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Aside from NY, I'd say Chicago, DC, Boston, Philly, and SF in that order. These are cities that are fairly easy to live in without a car.
Other cities such as Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh have decent public transit, but I personally wouldn't live in them without a car. I think if I lived in one of these cities, I would find myself taking public transit on a regular basis, but I think I'd also need access to a car on a regular basis. These aren't full car-dependent cities, but they aren't exactly car-free either.
Just to chime in, I do live in Cleveland car-free in the University Circle/Little Italy neighborhood (intersection of two transit lines).
I was just going to say, you can do Cleveland without a car IF you're in the right neighborhoods (in/near downtown, Edgewater, University Circle/Little Italy, Shaker Square neighborhoods...that's pretty much it)...any other neighborhood? it's a bit more difficult. I'd preferrably live in Cleveland with a car though...that's just me
Just to chime in, I do live in Cleveland car-free in the University Circle/Little Italy neighborhood (intersection of two transit lines).
Well you can do that in the major sunbelt cities as well. In certain hoods of Dallas, Atlanta, and in the very near future, Houston, you can live without a car. But the vast majority of the city, you need a car.
Chicago, Washington, Boston, Philly, San Francisco.
It's certainly easiest in these locations, but there are quite a few other viable options. The key to answering this question is how committed somebody is to going car free. You can very much make that choice in Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles and probably a dozen other cities.
Other cities such as Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh have decent public transit, but I personally wouldn't live in them without a car. I think if I lived in one of these cities, I would find myself taking public transit on a regular basis, but I think I'd also need access to a car on a regular basis. These aren't full car-dependent cities, but they aren't exactly car-free either.
You might not, but others would consider it. Not everyone needs instantaneous access to public transit round-the-clock and the cities mentioned offer sufficient service to where one can get to/from work and run errands or go to/from social events. Transit also often doesn't run into the wee hours of the night in these cities but if one isn't a bar-fly, taking a cab home now and then isn't a terrible thing.
It's certainly easiest in these locations, but there are quite a few other viable options. The key to answering this question is how committed somebody is to going car free. You can very much make that choice in Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles and probably a dozen other cities.
Yeah, and I'll offer the mincing answer: It depends. There are neighborhoods you can select in any big city where you don't need a car. What are your activities? Where do your friends live? Where do you work? You can't cast whole cities as convenient or inconvenient without settling these questions. I lived in SF (a cited exemplar) carless, for example. From the Mission District to Sunset via transit took over an hour. Is that more convenient than transit between two destinations in another city? No way. I can get from DT L.A. to Long Beach in 40 minutes on the Blue Line.
Yeah, and I'll offer the mincing answer: It depends. There are neighborhoods you can select in any big city where you don't need a car. What are your activities? Where do your friends live? Where do you work? You can't cast whole cities as convenient or inconvenient without settling these questions. I lived in SF (a cited exemplar) carless, for example. From the Mission District to Sunset via transit took over an hour. Is that more convenient than transit between two destinations in another city? No way. I can get from DT L.A. to Long Beach in 40 minutes on the Blue Line.
It all depends.
Total agreement. In many cities where I'd argue it's possible, it is only possible if you organize your life around the concept. The more classic answers that several have given, are cities in which it requires less purpose to achieve, and where it is a standard mode of transportation for significant plurarilities.
Total agreement. In many cities where I'd argue it's possible, it is only possible if you organize your life around the concept. The more classic answers that several have given, are cities in which it requires less purpose to achieve, and where it is a standard mode of transportation for significant plurarilities.
Of course its possible to live car-free almost anywhere if you restrict your horizons. In many/most parts of the country, living car-free means excluding 99% of the activities/destinations that are available to car-owners. Some people may find this an acceptable trade-off if the upside is lower COL, familiar environment, whatever. In NYC, you can probably do 90% of what car-owners can do, and in fact being car-less may allow you to do more things than car-owners since you will lack the burden of car ownership (purchase price, insurance, maintenance, gas, PARKING, taxes).
