To Drive Or Not To Drive? Give Transit A Try Or Die? (San Francisco: apartment) - San Francisco - Oakland - California (CA) - City-Data Forum

babykiller · 12-08-2007, 11:32 PM

I think it would be cool to discuss how people feel about car ownership and living IN San Francisco.

There were many factors that influenced my decision to sell my car. The biggest one was me renting an OVERPRICED studio that had no parking in an area where parking does not really exist. Working in the city and having to commute back to the East Bay and take the awful transbay bus to West Oakland Bart may have also pushed me over the edge. Financially, it is not possible for me to exist in San Francisco and own a car.

I think for a lot of people its a matter of the work commute. I have a good friend who works in Cupertino but lives in a studio in the Tenderloin and DRIVES to work only to come home to search for somewhere to park her car for hours. I don't have any experience commuting to work while living in SF, but did commute to SF for work from the East Bay and never drove in. I have lived in Walnut Creek, Oakland and eventually sold my car when I moved into my apartment in the city. Sometimes I regret selling my car, but the more I think about it doing so was critical for me to really experience the city and make friends.

At first I would take public transportation daily. Then I started riding a bike or just walked everywhere. Nowadays I wonder what it would be like to HAVE a car. I wonder what my life would be like if I moved to a neighborhood where I may have been able to park my car that was further out from Downtown. I would have to worry about all of these things like parking, drunk driving and gas.

Basically, it seems crazy to me to own a car and live here. Of course there are times when I wish I had one, but I have to think about what NOT having one affords me.

Also, does anyone have any experience with City Car Share or something like it. I don't know if I would even use it that much but have almost signed up several times.

gizmo980 · 12-09-2007, 01:06 AM

I couldn't live without my car! First of all, I live in the very under-served Bayview district, where we only have the Muni 9x or T-Third... secondly, I go to the South Peninsula at LEAST 2 times a week, and getting there from here is ridiculously inconvenient. Finally, my current house has both a garage and driveway, so parking isn't an issue for now. I also simply love to drive, and have always owned a car - just can't imagine not having one. But if I lived downtown or something, I'd definitely take more advantage of public transit.

P.S. My ex-boss used City Car Share, and seemed to like it... got her stuck a few times though, when it wasn't available at the last minute. There's also Zip Car, which I see quite frequently in different neighborhoods.

gizmo980 · 12-09-2007, 01:10 AM

Oh, but here's a good example of city-life for you... I recently got a parking ticket while parked in my own driveway!! Can you believe that BS?? Supposedly I was sticking out far enough to block street-cleaning, even though that's how I always park. Unbelievable.

skatealoneskatetogether · 12-09-2007, 03:19 PM

people in sf are the first to tell you that somthing needs to be done about traffic and pollution and oil, but they are the most dependent people on their cars. I live in berkeley which is far less dense and only use my car when i need to leave the sf bay area for places which dont have public transit. otherwise i skate, bike,take ac transit, muni, or bart.

skatealoneskatetogether · 12-09-2007, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gizmo980

Oh, but here's a good example of city-life for you... I recently got a parking ticket while parked in my own driveway!! Can you believe that BS?? Supposedly I was sticking out far enough to block street-cleaning, even though that's how I always park. Unbelievable.

you cant blame the city life or the cop for giving you a ticket for blocking and impeding traffic. can anyone believe that? who knows. maybe they should have just gone around your car and left a pile of muck and garbage infront of your drive way?

sonarrat · 12-09-2007, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skatealoneskatetogether

you cant blame the city life or the cop for giving you a ticket for blocking and impeding traffic. can anyone believe that? who knows. maybe they should have just gone around your car and left a pile of muck and garbage infront of your drive way?

It's not just the city.. Menlo Park doesn't allow any overnight street parking. At all. Drive up Willow on a Saturday morning and you'll see lots of cars with tickets on them.

music7lover · 12-09-2007, 04:34 PM

I went on vacation to SF this past fall. Babykiller ( crazy name.... I love it)... I would go insane if I lived in SF and had to come home and look for a parking spot for "hours"?? every night such as your friend. Plus, the traffic would give me double insanity...Live near a MUNI stop or BART is the only sane way I would think... or ride a bike / motorcycle.

On a Friday night it took a half hour to find a spot in the Marina district. I kept complaining "doesn't this city have parking garages!!"... ( I live in the Midwest).. Well apparently SF has parking garages, but that would be triple insanity for me to pay the prices they are asking..

As you can tell......SF is not for me

sonarrat · 12-09-2007, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by music7lover

I went on vacation to SF this past fall. Babykiller ( crazy name.... I love it)... I would go insane if I lived in SF and had to come home and look for a parking spot for "hours"?? every night such as your friend. Plus, the traffic would give me double insanity...Live near a MUNI stop or BART is the only sane way I would think... or ride a bike / motorcycle.

On a Friday night it took a half hour to find a spot in the Marina district. I kept complaining "doesn't this city have parking garages!!"... ( I live in the Midwest).. Well apparently SF has parking garages, but that would be triple insanity for me to pay the prices they are asking..

As you can tell......SF is not for me

I never had a problem finding a spot in the Sunset for the night. I always was able to park on the same street I lived on (33rd Ave just south of GG Park). It helped that I always worked when there was street sweeping! But in an apartment-heavy area, or a place with heavy restrictions like downtown, that's a different story.

Joe_Ryder · 12-09-2007, 08:57 PM

I lived in SF for a couple years and my car was more of a burden than anything else. SF is small and I could walk anywhere I wanted to go anyway. I ended up parking my car at a friends house in Oakland. Mass Transit is pretty good. Now I live in Oakland where a car is a must but when I go to SF, I don't drive. I just take the ferry. I could take BART but a boat ride is a lot more fun.

Seattle and SF are the only two cities west of the Rockies with decent mass transit. I think it's kind of sad that we build cities around cars instead of people.