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I know a couple of people my age (about 40) who really prefer not to drive, but it's such a strange preference IRL that I suspect most people online who claim that it's what they prefer have just never experienced how much better it is to have a car and live somewhere where driving is convenient.
I know that sounds patronizing but I was a bikes/mass transit supporter myself when I was younger and it was 100% because I hadn't learned how to drive and I didn't know what I was missing.
That's fun. I was a driver kid and didn't know what I was missing till I moved to a place with good bike/public transport infrastructure.
I suspect people who claim that they prefer to have a car never experienced how much better life quality is in a place without cars where cycling is convenient.
(The noise pollution alone is worth it!)
There's no accounting for taste, as the saying goes, but where have you been that is quiet but not car-reliant? The lower population density that is made possible by driving reduces noise much more than cars increase it.
You underestimate how much noise cars make. I'm 20 meters from my neighbors and I never hear a peep. Meanwhile, I'm a kilometer from the highway and I can hear always hear it at least a little bit (and a lot when the wind is in my direction). So you have to go really low density, like 1 house per square kilometer and 5 kilometers of dirt road before even reaching a regional road, to go quieter than this, but... unsurpisingly, not many people live there.
I wouldn't assume everyone who disagrees with you is naive just because you were naive in your past agreement with them. Really, going to bike friendly places with lots of busses, trains, sidewalks, paths, etc... it's just very nice. Yes there are conveniences to cars, but the biggest convenience a car can ever offer is freedom from the inconveniences of not having a car in a car-based society.
I drove cars for years until I was fed up that I need more time to clear the windows of ice in the winter than the actual drive. That's when I switched first to a moped, then to an e-scooter (the small one which you stand on) and then to an e-bike.
It's such a difference to be out in the open. It's fun.
I'll never go back owning a car. They cost a lot more than my bike and I always feel stressed using them (driving = maintaining focus all the time, that is stress).
I now don't need to go to a gym anymore. Cycling is enough to keep me fit.