The second tier cities I mentioned previously (DC, Boston, Philly, Chicago, SF) probably fall somewhere in the 20-40% range. Yes, there will be things you can't do easily without a car, but you can easily live a full and fulfilling car-free life. Furthermore, there will be many others around you in these cities who are also car-free so you will be part of a large cohort.
In Chicago, the city I know best, going car-free means you can/should live in the densest/most gentrified part of the city where you have 24 hour access to all the retail/dining/bars that you could want, and will live among a huge cohort of similarly car-free individuals. You won't feel like a freak or leper, unlike someone living car-free in, say, Tulsa. Granted, you'll lose easy accessibility to some parts of the city, but the most desirable neighborhoods have transit access anyway. Suburban trips will be more difficult, although not impossible given the extensive commuter rail network. The extensive car-sharing network in Chicago also means you can easily rent a car by the hour if you need to haul that big screen tv from Best Buy.
The extensive car-sharing network in Chicago also means you can easily rent a car by the hour if you need to haul that big screen tv from Best Buy.
Thanks for the reminder, especially since I'm a Zipcar member
ZipCar is in a lot of cities beyond NYC, Chicago, Boston, DC and is active in the lower-tier transit cities we discussed such as Cleveland, Minneapolis and Pittsburgh. I utilized it while living in Philadelphia car-free to go for groceries as much of Philly's traditional supermarkets are gross so I would cross into NJ to go to Wegmans and buy wine/liquor at an independent store with lower prices than Pennsylvania's state-run stores.
Of course its possible to live car-free almost anywhere if you restrict your horizons. In many/most parts of the country, living car-free means excluding 99% of the activities/destinations that are available to car-owners. Some people may find this an acceptable trade-off if the upside is lower COL, familiar environment, whatever. In NYC, you can probably do 90% of what car-owners can do, and in fact being car-less may allow you to do more things than car-owners since you will lack the burden of car ownership (purchase price, insurance, maintenance, gas, PARKING, taxes).
The second tier cities I mentioned previously (DC, Boston, Philly, Chicago, SF) probably fall somewhere in the 20-40% range. Yes, there will be things you can't do easily without a car, but you can easily live a full and fulfilling car-free life. Furthermore, there will be many others around you in these cities who are also car-free so you will be part of a large cohort.
In Chicago, the city I know best, going car-free means you can/should live in the densest/most gentrified part of the city where you have 24 hour access to all the retail/dining/bars that you could want, and will live among a huge cohort of similarly car-free individuals. You won't feel like a freak or leper, unlike someone living car-free in, say, Tulsa. Granted, you'll lose easy accessibility to some parts of the city, but the most desirable neighborhoods have transit access anyway. Suburban trips will be more difficult, although not impossible given the extensive commuter rail network. The extensive car-sharing network in Chicago also means you can easily rent a car by the hour if you need to haul that big screen tv from Best Buy.
That's a pretty perfect description. I haven't been to the suburbs in years for shopping or anything, so I just kinda wrote that part of the "no car deal" off and didn't care.
People always say "well yeah, but you can't live in Beverly very easily or the southwest side without a car". True. I wouldn't. That swath of a million people from Bridgeport through the north end of the city along the lakefront though - you can quite easily do car-free there and never look back. I don't have a car, and I'd probably say 60% of my friends don't have cars either. Of my friends with cars, I probably ride in them maybe once a month. It's normally times where I'd just walk over to the store to buy vodka, but they want to drive because they are use to driving - so we just drive.
Probably only a few times a year that I ride along with them on what I call "adventures". Treks out of the city or way out to the northwest side. Been 8 years though and I've never had to actually ask anyone for a ride yet or borrow a car.
Amazon and Overstock have totally spoiled me the past two years!! Everything is so damn cheap, it's all free shipping and there's no sales tax. I'm like a kid in a candy store. Presents showing up on my doorstep three times a week!
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