One possible reason is we don’t salt our roads in winter. Salt causes tons of rust on vehicles, but here you’ll see 1990 Hondas still looking practically new. People seem to drive their beaters forever.
Oregon isn’t just Portland. The rest of the state isn’t nearly as developed. Same for NY - yes, huge population in NYC but there’s still a lot of people in nyc suburbs with money and cars.
Oregon is the one that surprises me.
All the other green states are the low income states (except for the north east states like Maine, and that little corner).
But then there’s Oregon, right between yellow California, and yellow Washington.
I’m also surprised NY is yellow. I thought the bulk of their population was JUST NYC. And most people in NYC don’t even own cars.
Or is this a percentage of car owners only?
One possible reason is we don’t salt our roads in winter. Salt causes tons of rust on vehicles, but here you’ll see 1990 Hondas still looking practically new. People seem to drive their beaters forever.
how is this related to vehicles looking new? I see vehicles that are missing front bumpers and have visible rust all the time on the roads.
100% the answer. I miss it so much. They salt like crazy around here and I can’t find a car with a solid frame for under $10k.
The Oregon used car market was insane before cash for clunkers. You could buy a car from the '80s for $750 and reliably drive it for 100k mi. more.
Oregon isn’t just Portland. The rest of the state isn’t nearly as developed. Same for NY - yes, huge population in NYC but there’s still a lot of people in nyc suburbs with money and cars.