In Core of Downtown Atlanta, $110K Goes Surprisingly Far (Boston: condo, buy)

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by atltechdude

Give me a break. You cannot do 99% of the things in Atlanta with no car.

You can do 100% of things in Atlanta without owning a car. Just the economics become more apparent.

People that own cars drop $25k on a vehicle then won't go shopping in the city because they don't want to pay $5 to park and instead will drive 10 miles to a strip mall in suburbia (where they still spend a few dollars in gas and wear to get to).

People that don't own a car will instead shop at the small local store on their walk from the transit station instead of spending $5 on Uber to get to a strip mall.

The car-free lifestyle is less expensive on the whole. And you can still go everywhere you can by owning a car by using ZipCar or Uber. But the economics change and you realize how expensive getting around in the sprawl really is and how paying $100 extra in rent in the city is worth it to avoid all those expensive car trips.

[onemanarmy]

Originally Posted by atltechdude

Give me a break. You cannot do 99% of the things in Atlanta with no car.

Originally Posted by cqholt

Uber, ZipCar, MARTA, bike, etc.
If fact you can do a lot of things in the City of Atlanta without a car.

Yep, it will be two years in April for me without a car. I don't recall missing out on anything due to not having a vehicle. I live downtown as well. It took about 6 months to break old habits of car dependency. You learn the true cost of transportation. I also use Zipcar and Uber, but it's funny because now I try to avoid paying for those options if I can.

[jeoff]

It all depends on the HOA fees. At $300 it would make sense for someone that works downtown. In the comments section they debate about what the fees are. They said the listing says $580, which is kind of crazy. Parking is not necessary, but the HOA fees should reflect that there is no parking to maintain.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by jsvh

You can do 100% of things in Atlanta without owning a car. Just the economics become more apparent.

People that own cars drop $25k on a vehicle then won't go shopping in the city because they don't want to pay $5 to park and instead will drive 10 miles to a strip mall in suburbia (where they still spend a few dollars in gas and wear to get to).

People that don't own a car will instead shop at the small local store on their walk from the transit station instead of spending $5 on Uber to get to a strip mall.

The car-free lifestyle is less expensive on the whole. And you can still go everywhere you can by owning a car by using ZipCar or Uber. But the economics change and you realize how expensive getting around in the sprawl really is and how paying $100 extra in rent in the city is worth it to avoid all those expensive car trips.

How do car-free folks manage with children? I can almost see it for a single person who doesn't travel out of the urban core, but cannot imagine it with children, a job that requires travel, etc.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

How do car-free folks manage with children? I can almost see it for a single person who doesn't travel out of the urban core, but cannot imagine it with children, a job that requires travel, etc.

Use transit, walk, etc. It is not that hard, billions of people do it.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Use transit, walk, etc. It is not that hard, billions of people do it.

I recall back in my professional days, I spent a lot of times driving around to meetings, to client offices, lunches/ dinners, etc. There just isn't a way that I could have possibly done all of that without a car.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Use transit, walk, etc. It is not that hard, billions of people do it.

In places where it is feasible to do so. Try commuting from suburban Gwinnett County to Decatur via transit in less than two hours.

[onemanarmy]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

In places where it is feasible to do so. Try commuting from suburban Gwinnett County to Decatur via transit in less than two hours.

Yes, but you are moving the goalpost. This conversation is related to a 110k downtown condo, not Gwinnett. If you were on topic, the argument would be rather silly. Of course you can get to Decatur from Downtown in less than 20 minutes. No one is suggesting that you don't need a car in certain parts of METRO ATLANTA, but you certainly don't NEED one in downtown Atlanta. Take it from me, I'm living proof.

[pollen]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

I recall back in my professional days, I spent a lot of times driving around to meetings, to client offices, lunches/ dinners, etc. There just isn't a way that I could have possibly done all of that without a car.

For you it wouldn't have worked. It's pretty simple really - if you have kids and a job that requires you to visit places all around town, you probably wouldn't buy a place like this. If you don't have clients or kids, you could save a lot of money by living at a place like this and not having to pay a car payment, insurance, gas, etc

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

I recall back in my professional days, I spent a lot of times driving around to meetings, to client offices, lunches/ dinners, etc. There just isn't a way that I could have possibly done all of that without a car.

Uber? I mean if your job requires you to drive as part of the duties, then I can understand that, but there are options.