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I am interested in hearing from carless residents of Chapel Hill/Carrboro - as I will be moving to the area soon and do not own a car. This is by choice - I bike/walk/use public transportation and have done so for many years.
Please share with me your experience of living car-free in Chapel Hill/Carrboro...or even Durham, Raleigh...I am looking forward to reading your responses - thanks!
I live in Raleigh and while I enjoy taking public transportation and riding my bike, it's impossible to not have a car here. I feel there isn't a great place in NC for living car-free. Chapel Hill is definitely better than Raleigh/Durham and they have a nice and free public transportation system but you still have to choose a good location to live.
I'm not sure that pierre's experience is relevant if you'll be living in Chapel Hill. Chapel Hill and Carrboro are by far the best places in the Triangle to be car free. I know a lot of folks (even families) who do it. Shouldn't be a big problem at all. The buses are free, on time, and frequent and have lots of stops. It's an easy area to bike or walk, too. It's not as easy to get out of Chapel Hill/Carrboro, but there are buses that go to Raleigh and Durham. Beyond that you may want to look at renting a car if you want to go to the beach or the mountains. Within Chapel Hill, you'll be fine w/o a car.
I'm not sure that pierre's experience is relevant if you'll be living in Chapel Hill. Chapel Hill and Carrboro are by far the best places in the Triangle to be car free. I know a lot of folks (even families) who do it. Shouldn't be a big problem at all. The buses are free, on time, and frequent and have lots of stops. It's an easy area to bike or walk, too. It's not as easy to get out of Chapel Hill/Carrboro, but there are buses that go to Raleigh and Durham. Beyond that you may want to look at renting a car if you want to go to the beach or the mountains. Within Chapel Hill, you'll be fine w/o a car.
Yes, indeedy, just not sure it's helpful to living in Chapel Hill. I don't go to Raleigh every often and I do have a car. Just don't think that's something to worry about too much.
I go to Durham more and that would be a little tricky being car-less, but not too bad. The Durham buses and the Chapel Hill transit buses got it worked out pretty well. You can definitely take the bus to Southpoint. Check GoTriangle for routes, etc.
FTR, my husband is car-less by choice most of the time. He walks to work at UNC, walks to the farmer's market, walks to restaurants, Cat's Cradle, grocery store, library, wherever. He occasionally takes the bus, but mostly prefers to walk — neither rain nor snow nor sleet will stop him. Seriously, he'll come home from work dripping wet having walked home in the rain. Chapel Hill and Carrboro are compact enough that you can pretty much walk all over town if you're so inclined. He will drive if he has to, but would rather not.
I drive quite a bit. My kids go to a charter school and I drive them there and to go see their friends who live all over the place. I do drive to the grocery store, but have also ridden my bike and loaded up the panniers. I like to walk to the library and bookstore. I'm not much of a shopper, so I avoid the malls. I usually end up in Durham every two weeks or so, maybe more often if my kids need something. If it weren't for those dang kids I'd drive a lot less.
I have friends who are car-less by choice and have one friend who lives in Carrboro who says she rarely comes over to Chapel Hill! It's all about what you want to do personally. I do like having a car for escapes to the beach or mountains, but if you don't want one, Chapel Hill/Carrboro is the place to be.
I don't get this notion of Raleigh being "impossible" to live carless, at all.
I didn't have a car for 2 years when I first came to Raleigh for college years ago. I could walk, take the bus, or ride a bike to anything I needed even then. I didn't use to the bike except for short trips then because the area was not at all bike friendly, but nowadays with greenways and bike lanes and sharrows, it is much easier getting around on a bike. Plus there is a lot more going on ITB than back then, so more to ride to.
As long as you plan where you live with some thought about making life easier, with things like grocery/pharmacy, etc. easy to get to, then it is very doable.
Carrboro would be a fine choice, too, with less stuff to do, but what is there more compact. I think that would just come down to personal choice. I think you could get by in areas of Raleigh without needing to travel any more day to day that you would in Carrboro, but you'd have the option of going a fit further for more variety.
More free & frequent buses in Chapel Hill/Carrboro than in Raleigh. But if you stuck around downtown Raleigh it would be doable, but it's just a moot point since the OP is moving to Chapelboro.
poppydog, the OP never mentioned that he is definitely moving to Chapel Hill.......seems he is more/less just gauging the feasibility of doing that somewhere in the Triangle (and asking about CH since it's the most likely place to live without a car).
It is "possible" in Raleigh near downtown and NC State but I wouldn't count on being able to do so outside of the 440 belt line. You do need to plan your life around it though and can't just live anywhere and expect to be car free.
Location: River's Edge Inn, Todd NC, and Lorgues France
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dire Wolf
I don't get this notion of Raleigh being "impossible" to live carless, at all.
I didn't have a car for 2 years when I first came to Raleigh for college years ago. I could walk, take the bus, or ride a bike to anything I needed even then. I didn't use to the bike except for short trips then because the area was not at all bike friendly, but nowadays with greenways and bike lanes and sharrows, it is much easier getting around on a bike. Plus there is a lot more going on ITB than back then, so more to ride to.
A college student can without car much easier than most other adults.
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