how possible is to be carfree in minneapolis?

[Minnehahapolitan]

Its a perfectly good discussion, just start a new thread so this guy's question doesn't get lost in what would turn out to be a lengthy debate, thats all.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by K-Luv

1-Totally realistic. There is a huge bike culture in Minneapolis, but MPLS is not exactly bike friendly. Far too many car drivers will cut you you off and generally act like you are not even there.

Um... Compared to most large US cities, the Twin Cities metro (and Minneapolis in particular) is extremely bike-friendly. There are tons of dedicated bike trails all over the city, most main roads at least have paved shoulders, and a lot of the area is relatively level (a big plus in terms of visibility).

By contrast, roads in the my current metro area (Atlanta) rarely have shoulders or have grass shoulders, they are generally winding and hilly, and the drivers here are far less tolerant of bikes (I've found, anyway). Not only that, but alternative routes are almost nonexistent. Many places would be suicide for a bicyclist in this metro...

The bike riders up there should count their blessings...

[talktobrent]

I would say as far as communting to work and back goes, yes you can do that car free unless you work in the suburbs and don't live very close. I'm not a die hard biker, but I think people exagerate the ability to live car free in Minneapolis. Keep in mind the Twin Cities and midwest in general is still dominated by car culture. Most of all, your social life will suffer without a car. Most people will assume you have a car when they invite you out. If you're single and dating, this could be a negative. People don't stick around their neighborhoods. One day they might go drink in Uptown, the next it might be a bar in the burbs. It can be done, but unless you are pretty dedicated to not owning one, you will find that a car will open up your world here. To get a true variety of shopping, recreation, entertainment, etc. I would say it's almost necessary.