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Are there any places in the US that you can live without a car?
I'm looking for a small to mid-sized town, friendly neighborhood, or rural area, (basically a place that's not crowded or fast paced, where you can meet your neighbors.) I would like to give up my car, and rely solely on my bicycle (and bicycle trailer) to commute, grocery shop, etc..
Other than being safely bikeable, I would like it to be: relatively low crime, have clean air and water, have warm or mild winters (i.e. less than 2ft of snow per year and temps rarely dipping below 25F). I'd also like to be able to buy a ~2bd/1000sqft with at least a small yard for under $200K. A good amount of sun and low to moderate taxes would be nice as well.
Do you know of any places that fit all (or most) of these criteria?
Are there any places in the US that you can live without a car?
I'm looking for a small to mid-sized town, friendly neighborhood, or rural area, (basically a place that's not crowded or fast paced, where you can meet your neighbors.) I would like to give up my car, and rely solely on my bicycle (and bicycle trailer) to commute, grocery shop, etc..
Other than being safely bikeable, I would like it to be: relatively low crime, have clean air and water, have warm or mild winters (i.e. less than 2ft of snow per year and temps rarely dipping below 25F). I'd also like to be able to buy a ~2bd/1000sqft with at least a small yard for under $200K. A good amount of sun and low to moderate taxes would be nice as well.
Do you know of any places that fit all (or most) of these criteria?
Quote:
Originally Posted by madtrek81
Madison, WI
Someone didn't read the OP's criteria very carefully, otherwise Madison could not possibly be a serious recommendation. Madison averages 43 inches of snow per year, almost double the max specified by the OP.
When I lived in Gainesville, FL, I was pleasantly surprised to see how many bicyclists there were. The city is flat, the roads are wide, there are bike lanes and bike trails all over the city, and you can definitely find a house fitting your description for under $200k.
I would second Gainesville. It's a college town (U of Florida) and has a population of around 130K within a relatively compact footprint which makes getting around pretty easy. People in my opinion are friendlier in a college town too versus other places, where the in/out migration is much less and where it can tend cliquish.
Yeah definitely college towns in the South and West. Whenever people want walkable/urban/good public transit/good biking cities that are affordable and smaller, college town is always the way to go. After that, just comes down to weather and geographic preference usually...unless price is the issue because some like Santa Barbara and Boulder are very expensive.
I'm looking for a similar utopia. If it's out there I haven't been able to find it. This list may provide some ideas but I think the criteria plus the price point makes this a unicorn in the states. Good luck!
I'm looking for a similar utopia. If it's out there I haven't been able to find it. This list may provide some ideas but I think the criteria plus the price point makes this a unicorn in the states. Good luck!
It's limiting and a utopia if one has population size limitations. Otherwise, not so much...
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