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I noticed there's a lot of anti-car people on City Data. Not owning a car may be fine if you live in a big city with an excellent mass transit system like NY. But not having a car severely limits you. Not everyone lives in NY or SF or even Seattle. What if your job isn't on a bus line? What if you need to do something on the opposite side of town? Are you going to spend an hour or more on a bus to get there when you could take your car and get there in 10-15 minutes?
Also, do you want to stay in your own little corner of the world and never get out? City people need rural areas to escape to once in a while. It's impossible to get out and refresh yourself and take in some scenery without a car.
I can't imagine being without a vehicle of some sort. Of course, where I live we have no transit system other then 1 taxi in town.
But I'd recommend buying an old beater. Something cheap. All you have to carry is liability. $200-300 a year in insurance. But use public transportation as much as possible.
But like mentioned. Have you tried packing a picknic basket onto a bus and riding to a park in town to have a day of lounging around? Can you go fishing? Can you get to an area to go hiking?
I just think a person without a vehicle would limit themselves to being "stuck" in the city. I'm too much of a country boy. Gotta have my fishing and hiking out in the timber. Couldn't get there on city transportation.
I noticed there's a lot of anti-car people on City Data. Not owning a car may be fine if you live in a big city with an excellent mass transit system like NY. But not having a car severely limits you. Not everyone lives in NY or SF or even Seattle. What if your job isn't on a bus line? What if you need to do something on the opposite side of town? Are you going to spend an hour or more on a bus to get there when you could take your car and get there in 10-15 minutes?
Also, do you want to stay in your own little corner of the world and never get out? City people need rural areas to escape to once in a while. It's impossible to get out and refresh yourself and take in some scenery without a car.
Our move to Seattle was a conscious decision and public transit availibility was a vital part of that decision. We completely aced any place/city which we knew didn't have sufficient public transit to service daily needs. That included a whole lot of western and southern America.
Now that gas has gone up almost 50 cents a a gallon just since we've been here, I'm really happy not to be pumping ever more of our household budget into the gas tank. We just can't possibly afford the ever-rising price of owning and operating a car. I saw somewhere on the internet yesterday from AAA that the average cost of owning and operating a car in America is now more than $8,000 a year.
And in Seattle it's relatively easy to "get out of town" even without a car. There's a ferry dock not a mile from our apt. which goes to the Olympic penninsula. The Puget Sound beach is 1/2 block away.
Still it remains inconvenient to be in America without a car. Very trying.
Consider getting a scooter or perhaps a nice collapsable cart for transporting goods home.
The occasional cab is not a bad idea either.
I have a very fuel efficient Toyota Corolla since a car is mandatory given where I live....and if I ever need anything bigger I can rent for a couple days.
Still it remains inconvenient to be in America without a car. Very trying.
Depends. I lived in Atlanta for about 10 years without a car.
Of course, I had a bus and rail pass, and purposely rented an
apt. a block or so from grocery, restaurants, etc.
Rental cars and/or Amtrak did the job for vacation trips.
I'm sure there are a lot of cities with better public transportation
than Atlanta. So with a bit of planning, it can be done.
Living without a car isn't as hard as you might think, but as previous posters have said, your need for a car varies significantly based on where you live. If you are already established in a car-dependent area, it is tough to really change things without uprooting your family. But if you are young and mobile, now is the time to design a lifestyle that will be sustainable in the long-term and won't leave you panicked when gas prices rise.
If you are planning on moving to a new place, choose a city that does have great public transportation. Some cities are really making a difference in educating people about how this kind of lifestyle is possible, just like Arlington, VA (Arlington's Car-Free Diet). More cities that do things like this will attract more people of all ages willing to move in and live car-free.
You would be able to live very well without a car in Pittsburgh. We have an excellent public transportation system. All of the busses here can take you to shopping districts, malls, restaurants, the zoo, museums. Almost everything. I think I we are very spoiled here. Especially with the gas prices many beople take the bus just because its easier. I bet there are 1000's of people here without cars and they make it just fine.
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