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BESIDES, New York City, New York or Chicago, Illinois or San Francisco, California. Someone's probably gonna say why are you excluding those, they're great cities. I am excluding them because of the high cost of living, and I already know you can live in them without ever needing to drive. Will I ever live in one of those cities? That's possible.
Besides excluding DC and Boston which are as easy or easier than the other cities mentioned to get around carless, you left off Philadelphia as well (which is a good bit less easy outside of the central core). If you live in the city versus the 'burbs places like Cleveland, St Louis and Salt Lake City all would allow for carless-living fairly easily.
It depends on other factors too. Would you be dependent on public transportation or would you ride a bike 12 months a year? Are you tolerant to the cold and snow? What do you define as "walking distance?"
I think, there are plenty of places where one could easily live without a car: any city in the northeast, Richmond, Louisville, Madison, Minneapolis, Miami, Seattle, Portland, but I'm a very active person.
There are varying degrees of "livability" without a car so it really depends on your circumstances and what limitations you can accept.
I think the majority of folks would find your three exclusions, plus DC, Boston and Philly, to be absolutely normal without a car. They all have plenty of cabs and excellent infrastructure for non-driving alternatives. (although cabs are much less important now that uber/lyft/etc are prevalent) Few people would argue that you NEED a car in any of these six, and zipcar more than adequately fills the gap in certain situations.
After that it gets less black and white. I believe I would manage just fine in Seattle, Portland, MSP, Denver and Pittsburgh, but I have a slightly higher tolerance for transit and can typically work from home. ATL, LA, Miami and Dallas would work just as well, but those are all HUGE metros with significant amenities, activities, and populations that would be inaccessible to me without a car. I'd be fine cause there's still enough to do without one, but I categorize them differently in my mind from the first grouping.
Some other places that are worth considering are St Louis, Cleveland, New Orleans, Charlotte, Salt Lake City, and San Diego. You can certainly survive without a car but there are sacrifices.
And of course we are only talking about big cities, living in their respective urban areas, and having a job close to where you live.
It depends on other factors too. Would you be dependent on public transportation or would you ride a bike 12 months a year? Are you tolerant to the cold and snow? What do you define as "walking distance?"
I think, there are plenty of places where one could easily live without a car: any city in the northeast, Richmond, Louisville, Madison, Minneapolis, Miami, Seattle, Portland, but I'm a very active person.
Richmond and Louisville are in the Northeast? When did that happen?
Others have mentioned the glaring omissions of Boston, DC, and Philadelphia. In each of those cities it's easy to live without a car.
I'd also add Providence. It's compact and very walkable. RIPTA is an excellent transit agency with bus routes covering all of the city and suburbs and much of the whole state. Providence will also most likely be getting Light Rail in the next few years. PVD has Commuter Rail service to Boston as well as TF Green Airport. It's on Amtrak's Northeast Regional line as well as the Acela Express line. Finally, there's excellent bus service to New York, Boston and many other destinations. It's a great place to live without a vehicle.
I think, there are plenty of places where one could easily live without a car: any city in the northeast, Richmond, Louisville, Madison, Minneapolis, Miami, Seattle, Portland, but I'm a very active person.
In Miami it will depend on where you pick to live. If you live in Little Havana/Brickell you can live without a car just fine. Likewise here in South Beach (Miami Beach).
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There are lots of cities that have smaller rail transit lines and bus networks where someone could live without a car, but it wouldn't be convenient.
