Living In Miami Metro Area Without A Car?? (Orlando, Palm Beach: insurance, mover)

[flmover]

For all of you asking if it is possible to live in Miami Metro Area without a car... I think it is possible depending on your particular situation.

Before I moved to South Florida, I was living in Orlando Metro Area for three years, where public transit is more limited than in Miami Metro, and even so I finished my Master's Degree relying only on public transit.

Certainly I had to make some adjustments to my lifestyle... particularly the nightlife... but I always found some classmate to hang out with. I just remember how some people I dated judged me as lazy or low class just for not having a car and living in a cheap and not so good neigborhood. I didn't care what other people thought about me... my main goal in Orlando was to get my degree and I DID IT last May.

Now I moved to South Florida and still using public transit... both Broward and Miami-Dade. I am the most happy man in this World... there is a regional rail, public bus and metro rail available. WAS THERE SOMETHING SIMILAR IN ORLANDO??.... NOOOO!!!

For now, public transit satisfies my needs and even much better than before in Orlando. I will get a car eventually... it is necessary in South Florida but not essential... at least for me.

MY POINTS ARE:
1. There are many other transit systems worst than in South Florida.
2. If you are really motivated, you get what you want... it doesn't matter your limitations or how long it takes to get a car.
3. Get a car if you can afford it, when you can afford it because it is a real convenience in South Florida... but don't think it is impossible to live here without it.

[JohnLee1]

Originally Posted by flmover

For all of you asking if it is possible to live in Miami Metro Area without a car... I think it is possible depending on your particular situation.

Before I moved to South Florida, I was living in Orlando Metro Area for three years, where public transit is more limited than in Miami Metro, and even so I finished my Master's Degree relying only on public transit.

Certainly I had to make some adjustments to my lifestyle... particularly the nightlife... but I always found some classmate to hang out with. I just remember how some people I dated judged me as lazy or low class just for not having a car and living in a cheap and not so good neigborhood. I didn't care what other people thought about me... my main goal in Orlando was to get my degree and I DID IT last May.

Now I moved to South Florida and still using public transit... both Broward and Miami-Dade. I am the most happy man in this World... there is a regional rail, public bus and metro rail available. WAS THERE SOMETHING SIMILAR IN ORLANDO??.... NOOOO!!!

For now, public transit satisfies my needs and even much better than before in Orlando. I will get a car eventually... it is necessary in South Florida but not essential... at least for me.

MY POINTS ARE:
1. There are many other transit systems worst than in South Florida.
2. If you are really motivated, you get what you want... it doesn't matter your limitations or how long it takes to get a car.
3. Get a car if you can afford it, when you can afford it because it is a real convenience in South Florida... but don't think it is impossible to live here without it.

You have to remember that you can't mention South Florida as being all the same. For example, Broward and Palm Beach have ZERO mass transit. Yeah, they have the buses but I'm talking about real mass transit. And the buses they have, have got to be the worst I have ever rode. Worse from everything to everything. Metrorail, Metromover and all that is only found in Miami-Dade County. The only place people use mass transit in South Florida is Dade County. The only place it's possible to live without a car is Dade County. While Dade County has many suburban suburbs and they all have everything you want and love from suburbs, Dade County still has many urban areas and Dade County is still an urban area (not all of course, just some). Broward and Palm Beach are ALL suburban and suburbs and that's the way it always will be. I still don't like and don't see how some people here compared Broward to Miami-Dade. You can't do that, it can't be done. Like some people here say, it's like comparing apples to oranges, it doesn't go. And how some people expect Dade to be like Broward and Palm Beach because they are all in South Florida ??? Remember, Broward and Palm Beach are just suburbs. Also, to finish off, yes it's totally possible to live in DADE COUNTY without a car as I do and some people I know as well. But since it's current mass transit is not up to par with NYC's, you have to know how to do it.

[hurricaneMan1992]

Originally Posted by flmover

For now, public transit satisfies my needs and even much better than before in Orlando. I will get a car eventually... it is necessary in South Florida but not essential... at least for me.

MY POINTS ARE:
1. There are many other transit systems worst than in South Florida.
2. If you are really motivated, you get what you want... it doesn't matter your limitations or how long it takes to get a car.
3. Get a car if you can afford it, when you can afford it because it is a real convenience in South Florida... but don't think it is impossible to live here without it.

Congratuations on your degree! This is a great perspective from someone who's clearly going somewhere in life. More of us probably could benefit from considering a car to be a convenience not a necessity. How many people do you know that are constantly bogged down with car payments and repairs and have little or no savings? I can name a few (and at times I'm been among them too).

Unfortunately, when you find you need a car for just one aspect of life you have to pay for at least insurance and maintenance and probably loan/lease payment, so thinking in terms of economics, the marginal cost of driving for everything is not that much, even at $3/gallon, vs $4/round trip (or $100/month)+lost time on public transit. Enjoy while you can!