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Then the public transportation is not great. Great would be waiting for a short time in a heated station then boarding a train that gets you to the destination faster than you can drive.
I realize, most cities only have junky buses that are not reliable and everything about them is to discourage you from using them.
What city has heated bus stations? I've never seen one and I've lived in the Northeast for over 40 years! I've never seen one air conditioned in the South either.
I do live in a big city like NYC. We eventually decided to do without a car. High registration and insurance fees, alternate side of the street parking. Even let my over-priced driver's license go. Aside from not being able to just jump in the car for weekend excursions out of the city, and not being able to fill a van with mass quantities of stuff bought at Costco, we really didn't miss it.
As I edge toward retirement, I'm just starting to think about getting my driver's license again.
I've visited and talked with people in places numerous places, as detailed below:
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For NYC, the car was a both a hassle and convenience. It's harder to drive, but it's the way to go if you want to go out of town. OTOH, it's not as bad to get around where you'd need to. You just need extra time to do transfers and otherwise walk. Good exercise too. According to the film Super Size Me, your typical New Yorker walks 5 miles a day, whereas someone who commutes by car, only 0.8mi.
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For Chicago, the folks I've talked had to sell their cars when they moved there... either happily, or begrudgingly. In many parts of it, there's just no place to park, it's super expensive, and getting around gridlock can be murder. Their public transit is quite good though
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LA... it's a car culture city. Even though it may take an hour to get to places that would otherwise be half to 1/4 the time without traffic, they're not dense enough to have a comprehensive rail and bus network, so for most people, a car is still a necessity. Some folks COULD walk, but they'd have to walk through bad/dangerous neighborhoods
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San Diego... one guy just walks or bikes everywhere, which is why it works out well for him.
What city has heated bus stations? I've never seen one and I've lived in the Northeast for over 40 years! I've never seen one air conditioned in the South either.
Just a few BUS stations are heated, but many TRAIN stations are. And there are many suburban New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia (don't know about LA yet) towns where Propinquity to a train station is as important as good schools.
If I lived in a big city with awesome public transit, I'd still drive; largely because to me, driving is an independence factor. Unless mass transit runs 24-7 in a big city, you're restricted as to what you can do.
I would absolutely hate being dependent on public transportation. When I lived in The Hague, I would go weeks to months without getting onto a tram, train, or bus. Crowded, dirty, full of germs during flu season...and still in the grand scheme of things, The Hague has one of the better mass transit systems! I didn't have a car there - I walked and cycled everywhere.
I do enjoy driving, despite how annoying it can be in huge cities, and if I were living in a big city for more than a year or two I would probably buy a car and arrange for private parking. I would try to live close enough to work that I could walk/cycle there, and would mainly use the car for grocery shopping and trips out of the city.
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
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Nope. Not if I could possible live without it. I didn't have cars for many years in Boston and San Francisco, and was thankful for not having the hassle.
I've lived downtown in a cities smaller than those and gave up my car. The parking costs weren't worth it. I could get anywhere I needed via public transportation. I honestly never missed my car. I missed driving randomly listening to music which I enjoy but otherwise I never sat in traffic stewing waiting for the 4th red light to cycle. Ha.
I live in Denver. The public transit is not on par with New York City or LA or London or Chicago, but it is still pretty solid. Pair that with ride sharing and you probably don't need a car if you're living/working close to downtown.
However, we also live in Denver to be close to the mountains and partake in some of the mountain activities throughout the year. That is why owning a car (preferably with AWD/4WD) is essential for us. If we were urbanists living in one of the major cities above, then I'd probably forego car ownership.
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