. Those without a college education aren’t doing much better than generations of others without higher education. When you see people bicycling around town, don’t assume that their bicycles are hobby horses. Lots of households ride bicycles as a cost savings—including many seniors. The American Automobile Association estimates that it costs almost $1,100 a month to own and operate a new car, and even more in California. (The average cost of a new car is about $50,000 and a 3-year old used car about $32,500.)

Since much of urban California can’t be accessed safely on a bicycle since roads are overwhelmingly designed for cars, our culture practically mandates car ownership, a monthly cost that is a tax on groceries, drug store visits, and coffee at Peets. Consider the economic pressures too many Americans are facing and think twice before criticizing cranky bicycle riders’ persistent advocacy for safe inexpensive two-wheel mobility.