I get the impression that at last the metric system is starting to creep into the U.S, and a good thing too.
I've noticed on some television shows that some cars have the speedometers calibrated in km/h as well as mph. I sometimes wonder if this is an attempt to get U.S citizens used to metric units in a practical sense. I was told by a U.S school teacher on a visit that the metric system is taught there in schools.
Anyway, having grown up in Australia as the Imperial system was phased out starting in 1970, building materials still described in imperial units have almost gone.
I work on mechanical things and I'll tell you what, using imperial spanners is a pain. Having to stuff around with fractions working out what the next size spanner is requires converting back and forth between eights, sixteenths and quarters. Whereas if I want the next size up from 14mm, I look for 15mm; easy.