Most Difficult Cities for Car Ownership (state, place, expensive, NYC)

[DynamoLA]

1. New York
2. New York
3. New York
4. San Francisco (where parking is generally a nightmare and/or expensive as hell)

[LOOK MA NO HANDS]

New York: obviously
Boston: most of my friends who live here don't own cars.
Chicago:you don't really need a car if you live in the central area or in the many adjacent neighborhoods.
Philly: visited many times without a car
Dc : lived here for years without a car. You could own one if you want but the public transit is really good( top three in u.s.).
San Francisco:most of my relatives here own cars and use transit. However, it is possible to live here without a car if you stay near the central area like I did for 6 months.

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by LOOK MA NO HANDS

New York: obviously
Boston: most of my friends who live here don't own cars.
Chicago:you don't really need a car if you live in the central area or in the many adjacent neighborhoods.
Philly: visited many times without a car
Dc : lived here for years without a car. You could own one if you want but the public transit is really good( top three in u.s.).
San Francisco:most of my relatives here own cars and use transit. However, it is possible to live here without a car if you stay near the central area like I did for 6 months.

One of my friends from Boston had a car while he lived in Beacon Hill. I think for the most part he never used it, mostly because he never wanted to lose his prime parking spot (probably still a half mile from the apartment ). I lived without one in Boston, and am glad because it would have been crazy expensive to own one.

[JulianH]

Of all the cities I've been to, San Francisco and New York City are the only two that I would classify as most difficult. In SF, if one doesnt know the layout it can be easy finding yourself going well out of your way to get to your destination, and then there's the issue of finding parking! When I lived in the Bay Area, I only knew one person that lived in SF that owned a car and she eventually sold it because it was such a hassle. Everyone else I knew that owned cars lived in the east and south bays, and most of those in the east bay took the BART into SF.
As for NYC, I've never actually driven in the city, but just from an observational standpoint, it appeared to be pretty much the same. It seemed like half the traffic was cabs and emergency vehicles. It also seemed that NYC drivers drive with one hand on the wheel and one on the horn
Fortunately, both cities have excellent public transit systems and are fairly walkable

[Chicagoist123]

I would put it as this:

1. NYC
2. DC
3. Boston

then these next cities are more of a mixed bag:

4. SF
5. Chicago
6. Philly

SF and Chicago you can easily have a car with a few an exception to a few areas. That's what I like about SF and Chicago it's not a hassle having a car but it's not an inconvenience if you don't have one either.

[BigCityDreamer]

I'll put it this way: For anyone who visits the tourist spots in DC, I would recommend NOT having a car. It's a headache trying to find parking spots in the city and impossible during peak times (Cherry Blossoms, 4th of July, presidential inaugurations, etc.). Therefore, Metro all the way.

As for NYC, it's borderline DANGEROUS to drive in parts of the city and nearby areas in NJ. Drivers there are ruthless. Not for the faint of heart if you're not used to it.

[JulianH]

Originally Posted by BigCityDreamer

As for NYC, it's borderline DANGEROUS to drive in parts of the city and nearby areas in NJ. Drivers there are ruthless. Not for the faint of heart if you're not used to it.

Hell yeah they are, that's exactly the word i was looking for, haha!

[kidphilly]

Originally Posted by BigCityDreamer

I'll put it this way: For anyone who visits the tourist spots in DC, I would recommend NOT having a car. It's a headache trying to find parking spots in the city and impossible during peak times (Cherry Blossoms, 4th of July, presidential inaugurations, etc.). Therefore, Metro all the way.

As for NYC, it's borderline DANGEROUS to drive in parts of the city and nearby areas in NJ. Not for the faint of heart if you're not used to it. Drivers there are ruthless.

Honestly I generally find parking pretty easy in the Mall area of DC; know major events are always more challenging. Also I do ocasionaly drive into Manhtattan (prefer not to, mostly due to cost and tunnel backups as opposed to difficulty, driving in NYC is tame compared to Naples Italy for example.

That said I find it pretty easy to live with a car in any of these places if you are willing to shell out decent coin for parking.

Not sure what makes one harder, to me NYC is the most challenging, Boston next due to the street configuration then probably SF and Philly. Chicago to me always seemed easy to drive into (easier than the the others mentioned) if one is fine with paying to park. This is from an outside observation but to me NYC is the only one that really has challenge so to speak. Now I will say once in the cores of any of these I would not use a car (well DC to me is the easiest from this perspective of the bunch, maybe Chicago next)

[scrantiX]

NYC, Boston, and San Francisco

[LeftyTrav]

SF is pretty tough to deal with. Parking is difficult...and expensive. The place is ALWAYS jammed with people. The pedestrians/bicycles think nothing of crossing on red lights right in front of you. The terrain is hard on brakes, the pot holes hard on suspensions. Insurance is almost doubled within the city limit.

I really can't think of a positive.

The good thing is a single person - which I am not - can get by without a vehicle. If need be, Zip Cars are available throughout SF.