Denver without a car (Mead: rentals, home, living)

[jaydavis]

Hi I was just wondering about something. Im thinking of moving to Denver. Im curious about how efficient is the mass transit system. Can a person live without a car if they live in the downtown area.

[mrscandismarie]

From what I'm reading, the transit system is amazing, much better than the one in my home town. I will be in the same boat when I move, no car initially. I'm actually looking forward to riding the bus and the light rail to get around.

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by jaydavis

Hi I was just wondering about something. Im thinking of moving to Denver. Im curious about how efficient is the mass transit system. Can a person live without a car if they live in the downtown area.

Depends on your lifestyle, and where Downtown you are living. At very least it would mean a lot of walking. Example: you might have to walk miles, carrying your groceries from the nearest supermarket. It might even require a bus ride for that.

As for how efficient Denver's transit system is. There is only one 24 hour a day route in the entire city, and even that route doesn't run as often as major routes do in other cities. RTD I believe has no plans to change that. As a matter of fact, they keep cutting bus service.

[MissTerri]

If I was going to live car free in Denver I would be sure to live within walking distance of a grocery store and walking distance to both a bus stop and light rail stop. I'd also be sure that my workplace was within walking distance or on a bus or light rail line. There isn't a grocery store in downtown Denver at this point in time so downtown specifically does not seem like the best choice for being car free.

[Snikt]

One of the main reasons people live in Denver is the mountains, outdoor recreation and things surrounding that. You'd pretty much be removing all of that, as mass transit doesn't really go to the mountains or many areas outside of metro Denver.

Might also take forever to get places if having to rely on buses. Now that Google Maps does bus routes I see times pop up when I route for directions sometimes. For example last night I drove to Park Meadows Mall for some specialty shops (many of which don't exist in downtown Denver). Google Maps said it was 15 minutes by car or 2 hours by bus from my location (pretty near a bus route).

[mic111]

Our mass transit system is actually really pathetic. Improving but still pathetic. It is best used for targeted things like daily commute where you can check out ahead of time point A to point B transit and then pick your housing based on where you work. To go carless you will likely need the car2go service https://www.car2go.com/en/denver/ , a good bicycle that you love to ride, and great stamina for walking. You will also want to find housing right next to your favorite grocery store. It will help tremendously if you are a homebody who doesn't want to go anywhere or do anything.

[robertgoodman]

Originally Posted by MissTerri

If I was going to live car free in Denver I would be sure to live within walking distance of a grocery store and walking distance to both a bus stop and light rail stop. I'd also be sure that my workplace was within walking distance or on a bus or light rail line. There isn't a grocery store in downtown Denver at this point in time so downtown specifically does not seem like the best choice for being car free.

You can easily live downtown without a car. The grocery store complaint is very overblown. A grocery store is just one part of the equation and your average person does not go there often enough for it to be prioritized over other things you use on a daily basis within walking distance. Work is important and where you live is important, as well as a variety of stores/restaurants/cafes/etc (not just grocery stores). Downtown has more in most of those categories of stores, better access to bus routes, cycling routes, and light rail (as well as jobs).

[robertgoodman]

Originally Posted by jaydavis

Hi I was just wondering about something. Im thinking of moving to Denver. Im curious about how efficient is the mass transit system. Can a person live without a car if they live in the downtown area.

The biggest issue to overcome is access to the mountains and moving things, I live downtown and those are the only thing I really use my car for. You can use rentals or car shares to fill that void for the most part and it should be more economical -unless you go there a ton-.

Of course job location is important as well, not every business in the metro is easily accessible from a bus/lrt route. But assuming you have that figured out it should be pretty easy in downtown Denver.

[davebarnes]

Don't think "no car".
Think RTD + Car2Go + Hertz/Enterprise

[denverian]

Originally Posted by robertgoodman

You can easily live downtown without a car. The grocery store complaint is very overblown. A grocery store is just one part of the equation and your average person does not go there often enough for it to be prioritized over other things you use on a daily basis within walking distance. Work is important and where you live is important, as well as a variety of stores/restaurants/cafes/etc (not just grocery stores). Downtown has more in most of those categories of stores, better access to bus routes, cycling routes, and light rail (as well as jobs).

I'm pretty sure I read that King Soopers is putting in a store somewhere around Union Station. Maybe a Whole Foods too.