We were visiting the inlaws in Oakland, CA today and decided to take a drive into Berkeley for some food. On our 10 minute drive through the city we counted 32 Prii. There was about an even mix between the G1 and G2 models. This should mean that there are hundreds in the entire city (which is not surprising I guess considering the demographics of Berkeley). Does anyone know which city/locale has the highest per capita? Cheers, -- Ian
I am a google person. This is what I found from google. Only statistics on large cities (not cities like Berkeley.) Top 5 in New Hybrid Registrations, 2004 Rank State # City # ---------------------------------------------------- 1 California 25,021 Los Angeles 10,399 2 Virginia 5,613 San Francisco 8,051 3 Washington 3,441 Washington DC 6,473 4 Florida 3,272 New York 3,779 5 Maryland 3,238 Seattle 2,857 (source: Source: R. L. Polk & Co. ) (based on 2000 census data of large cities) SF: 8051/724K = 11.1/1K people DC: 6473/607K = 10.6/1K people Well, it seems like SF wins by a small margin for that year (2004) I couldn't find statistics on smaller cities like Berkeley. Maybe it is the winner among small cities... Eric
Thanks for looking up the relevant statistics Eric. Where I live in Benicia, CA you see a Prius around here and there. But in Berkeley we were amazed at the apparent density of them. In one 3 block stretch of residential neighborhoods we counted 15 Prii sitting in folks driveways. Cheers, -- Ian
What you have to realize also, is that most of the MD and VA ones are in the DC suburbs. Especially in VA where they get access to the HOV lanes. Add those numbers up and it become clear that DC Metro really is a Prius Hotbed.
I live on Long Island, and it is relatively rare for me to see another Prius. I am in the People's Republic of Berserkeley almost every month, and there are indeed zillions of them there. In trips within the last six months to Palo Alto, CA; Marin County, CA; and Bethesda, MD, I've seen more than on Lawn Island but nothing like the concentration of Berkeley so I would agree it is a strong competitor for Prius capital. I've also been to Berlin and Trieste in the last three months and I have seen very few over there (but then there are far fewer Japanese cars in Europe anyway).
I can vouch for Los Angeles. I'm getting to recognize 7 or 8 that regularly drive around my neighborhood in Pasadena, and I see lots during my commute to/from West Hollywood. Sadly, after getting rear-ended on the 405 saturday morning (and getting pushed into the car ahead of me), my Sparky isn't part of the Los Angeles Prius scene; at least not for a while.
