New Survey Shows How Car-Centered City Living Might Change in Seven Years

Zipcar celebrates seventh anniversary, announces 100,000 members in three countries, 23 cities

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 17 -- How long does it take to find city street parking? Will gas prices keep rising? If you live in the city now, will you still be here in 2014? Those are a few of the questions posed to city residents in a survey on urban living by Zipcar, the world's largest car sharing service.

Seven years ago this month, Zipcar changed urban life by bringing city residents a new alternative to car ownership. To mark this milestone, Zipcar conducted a member survey to gauge how city residents throughout North America believe urban living could or should change in the next seven years.

"In 2000, the iPod had not been introduced and MySpace was still just an idea. With new innovations, our lifestyles can change very quickly," said Scott Griffith, CEO of Zipcar. "Urban population continues to grow, and with a renewed focus on sustainable living it is clear that city residents will consider significant changes to grow our urban areas smartly."

  Among the survey findings:

  -- Many city residents will stay:  For nearly half of the respondents, the
     most attractive aspect of urban life is that there's so much to do, and
     nearly 40% of respondents plan to still be living in the city in the
     year 2014. Particularly interesting is the average age for respondents
     was 33 years old.
  -- Gas prices go up:  61% of respondents think that the price of gas will
     be at least $5.00 per gallon in seven years, with 25% believing it will
     be more than $6.00.
  -- Parking harder to find: Half of respondents expect to spend 20 minutes
     or more looking for parking in 2014, a 34% increase from those who say
     they spend that much time doing so today.
  -- Surprising support for congestion charges:  Nearly one-third of
     respondents chose the implementation of a congestion charge as the
     number one policy decision that would improve urban life.

"Urban living offers many benefits, whether it is following your favorite sports team, walking through beautiful parks or heading to the best theatres and restaurants," said Scott Griffith. "Over seven years, we have watched our cities grow, change and improve, and our survey shows that leading cities will continue to evolve with a dedicated and devoted population committed to the constant improvement of urban lifestyle."

  Other predictions included:

  -- What do the Washington Nationals winning a World Series and a potential
     skyscraper in DC have in common?: Only about 16% of DC residents think
     that either is likely to happen during the next seven years.
  -- Love that Dirty Water:  One third of Boston residents expect that they
     will be swimming in a clean Charles River by 2014.
  -- Not just about the hot dogs:  20% of NY residents picked Coney Island
     to be the "hot" NY neighborhood by 2014.
  -- Still trying to visit every ball park in the country?:  90% of
     Chicagoans believe the Cubs will be in Wrigley field for at least the
     next seven years.