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I live in Philly and have lived in DC without any need for a car. The walkability and transit of both cities are all you need in both areas, not to mention busses and bike sharing.
NYC may be worth the premium to you for other reasons (such as living in a premier, global city), but if your main objective is living somewhere you can be happy without a car - NYC is NOT worth the premium over Chicago or Philly.
Between Chicago and Philly - my brother lived in Chicago and I live in Philly, I'd choose the latter due to its compactness and density.
I think the time horizon matters. You can easily live in parts of Chicago or Philly without a car. But after a while, seeing the same few areas over and over will get old. Whereas NYC has so many vibrant areas that are connected with transit it's a lot easier. Plus it has a great commuter rail system and a whole network of weekend bus companies that cater to the carless for when you want to get out of town.
Exactly
To really get the most out of being car free, I think Manhattan/Brooklyn is where it's at. Everywhere else will get old real quick without a car, even Chicago and Boston.
Conversely the nice part of cities like Chicago is you can own a car and live car-free. There are times when having a car is just nice and gives you a sense of freedom (driving out to the woods, parks, beaches). My favorite cities are those where I can choose to either take my car or take the bus/subway. That flexibility is really what adds to your quality of life.
I think the time horizon matters. You can easily live in parts of Chicago or Philly without a car. But after a while, seeing the same few areas over and over will get old. Whereas NYC has so many vibrant areas that are connected with transit it's a lot easier. Plus it has a great commuter rail system and a whole network of weekend bus companies that cater to the carless for when you want to get out of town.
THIS^ 100%.
I live here in NYC, car-free, and let me tell you, there is constantly something brand new to explore--always. There are so many vibrant, dense, bustling and nice neighborhoods with great diversity in restaurants, bars, cultural attractions, entertainment, live music, festivals, shopping, etc., that it is absolutely overwhelming at times.
The scale and vast population of New York City just crushes any other city in the US--they cannot compare in terms of size and number of exciting, vibrant and growing areas.
Chicago, San Fran, Philly, Seattle, etc offer some amazing areas of walkability and vibrancy, for sure. But there are only neighborhood handfuls of these good, vibrant and safe areas in these cities, and there aren't a ton of them to explore, when compared to New York.
Last edited by jjbradleynyc; 07-06-2022 at 02:22 PM..
I think the cost disparity is also going to have a lot to do with what your line of work is in and how much you're making and how much you intend to make.
I also don't know if there are all that many people who say NYC is the *only* place (in the US, right?) where a car-free life is possible. I think it's probably the place that offers the most in many respects though. If you are making the same amount of money / doing as well in your industry no matter which one you choose though, you do get more bang for your buck with Chicago and Philadelphia which are quite nice. Also consider things like cabs/rideshares and trips away might be more manageable and affordable if on net you're saving a lot more money in terms of housing prices. That being said, there are cheaper and very urban parts of the Tri-State Area. I think a large chunk of Hudson County with a bit of Bergen County and Essex County are a lot cheaper than most of NYC proper and quite easy to live car-free. Same, though generally pricier or grittier, with several outer borough neighborhoods.
NYC is all encompassing for a car free life. You could do anything and everything you want to do here without one for the most part. Every other city in this country not to the same degree.
Then it becomes a discussion of what's most important to you in an urban experience.
Maybe this is a Queens thing, but for me in NYC Ubers are not quick to arrive and they literally cost an arm and a leg right now.
Everybody is generally saying the same thing so summarizing -- NYC is an outlier in the U.S. and really the only large city that one can realistically be car- (but not care) free for broad swaths of the city. NYC, being NYC, is simply a different beast. In Europe, many large and mid-sized cities are actually designed as car-free, but in the U.S., there's NYC.
Speaking from experience, you *can* be car-free in Chicago, but you need to be in a denser area (proximity to amenities, etc.) and near a transport node (preferably near more than just one el line, or at least near well-serviced bus lines). You can (and probably better off) being car free in Old Town, River North, Fulton Market, Gold Coast) and realistically Wicker Park, Lincoln Park, Lakeview (and surroundings), Bridgeport, China Town, etc. I know I am leaving areas out -- and of course this is situational, i.e., is your job or school downtown or near transit -- but you can realistically live in Chicago without a car, but it's just not dense enough and there are not the same plethora of train options that make it feasible for large parts of the populace.
I have lived in both Philly and (now) Chicago. Had a car in Philly, but didn’t use it much. Got rid of my car within 6 months of living in Chicago because I never used it.
This is not one of them. You can live in a central neighborhood in Chicago, with immediate access to the L, buses, and more than enough walkability for daily function.... Gym, grocery stores, bars, coffee shops, etc.
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