Granny carts and delivery food: living carless in Chicago (Cicero: apartment, rental)

[Mister Mappy]

Originally Posted by tonythetuna

The way it is looking they probably are going to cut again. They waited until after the November elections to spring it out.

Where did you hear this? Didn't the CTA approve their 2011 budget last month with no service cuts?

[tonythetuna]

Originally Posted by Mister Mappy

Where did you hear this? Didn't the CTA approve their 2011 budget last month with no service cuts?

“We have approved this budget as a result of our confidence in the state following through on its financial obligations."Chicago Transit Board Chairman Terry Peterson


http://www.transitchicago.com/news/d...ArticleId=2726


The CTA may have confidence in the State of Illinois but a majority of people and businesses do not. Furthermore, if Quinn can't get the income tax increase passed, guess what will happen to the money the State promised the CTA?

[Mister Mappy]

Originally Posted by tonythetuna

“We have approved this budget as a result of our confidence in the state following through on its financial obligations."Chicago Transit Board Chairman Terry Peterson


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The CTA may have confidence in the State of Illinois but a majority of people and businesses do not. Furthermore, if Quinn can't get the income tax increase passed, guess what will happen to the money the State promised the CTA?

Ok, so you're just putting your own two cents in. That's what I thought.

[tonythetuna]

Originally Posted by Mister Mappy

Ok, so you're just putting your own two cents in. That's what I thought.

Yep and hopefully I am wrong. In this case though, the future of Illinois finances does not look good.

[ChicagoMammy]

Originally Posted by Chicago South Sider

I lived without a car for about a year and hated it. This is not New York. You need a car here.

Completely depends where you live. Lots of areas (especially on the Northside) are within walking distance of good public transport and grocery stores. No car necessary then. I didn't have one my first 2 years here.

[css9450]

Originally Posted by lakeclaremontpress

I've been carless in Chicago my whole life, and here's what I'd suggest:

--Move to a dense North Side or downtown neighborhood.

Perfect for those who actually want to live up there. For everyone else, not so much.

[paytonc]

I found this thread (from a local biking bulletin board) to be pretty useful:
People Who Do Not Own Cars - the chainlink

Someone also recently wrote a resource book and blog about living car-free:
Carless in Chicago

Note that it all depends on where you live your life -- it's much easier to avoid driving if you stay local. Going car-free not a choice for everyone, particularly if you have to go to destinations scattered around the region, but it does work for almost a third of Chicagoans.

[Chicago South Sider]

Originally Posted by ChicagoMammy

Completely depends where you live. Lots of areas (especially on the Northside) are within walking distance of good public transport and grocery stores. No car necessary then. I didn't have one my first 2 years here.

I'm pretty sure that I've seen more of Chicago than you have. So, I don't really need you to explain that to me.

[Chicago South Sider]

Originally Posted by css9450

Perfect for those who actually want to live up there. For everyone else, not so much.

Exactly. There are people who simply don't want to live on the north side.

[paytonc]

Originally Posted by Irishtom29

Owning a car doesn't keep me from walking or riding my bicycle. And my car allows me to enjoy the entire city.

Once you own a car, the marginal cost of every additional trip is quite low -- and so car owners tend to drive more than even people who have ready access to shared cars. People who switch from car owning to car sharing reduce their miles driven by up to half, simply because each trip costs more.

For those of us who don't have to go to 79th & Cicero or to Calumet Fisheries very often (and yes, I've been to both multiple times), owning a car might not be the best use of money, time, or space. I don't disagree that it might be for others, but for these lifestyle decisions: to each his own. I'd rather spend money on airplane tickets than car payments -- I would rather visit other cities than visit the suburbs of my own city. It's like with mobile phone plans: I need mobile internet, while others might want unlimited minutes, but I'm not going to unilaterally and pre-emptively declare that either is "right" for someone else without first attempting to understanding their situation.

(...particularly when a polluting choice like car ownership imposes severe costs on others -- a line of argument I won't pursue because it's rather academic.)

Originally Posted by Chicago South Sider

Exactly. There are people who simply don't want to live on the north side.

And the OP might or might not be one of them, but she certainly seems interested in living car-free regardless of anyone's declaration that it's just "not possible." I lived in Chicago for 13 years without even learning to drive, and I never once lived on the north side (east of the river). I never felt as if my life were diminished for it, either -- quite on the contrary, I would posit that my life has been quite rich in experiences -- so please don't insist otherwise.