Cities that are livable without a car (apartment, transfer to)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Atlanta does not have the built environment outside of the Downtown/Midtown corridor to be in a conversation about the most walkable cities. Most of the in-town neighborhoods of Atlanta, while nice, are more like streetcar suburbs of more densely built cities. Even some areas that are more built up are not all the pedestrian friendly and have wide, auto-centric streets that are uninviting. Buckhead is a perfect example of this.
Although, I will say that MARTA is a pretty good system that does not get enough credit.
Hmmm...I thought the thread topic was "Cities that are livable without a car", not "Most walkable cities"?
Most of Atlanta's in-town neighborhoods once WERE streetcar suburbs...Inman Park, Grant Park, Druid Hills, Ansley Park, etc. At one time Atlanta had a very extensive streetcar system connecting all of these neighborhoods with Downtown.
Hmmm...I thought the thread topic was "Cities that are livable without a car", not "Most walkable cities"?
Most of Atlanta's in-town neighborhoods once WERE streetcar suburbs...Inman Park, Grant Park, Druid Hills, Ansley Park, etc. At one time Atlanta had a very extensive streetcar system connecting all of these neighborhoods with Downtown.
LOL, ok a typed "walkable" instead of "most livable without a car." Pointing that out does not make Atlanta any easier to get around without a car though. I realize Atlanta's neighborhoods are annexed suburbs of the streetcar variety. That just goes along with the point I was trying to make. It does not have enough built density to be all that pedestrian friendly, which is a major part of living without a car. I'm not saying it's the worst place in the world in that regard, but it does not belong in a conversation about the best.
LOL, ok a typed "walkable" instead of "most livable without a car." Pointing that out does not make Atlanta any easier to get around without a car though. I realize Atlanta's neighborhoods are annexed suburbs of the streetcar variety. That just goes along with the point I was trying to make. It does not have enough built density to be all that pedestrian friendly, which is a major part of living without a car. I'm not saying it's the worst place in the world in that regard, but it does not belong in a conversation about the best.
The point was...Atlanta is easy to get around without a car in the more dense areas of Midtown/Downtown/Buckhead/Lindbergh/West End. Of course there are lots of areas that MARTA doesn't service and doesn't cover - the metro area is 8,000 square miles. But those areas that are built around transit stations are very easy to navigate using - transit, of course.
You can live without a car in New York City but it gets a little harder the further away from the city you are. We're looking into getting a car, yeah you could live without a car here but its not great, its hard to get around Long Island without a car as well and that's where we do most of our shopping because its so close (Southeast Queens lacks good stores as well).
Maybe if you live in Koreatown and never really feel the need to leave. But if you have friends in the South Bay, Hollywood, Westwood, downtown, the valley, etc. and want to go out to restaurants or clubs in different parts of town then you need a car. If someone told me the only way I could live in L.A. was if I had no car then I wouldn't even consider it for 2 seconds.
Whereas in New York you can get anywhere on the subway. Heck, even in Portland, all the happening places are either downtown, NW 23rd, Hawthorne or other parts of close-in southeast all of which are easily accessible by public transit.
If you lived in Koreatown it would be an easy and quick ride on the metro to get to Hollywood or downtown, and just a bus away from Westwood or parts of the Valley. LA has a subway, multiple light rail lines, and tons of buses.
Really, the same thing could be said of most cities. If your friends live all over the city (meaning beyond just Manhattan and the closer in parts of the other boroughs) it would also take you time, sometimes a really long time, to get to their place. If you have friends or work scattered across a really wide area then it can get complicated.
It all depends on your lifestyle.
Midtownatl, I wasn't singling you out with the LA question. It was more of a general "why do so many people always..." thing. I'm a little sensitive on the topic as LA is the city people love to hate. As a non-driving former LA resident, it gets old to be told so often on this board that "everyone" drives, or has to drive, in LA. It's certainly not in NYC's league, but it's worth considering for anyone who wants to live in a big city without a car, especially if one can't afford NYC's price tag.
You can live without a car in New York City but it gets a little harder the further away from the city you are. We're looking into getting a car, yeah you could live without a car here but its not great, its hard to get around Long Island without a car as well and that's where we do most of our shopping because its so close (Southeast Queens lacks good stores as well).
they seriously need to expand the subway service in queens.
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
8,485 posts, read 14,985,810 times
Reputation: 7323
Quote:
Originally Posted by eek
they seriously need to expand the subway service in queens.
From what I understand they can't. Something like the land not being suitable for subway tunnels, and building L's wouldn't be feasible due to how much Queens has built up over the years. Not to mention how many billions of dollars it would take to cover Northern queens. Light rail or street cars might work though.
they seriously need to expand the subway service in queens.
Quote:
Originally Posted by waronxmas
From what I understand they can't. Something like the land not being suitable for subway tunnels, and building L's wouldn't be feasible due to how much Queens has built up over the years. Not to mention how many billions of dollars it would take to cover Northern queens. Light rail or street cars might work though.
They can I believe, IIRC the Parsons & Archer (E, J, Z trains) station wasn't intended to be a terminal, I think the MTA ran out of money to continue it to wherever, I hope they don't build Els though, I hate the way they look, they need to put some SBS routes (BRT) though. I still prefer the Long Island Railroad though, it stops right down the street at Locust Manor station and its much faster than the subway lol.
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
8,485 posts, read 14,985,810 times
Reputation: 7323
Quote:
Originally Posted by Infamous92
They can I believe, IIRC the Parsons & Archer (E, J, Z trains) station wasn't intended to be a terminal, I think the MTA ran out of money to continue it to wherever, I hope they don't build Els though, I hate the way they look, they need to put some SBS routes (BRT) though. I still prefer the Long Island Railroad though, it stops right down the street at Locust Manor station and its much faster than the subway lol.
I've gotta call Dad about this since he was the source of that info, though he has been known to tell tall tales before
I've gotta call Dad about this since he was the source of that info, though he has been known to tell tall tales before
Lol, I don't know how true my post is though, I read it on some other website (I forgot what it was).
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
