No car living (Lincoln, Irving, Sheridan: car rental, city hall, rentals)

[movinghelp23]

Thanks to all for your help. Based on all the posts and replys I have decided to sell my car before I move. I have a few final quesions reagrding this. (I plan on moving to Lake View or area close to there). The money I will save will more then provide me with funding for public transportation.

1. Where and how do my friends park when they come to visit?

2. Are car rentals around in case I need to go home?

3. Is it easy to get to the amtrack station?

4. How do people shop for groceries, etc..?

Anything else that I have forgotten, please advise on that too. Thanks in advance.

[Chinolala]

Parking is at a premium and when people visit, they will have to drive around a bit to find parking, unless they get lucky. Friends that live in the city, will probably take public transportation, bike, walk or taxi over.

Many car rentals in the area. No problem with this.

The Amtrak station is downtown and you can get to it easily via public transportation

People walk, take the bus or taxi or order groceries online. I used to walk to Jewel and carry mine home. Just had to shop more often. For big shopping, use Peapod. It's a service that delivers. You place your order online. It's awesome!

[j33]

1. Where and how do my friends park when they come to visit?

They'll have to park on the street. If you live in a zoned neighborhood, you can get one day guest passes for them from city hall or sometimes your alderman's office.

2. Are car rentals around in case I need to go home?

Absolutely. There are loads of car rental agencies in the city (no they are not just at the airports)

3. Is it easy to get to the amtrack station?

Yes, you can take the 'el' or call a taxi. If you have lots of luggage, you'll probably want to take a taxi (but from lakeview it is a bit costly).

4. How do people shop for groceries, etc..?

If you live by a grocery store, just get one of those pushcarts and roll your groceries home. Peapod (an online grocery delivery service) is nice for when you want to stock up on heavy stuff (e.g. a case of soda, etc). When I go to Trader Joe's, usually I just take a taxi home.

Anything else that I have forgotten, please advise on that too. Thanks in advance.

There is also ZipCar and IGO car sharing.

www.igocars.org
www.Zipcar.com

All of these things add up financially, but it is still cheaper than owning a car.

[Lookout Kid]

j33 hit most of the points I could think of. In terms of grocery shopping, there are many options in East Lakeview. Broadway has a Jewel (normal groceries), Treasure Island (high-end or European groceries), and there's a Whole Foods on Halstead. Also, there will be a new Dominick's constructed on Broadway where the old one once stood (it burned down a few years ago). All of these stores are in East Lakeview between Belmont and Irving Park Road. West Lakeview is more car-friendly, and street parking is a bit easier (though still challenging).

Broadway also has a Budget Car Rental up near Sheridan or Grace, so you can rent a car right in Lakeview. I-Go and Zip-Car have cars literally all over Lakeview, so that's pretty convenient. Peapod is great if you don't mind someone else selecting your produce (my wife doesn't go for that). It's slightly more cost than a typical grocery store, but nothing like the cost of owning a car. I had a Honda Civic with $300 monthly payments, and when we added the insurance ($100 for two people), parking ($200), gas ($50+), and maintenance ($50), the costs were more than $700 a month! You would need to use a lot of Zip-Cars, Cabs, and Peapods to rack up that kind of bill!

[movinghelp23]

Thank you all for your replies. This is exactly what I was hoping to hear.

[tjay]

i can see how people survive without cars.....but doesn't it take FOREVER to get anywhere using public transportation? my car broke down and i was without it for a week. it took me about an hour to get to work and an hour 1/2 to get home each day using my car. but with p.t. my travel time was 5 hours a day. i wanted to kill myself. it took almost an hour just to get to the train from the bus....i also couldn't imagine not just hopping in my car to go get something if i needed it. i like freedom way too much. plus in that week i didn't have my car something happened with the trains and they switched up routes and i was extremely late to an appointment, with no notice and nothing i could do about it. like i said in another thread, living in chicago is not very convenient (even with a car), without a car i would feel like i was in prison.

[j33]

I have a ten minute train ride to work so no, it doesn't take me forever to get anywhere via the 'el' ... and in my twelve years of living in chicago, most of them have been without a car, and I rarely miss it or feel 'trapped'. I've got the train, can consistently hail a taxi a block from my house, live four blocks from the grocery store, have zipcar, and the enterprise rent-a-car place. I don't feel like I gave up my freedom when I ditched the car, in fact, I've saved so much money and stress in doing so, I feel like I've gained some freedom.

[CarolinaBredChicagoan]

Originally Posted by tjay

i can see how people survive without cars.....but doesn't it take FOREVER to get anywhere using public transportation? my car broke down and i was without it for a week. it took me about an hour to get to work and an hour 1/2 to get home each day using my car. but with p.t. my travel time was 5 hours a day. i wanted to kill myself. it took almost an hour just to get to the train from the bus....i also couldn't imagine not just hopping in my car to go get something if i needed it. i like freedom way too much. plus in that week i didn't have my car something happened with the trains and they switched up routes and i was extremely late to an appointment, with no notice and nothing i could do about it. like i said in another thread, living in chicago is not very convenient (even with a car), without a car i would feel like i was in prison.

Five hours? Are you in the burbs? If so, maybe that's a different story. If not, you must have been taking the absolute least direct routes.

If you're in the city, especially in an area like Lakeview, you absolutely don't need a car.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by movinghelp23

Thanks to all for your help. Based on all the posts and replys I have decided to sell my car before I move. I have a few final quesions reagrding this. (I plan on moving to Lake View or area close to there). The money I will save will more then provide me with funding for public transportation.

1. Where and how do my friends park when they come to visit?

2. Are car rentals around in case I need to go home?

3. Is it easy to get to the amtrack station?

4. How do people shop for groceries, etc..?

Anything else that I have forgotten, please advise on that too. Thanks in advance.

Most people have already covered this well.

I live in East Lakeview. The transportation is excellent. You do not need a car.

I have not had a car in almost 9 years and I have down well,even when I lived in areas with lesser transporation. I love all the extra money I have in my pocket. I dont have to worry about parking tickets either.

[Lookout Kid]

I think it would be hard to go without a car in much of the city, but much of East Lakeview, Lincoln Park, and even Wicker Park/Bucktown are better without a car, assuming you work in the downtown area.