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Old 10-01-2009, 07:59 AM
 
Location: St Simons Island, GA
23,310 posts, read 43,763,348 times
Reputation: 16423

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Quote:
Originally Posted by grapico View Post
atl is not easily livable with a car, at least if you want to access the city... liveable? sure...in certain areas... you can't say chicago nyc sf then throw atlanta in to that "easy" grouping...they are on a MUCH different level. While you could *manage* without one, it would still behoove you to have one. Where as in Chicago or NYC it can be a downright ANNOYANCE to own a car... major difference.
I certainly could not honestly recommend atlanta to a person on city data asking where it would be easy to live without a car.
Although I wouldn't put Atlanta high on a list of cities in which to live without a car, I do have friends that are doing it. They are either living in Midtown or Decatur, except for one. He lives in the Cheshire Bridge Rd. area, which does indeed have everything you need within walking distance, great access to MARTA and a good measure of pedestrians. However, all of these people have to resort to a cab from time to time.
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Old 10-01-2009, 08:52 AM
 
116 posts, read 244,378 times
Reputation: 118
Quote:
Originally Posted by grapico View Post
atl is not easily livable with a car, at least if you want to access the city... liveable? sure...in certain areas... you can't say chicago nyc sf then throw atlanta in to that "easy" grouping...they are on a MUCH different level. While you could *manage* without one, it would still behoove you to have one. Where as in Chicago or NYC it can be a downright ANNOYANCE to own a car... major difference.
I certainly could not honestly recommend atlanta to a person on city data asking where it would be easy to live without a car.
This guy thinks Atlanta is just like New York and Chicago though. I've seen him post in other threads. Atlanta is "just as urban" in his book. LOL. And if you disagree you are 1) misinformed, and 2) are just hating on the Atl. It's all about definitions with him so don't bother. Atlanta is "livable without a car" because he knows some people who are indeed "living without a car." Doesn't matter that they can't access 80% of their own city and 97% of their own metro area!
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Old 10-01-2009, 08:55 AM
 
Location: St Simons Island, GA
23,310 posts, read 43,763,348 times
Reputation: 16423
Quote:
Originally Posted by yoyobubba View Post
This guy thinks Atlanta is just like New York and Chicago though. I've seen him post in other threads. Atlanta is "just as urban" in his book. LOL. And if you disagree you are 1) misinformed, and 2) are just hating on the Atl. It's all about definitions with him so don't bother. Atlanta is "livable without a car" because he knows some people who are indeed "living without a car." Doesn't matter that they can't access 80% of their own city and 97% of their own metro area!
Who, grapico? I read his posts all the time, and his assessments of Atlanta always seem pretty fair (and informed) to me...including the one that you reference.
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Old 10-01-2009, 08:59 AM
 
72,797 posts, read 62,106,836 times
Reputation: 21758
I say cities that are livable without a car are better cities. I don't have a car, therefore, those cities are better for me. Cities in which you must have a car are hard places to live, not to mention stressful.
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Old 10-01-2009, 09:05 AM
 
72,797 posts, read 62,106,836 times
Reputation: 21758
Quote:
Originally Posted by PDX_LAX View Post
Especially since Portland has direct light rail service to the airport from downtown. If I ever moved back to Portland I probably would have a car only because I have family living in different parts of the city, but I wouldn't need one. Seattle, too, I believe either already has light rail service to SEA-TAC airport or at least plans to in the near future. And if you think about it, if you can get into and out of the city (airport) without needing a car, then pretty much all bases are covered.
Link Light Rail - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sounder commuter rail - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sound Transit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I am not thrilled about the commuter rail only being during peak hours. If the link expansions are being approved, that is more than I can say for some cities.
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Old 10-01-2009, 10:30 AM
 
Location: SF and Atlanta
173 posts, read 469,392 times
Reputation: 114
Because I have no experience with Seattle, Portland, or Baltimore (among others), I won't hazard a guess on them. But in my opinion based on my experience:

Tier 1
NYC and Chicago
Both have lines that run 24 hours (in NYC, all of them do). And both do a great job of extending to virtually every corner of the city and the suburbs.

Tier 2
Washington, D.C., Boston and Philadelphia
Public transit in these cities covers the lay of the land (both within city limits and beyond) effectively. But they stop running much earlier than NYC and Chicago. This means if you’re out late, you have to resort to cabs, which are obviously more expensive than trains and busses.

Tier 3
SF
Within the city, the bus system rocks. And the city is compact enough that walking is easy (albeit, with the steep hills, sometimes exhausting) That said the San Francisco Bay Area is massive and there are significant stretches throughout the Bay where public transportation (especially rail) is more limited or a hassle. Caltrain runs about once per hour for example.

Tier 4
Atlanta
Public transportation covers most major places in the city and conveniently has a station located in the airport. The subway has twice as many stations (38) and covers twice as many miles as the next closest rail system. ATL is less compact than SF, D.C. or Boston, though, so while it covers a lot of ground, there are many desirable places it doesn’t go. (The Zoo, Ponce and South Buckhead). More importantly, it doesn’t go many places in the suburbs, including two counties in which the populations will probably well exceed 1 million people by the end of the next decade (Cobb and Gwinnett.)
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Old 10-01-2009, 11:48 AM
 
6,615 posts, read 16,492,621 times
Reputation: 4777
Quote:
Originally Posted by PDX_LAX View Post
Well any city is doable without a car, it just depends on how much convenience you are willing to sacrifice.

On the west coast, San Francisco is probably your best bet for a car-less lifestyle - not having a car there would barely affect your quality of life. Portland would be the west's 2nd bet but neither San Fran nor Portland have it as easy as the older northeast cities.
I would argue that not having a car in SF would IMPROVE your quality of life. The cost of owning, insuring and garaging your car is significant in a place like SF. All of that money would be turned into disposable income!
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Old 10-01-2009, 11:51 AM
 
116 posts, read 244,378 times
Reputation: 118
Quote:
Originally Posted by LovinDecatur View Post
Who, grapico? I read his posts all the time, and his assessments of Atlanta always seem pretty fair (and informed) to me...including the one that you reference.
No, DeaconJ, the person grapico was responding to.
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Old 10-01-2009, 12:11 PM
 
Location: Cleveland, OH
1,973 posts, read 5,188,664 times
Reputation: 1940
Tier 1 (These are the true walking cities where having a car may actually be more of a pain than what it's worth):
NYC
San Francisco
Boston
DC
Philly

Tier 2:
Baltimore
Pittsburgh
Portland
Seattle

Tier 3:
LA
New Orleans
Milwaukee
Cincinnati
St. Louis
Cleveland
Buffalo

Walkable smaller cities:
Charleston
Savannah
Providence
New Haven
Madison
Richmond
Louisville
Albany
Portland, ME
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Old 10-01-2009, 12:31 PM
 
7,845 posts, read 20,726,663 times
Reputation: 2851
Quote:
Originally Posted by LovinDecatur View Post
Who, grapico? I read his posts all the time, and his assessments of Atlanta always seem pretty fair (and informed) to me...including the one that you reference.
He's talking about me...some people just seem to think they know more than they do. Just because I am firm in my knowledge that it's easy to live in certain areas of Atlanta without a car, he's saying I think that Atlanta is on the level of NYC. What a GREAT assessment! He's a psychic!
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