car or bike in Denver? (violent crime, buy, college)

[cowboyxjon]

I have a few co-workers who don't own cars and it seems like they rent them every other weekend or so because they like to do things that are in areas not well served by transit.

Personally, I would never give up my vehicle, even though I live in the city and use the bus to get to work.

[TomHavard]

I know at least a few people who don't own cars and don't have any problems or regrets. Some of them use car sharing programs to augment longer trips, a few other people I knowactually chipped in a small amount and all share one subaru. It seems to work for them.

From what I have been told I would avoid a company called E-go carshare which operates in the area. No one that I know has good things to say about them as a company.

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by ucdenver2010

80skeys, so you mean to say that a car is indeed essential?

In Denver, yes.
Boulder is much smaller and easier to get around without a car.

[TomHavard]

No a car is not necessary in Denver if you live in the right neighborhood. 80skeys statement that Denver is very spread out is true but you don't need to visit the spread out areas if you don't live in them.

If you pick the right area you can just as easily live in Denver as you can anywhere else including Boulder without a car. Like I wrote earlier, I know plenty of people who do.

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by ucdenver2010

woob, thank you for your recreational advice.

scott5280, I am from San Luis Obispo, CA and I hear Boulder is very similar. I prefer to live in an area where I can walk or bike just in case I miss the bus; but thank you for your advice. I will def. have to visit boulder as I hear it is nice.

80skeys, so you mean to say that a car is indeed essential?

A car is not essential in Boulder. Denver & Boulder though are much more transit oriented then any place in California. The RTD will be your friend. There will be some days when walking or riding your bike will not be practical in Boulder. Thats when you ride the bus.

As other have pointed out, transit can also expand your options. Example: biking to a major bus route, take your bike on the bus, then back on your bike to your destination. You can even travel from Denver to Boulder that way. Which would not be practical on your bike alone.

Just go with the flow. Which ever form of transportation or combination of will get you to your destination fastest that day, is the best way to go.

[OneMoreMove]

Originally Posted by KaaBoom

A car is not essential in Boulder. Denver & Boulder though are much more transit oriented then any place in California.

I'm not so sure about that. I think I'd rather be carless in San Francisco then Denver.

[Davros]

Originally Posted by 80skeys

Without a car, you're going to find it a pain to do a lot of the things that you want and need to do. Denver is very spread-out.
Yes biking is popular in Denver, but this is mostly recreational biking, not "living-your-daily-life" biking.

If living in capitol hill, there's a tradeoff. Will you miss being able to make a quick drive to the store an buy a week's worth of groceries ? Yes ! Will it be nice not having to hassle with the ownership of a car in an urban environment ? Yes !

[OneMoreMove]

Is it really such a hassle in Denver? It's urban, but really it's not urban enough to make owning a car a nightmare. Parking is easy to come by compared to hardcore urban centers, registration and insurance is cheap, and the driving is pretty easy.

[livecontent]

Owning a car is also a hassle. One of the big freedoms of not driving a car is not having to worry if it breaks down.

Years ago, before cell phones, you are left on the side of the highway, not knowing how you are going to get help or if you the help that stops is a worse nightmare. Also, you have no credit cards because it was in the days when people did not carry credit cards; and you spend all your money on that woman. Are you old enough to remember those times??

Has these events ever happened to you, today??

You break down at night, on the highway, and you reach for you cell phone--and you forgot it or it has no power or it cannot reach a signal.

You are on a trip, out of towns, hundreds of miles from your home, and your car breaks down. You finally get a tow from a pimpled faced teenager to a greasy garage in a small town. The mechanic tells you that the part, for your car, must come from Hooterville and it will take a few days. You are stuck in one of those motels, built during the heydays of route 66.

You go looking for your car, after a night at the theater and the your car has been stolen or the tires are all gone.

Well, all this has happened to me. When I take a bus or a train in Denver, I know that I have many options to get home and I will not be stranded on the highway. The bus or train breaks down--and it has, another one is called. Now, when I travel out of town, I rent so my worries about breakdowns are solved by a call to my friends at Avis.

Another big freedom of a good transit is that when my car is broken in a garage, At least have some options to get around.

Of course, you could be as stupid as me when sometimes I drive and sometimes I take the bus. I am getting to the age when I forget. So, I have driven someplace and then I took the bus home because I forgot I drove that day; and my car is not in my garage, when I got home.

Livecontent

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by livecontent

Years ago, before cell phones, you are left on the side of the highway, not knowing how you are going to get help or if you the help that stops is a worse nightmare.

So buy mechanical breakdown and towing as part of your insurance coverage.