How do you possibly survive in Chi without a car? (Chicago: low income, real estate)

[uptown_urbanist]

This is a general comment, as I haven't yet lived in Chicago without a car (but have lived in many other places, including some with far inferior public transportation than in Chicago) and we're not planning on buying one after our relocation. I agree wtih hank0604 that going somewhere on foot or by public transportation brings with it its own sense of freedom. You can hop on and off buses or trains and go wherever you want, for one thing, and don't have to deal with driving somewhere and finding parking. I also like the feeling of being connected to other people, and in every place we've lived I've felt that taking public transportation, or just getting out and walking, was the best way to do that. We've rented cars when needed, or take a cab. You give up some things, but gain others. And now with car-sharing so wide-spread it makes it even easier to get by without a car.

For those of you who use or have used ZipCar and iGo, do you prefer one better than the other? I haven't done too much research into the Chicago car-share options yet, but we'll probably be living in Lincoln Park near DePaul. We anticipate using it a couple of times a month, max, local trips only.

[Attrill]

The topic of this post is kind of BS.

"How do you possibly survive in Chi without a car?"

Ummm.....You "survive" very well. If you feel the need to go to some suburban old school fast food places then that need will be unfulfilled, but trust me. You'll survive. And here's a newsflash, you can get hot dogs and Italian Beef within the city limits! OMG!

There are at least 10 restaurants within a 10 minute walk of my house that I want to check out, but I haven't had a chance. I eat out about 75-100 times a year, and I NEVER drive to any place. Some of these places are among the best in the world. I have yet to see any post that talks about a real NEED that you can't get without a car.

[chicagojlo]

Wow when we lived downtown and didn't need a car I felt much freer than I do now living in the suburbs and needing to go get in my car just to pick up milk. We had only one child at the time but we managed groceries and doctors visits and all the rest of it just fine.

[Irishtom29]

Originally Posted by Attrill

I have yet to see any post that talks about a real NEED that you can't get without a car.

Not true; I wrote about the need of people in certain lines of work to have a car.

[williepotatoes]

Originally Posted by Attrill

There are at least 10 restaurants within a 10 minute walk of my house

Yeah but I don't want to be limited to things that are "10 minutes from my house". Being carless would only inhibit my ability to roam thru all the outllying neighborhoods and bordering suburbs. Chicago is a lot more than just the candyazz neighborhoods that line the lakefront and north side.

It all boils down to personal preference. Mine being that I want to frequently and regularly experience not just the central and trendy areas, but also much of the greater mass of Chicago. A car provides me the easiest opportunity to do this pretty much at will.

[tomcho]

Originally Posted by hank0604

In fact, there is only one thing I miss about driving to work: no AM radio on my iPhone, so I can't listen to Mike and Mike in the Morning.

Off topic but download this app, pretty much every radio station you can imagine.

Livio Radio

[Alacran]

Originally Posted by bozotclown

One can get away without a car in just about every area of the city. Some areas it is very very difficult to though.

Right. "Difficult"

And there are areas where this difficulty becomes inconvinient.

[SonySegaTendo617]

I've survived fine my entire life without owning one, though I'll drive my parent's car when I need to. Thankful I got a license years ago, so I can fall back on using one, in those rare instances when I need one. 98%-99% of the time, I get by fine in Chicago(or in a good number of the nearby suburbs) fine without a car. And at least if the place I'm going to is along a Pace bus route(remember to ALWAYS, ALWAYS check the schedule before going to where you need to go, so you don't get stranded in case that bus stops running early) and/or Metra station(s), that's more than good enough for me.

There definitely are some suburban areas where you really do need a car, but I rarely ever venture to those areas, so it isn't an issue for me. One definitely can live in the Chicago area without a car, but there's no doubt that this is a much easier task to pull off if you live in either the city or a closer-in suburb. (and not even necessarily one just outside of the city limits, some burbs not bordering the city are still served fine by Pace buses, including La Grange and Des Plaines).

[allen2323]

Not having a car just means that you have less flexibility when traveling. Folks with cars can choose to drive or take public transport if it is more convenient. Most people I know like previous girlfriends who didn't have cars got around ok. People without cars tend to be more social people and can usually bum alot of rides from friends anyway. For the most part I think they get used to it and don't even realize what they are missing out on by not having a car. For one, eventually they will be missing out on financial opportunities if they stay carless. Owning a car in the city is a total advantage that I never lived without when I lived in the city. Being mobile whenever to go wherever is an undeniable advantage. To handle business, late night girlfriend pickups, bouncing to and from clubs or bars, grabbing a late night bite to eat, and being able to travel safely late at night through ruffer areas. Most of the city is not yuppieville.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

...
For those of you who use or have used ZipCar and iGo, do you prefer one better than the other? I haven't done too much research into the Chicago car-share options yet, but we'll probably be living in Lincoln Park near DePaul. We anticipate using it a couple of times a month, max, local trips only.

iGo usually works out to be somewhat cheaper than ZipCar, although having ZipCar in the marketplace definitely has helped iGo improve themselves and become a better value.

Before ZipCar came into the picture, customer service with iGo was so horrible I'd actually stopped using them. I re-signed up with them when the CTA had a trial card that was a combination Chicago Card Plus and iGo card. iGo seems more responsive, and their pricing is more aggressive than it was before ZipCar entered the market, too, although ZipCar is still better to deal with in general (although they've gotten less good over the past 2-3 years).

I do use ZipCar far more often than iGo, though. Why? Because I like ZipCar's selection of vehicles better. I can rent a Prius or a Civic with ZipCar (last I regularly used iGo, those were the primary vehicles there), but with ZipCar I can also rent Volvos and Scions and Mazdas and even BMWs. There's just more diversity, and let's face it - it can be fun to be promiscuous with cars.

I think people think about ZipCar as replacing a lightly-used owned car most often. But in areas where it's convenient to walk to, ZipCar can actually replace taxis for some trips, too. For example, I can now pick a friend up at the airport and even if he were to insist on paying the ZipCar fee (I almost never accept - I figure if I owned a car, no one would pay me to pick them up at the airport, so why should my lifestyle choice cost them money?) Anyway, even if they were to insist, paying the ZipCar fee would nearly always be less expensive than taking a taxi from the airport. For middle-of-the-night runs, I can pick someone up for about 1/3 of a taxi fare. Normally It costs about 1/2 what a taxi would. At rush hour, it might peak at about 2/3 of what a taxi would cost.