Big house/yard and not needing a car: Contradiction?

[glamatomic]

There are old mansions in the CWE and Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhoods in St. Louis among others that probably meet those requirements. But of course, they're urban city living (in better areas of St. Louis), and a fully renovated home of that size is bound to be expensive. Otherwise you'll end up with a 100+ year old fixer-upper!

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by projectmaximus

I think the problem here is that people have different ideas of what "not needing a car" is. Being able to survive without a car is one thing, being comfortable, stimulated and engaged in your community without a car is another. I too have the sense that there are MANY small towns across the country that offer a big house/yard in a walkable area. I'd imagine most medium-sized cities (all the way up to approx 2 million) have streetcar suburbs adjacent to downtown that offer larger historic homes close to commercial amenities. All of this for a reasonable cost.

The thing is, in every instance I would personally feel very trapped without a vehicle. I'd love that I don't need my car for everything, but no way could I live in a small town and have the same small set of amenities within walking distance...same for a larger city. I'd want to be able to easily access everything that the area has to offer, which wouldn't be possible without a car.

Just my $.02

Couldn't you say this for just about any area though? I guess it would depnd on what kind of things that you are looking for.

[creeksitter]

PM, it seems to me that you are trapped by this attitude:

I'd want to be able to easily access everything that the area has to offer

There are very few cities where everything is easily acessible. so that traps you. Although if you have found that in Jacksonville, that is great because it is inexpensive. It pains me to see people complain they are trapped in high cost cities because they only want to live where everyone shares their ideology. They won't consider places where a few taxi rides or low cost weekend car rentals could make for a pleasant, inexpensive car-free lifestyle.

Never mind that just being a middle class person using a bike or public transit might inspire others to get out of the car occasionally.