Is living without a car the San Diego Dream? (Vista: buying a house, neighborhoods)

[happyinca]

Oh my gosh, for me that would be a total nightmare! I was born here and could not wait to turn 16 and get my license. We lived in San Carlos so walking to the stores etc. was a minimum of 2 miles. Walk to the beach? Forget it. The bus was a 2 hour trip to go somewhere that would take 20 minutes in a car. What a nightmare thought IMHO.

[Pedro2000]

I spent a couple years in San Diego without a car. It took about 30-40 minutes to walk to the trolley. It took about 15 minutes to walk to the nearest bus station. There was a bus station down the street that was supposed to go downtown, but it wasn't one of those daily routes and most of the time it just never came. There was a "schedule" but many days it could go like 3 hours between buses. So it became one of those jokes about "a bus actually stopped today."

going to the beach was just not an option. Having kids and taking a bus or trolley was not an option. I couldn't imagine living in an area like Vista or Poway without a car.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

If you have no hobbies and no responsibilities then sure. You'd be better off riding a bike.

I rode a bike for 2 years and you will start to limit what you do on a daily basis. SD County is 4261 square miles so good look hoofin it.

[bloom]

Originally Posted by shmoov_groovzsd

Oh you mean Jewel?

peasantgirl (if I recall her handle) is no jewel.

[moved]

If you chain your bike up outside, there's a good chance that it's going to get stolen. You'll find that you can't take it inside of wherever you need to shop, and won't have a choice but to chain it outside.

[Huckleberry3911948]

Its a dream but a bad one
public transport is the transport of choice for gangbangers

[John7777]

But for the minor problem of having to go to work, for those work, it would be easy to live in San Diego without a car. Just move down to the beach, within walking distance of a grocery store, and you're in business.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by John7777

But for the minor problem of having to go to work, for those work, it would be easy to live in San Diego without a car. Just move down to the beach, within walking distance of a grocery store, and you're in business.

Hundreds of transients do it every day.

[earlyretirement]

I'd have NO desire to live in a city like San Diego without a car. I can't imagine not having a car here. So many amazing places to go and see around the area. Sure, you could rent a car but that in and of itself would be a bigger pain to me.

Also, those with kids could probably never imagine not having a car here. Even if I was a single bachelor with no kids I wouldn't want to be without a car here in San Diego. Part of the true benefits of a town like San Diego to me is all the diverse areas you can go to on a daily basis.

Absolutely there are some cities if I lived like NYC I wouldn't dream of having a car. But no way I could see the vast majority of people looking at not having a car as a luxury in a city like San Diego.

[bloom]

Originally Posted by earlyretirement

I'd have NO desire to live in a city like San Diego without a car. I can't imagine not having a car here. So many amazing places to go and see around the area. Sure, you could rent a car but that in and of itself would be a bigger pain to me.

Also, those with kids could probably never imagine not having a car here. Even if I was a single bachelor with no kids I wouldn't want to be without a car here in San Diego. Part of the true benefits of a town like San Diego to me is all the diverse areas you can go to on a daily basis.

Absolutely there are some cities if I lived like NYC I wouldn't dream of having a car. But no way I could see the vast majority of people looking at not having a car as a luxury in a city like San Diego.

I don't know if those ZipCar and other type services are either economical or convenient for a few times a week and weekend uses, assuming you don't need a car for work.