In article , "Kim "
writes:

FM!!!!!????

(snipped for brevity)

That's one reason, Kim, stated in a way that makes a lot of sense.

Here's another:

Even before 1991, a considerable number of hams in this area (metro Philly)
were friends and family members of hams who wanted a way to keep in touch while
mobile. The most common setup was the 2-careers/kids/cars household, where the
radio was used for all sorts of "honeydew" purposes.

This sort of thing was particularly popular on some machines around here
because the culture in this area encourages open machines, deference to mobiles
and HTs, and wide coverage. Plus there are so many open machines around here
that you can usally find one that's not in use.

What really drove that boom was not the dropping of the code test but the
availability of inexpensive, small, easy-to-use HTs and mobile rigs. And the
proliferation of repeaters,

These folks were hams, all right, but their interest in ham radio was not about
radio as an end in itself, but radio as a means to an end. IOW, just a tool to
do a job, not the main attraction.

Trouble is, cell phones now fill those roles.

73 de Jim, N2EY