I can understand never owning a car, but never learning to drive feels a bit like never learning to swim.
The difference being you don't need a license to swim. I can drive a car ( and agricultural tractor ) but I'm not licensed to do so on the public highway. It simply isn't worth the cost to me.
In my part of the UK one must take lessons with 'approved' i.e expensive state-vetted instructors as well as computer-based testing. Then hire of a car for the actual practical lesson, plus its cost. All-in here it costs about £3,000 to receive a license in your hand.
And then you can't actually drive on the highway without some form of insurance, starting at around £900 liability-only for new drivers.
Learning to swim cost me around £90.
Driving license: £50 Theory test: £25 Practical test: £62 20 lessons @ £20/hour: £400.
Look for an independent instructor, they're cheaper and usually have more experience than the ones in the big chain driving schools.
Even if you don't plan to own a car straight away, a few years down the line you'll find your insurance is cheaper just because you've held your license for several years.
> The average cost of a driving lesson is now £24, and with the DSA (Driving Standards Agency) recommending 47 hours of tuition under the supervision of a professional instructor, the total cost of lessons for a learner will be £1,128.21 Mar 2013
That's not a bare knuckle minimum, but even this is less than the additional suggested 22 hours private practice (and the learner needs to be insured).
I've never been a particular car person and the cars I've bought have tended toward the nice but practical. To never learn to drive though strikes me as just incredibly limiting.
I've almost always needed a car to get to my company's office on a day-to-day basis and even when I've worked downtown, I've pretty much needed a car for visiting customers, job sites, or while traveling. Even if some scenarios could have sometimes been handled without the need to personally drive, I would never have wanted to be "that guy who needs always needs some special accommodation because he never learned to drive."
Furthermore, I've gone on many many vacations that depended upon my ability to drive a car. Sure, I could just not do those things and attach myself to a group or avoid locations not accessible by other means but it all seems so limiting to me.
Whether you actually buy a vehicle depends on a lot of factors and, especially with the newer short-term rental options, one may be able to avoid purchasing one in borderline cases.
My family has never owned a car (mother is the only one who even has a license) and in the part of the world where I grew up (Switzerland) that was no problem. I make extensive use of the public transport here as I own a GA, a general subscription which is valid for almost the whole of Switzerland (exceptions are mostly ship lines and mountain railways).
For me it feels quite weird to travel by car because I am so used to take the train or bus.
Maybe I'll learn it someday but for now I have zero need to do so.