Living without a car

[AKallDay]

i love the vigor of a walk so much but i whip the bimmer around ny all the days! especially in this cold. i really enjoy having a car. driving is meditative time for me. i tend to daydream while simultaneously attaining extreme focus and peace. i feel totally present like a pilot. love it. plus we leave town a lot. i learned recently that my great-grandfather Wolf was the first person in the borough of Brooklyn to have a registered vehicle in the very very bitd. where i'm coming from, i guess.





but to not have a car (provided your minimalist aspirations and downsizing doesn't lead to leaning on people for rides everywhere, and asking other people to subsidize your choices) can be very emancipating indeed. i've been glad to have the whip to get around or even get out fast (2003 blackout or during sandy) but it's also annoying and expensive.

 

[Jimster]

It's possible of course, and if we had no choice we would get by with no car. We would save money but we'd be more reclusive. We'd spend a lot of time walking to bus stops and waiting for buses. With young kids in tow, it's like herding cats. We run 2 cars. The cars are 13 and 17 years old both with over 150,000 on the odos. Wifey runs her mum and kids around while I am at work. If we were somewhere warm, like the Med, Texas or Australia, it'd not be too bad, but in the Winter you just want to get the f*ck inside.





Sometimes the client is 100 miles away. I could get the train but I could drive that in an hour and some change, whereas it would take me 40 mins in the wrong direction to the station, then 2 swaps, then a bus. I worked it out to be 3h 30 each way. It would also cost a lot more than the fuel, even at UK fuel prices.





Even at this site, 8 miles from home, it would take me 20 mins walk to bus, then a 45 min bus ride, then a 15 min walk from the bus stop to the office. Back, I'd have to wait 30 minutes after work before my bus comes. I can cycle the 8 miles in 25 minutes when it's dry, but it's been close-to-or-below zero for a while, and the roadsides are full of snow and ice. I did try it for a couple of years and got a chest infection and a sinus infection for my dedication. Not to mention it's slippery as f*ck.





Driving it takes 15-17 minutes.





Life is too short. Feel sorry for the epic commutes some folk have listed here, the car enables me to avoid the same.

 

[Burns]

DOES NOT COMPUTE





You don't get laid in my parts without a ride. I grew up around cars. Own two, one classic car and 6 speed grocery-getter sports car.


I love to drive, couldn't do without. Cars have costed me a lot of money, and gotten me in trouble though. We have a decent bus system here, but it takes years off your life trying to get across town. Cars hate bicycles here. Yeah, like Kala said, you can't get collections/rekkiids without a whip. You couldn't sell at a record show without a car.

 

[The_Hook_Up]

We are going to be a one-car household...can't say I'll be mad at a few extra grand in the bank and an insurance bill cut in half. It will suck not being able to haul large stuff ( we are keeping the Honda fit as it gets 35 mpg and getting rid of the grand Cherokee as it gets 17mpg) but the $$$ will be nice.

 

[Burns]

The_Hook_Up said:We are going to be a one-car household...can't say I'll be mad at a few extra grand in the bank and an insurance bill cut in half. It will suck not being able to haul large stuff ( we are keeping the Honda fit as it gets 35 mpg and getting rid of the grand Cherokee as it gets 17mpg) but the $$$ will be nice.




Grand Cherokees are crap anyways your doing yourself a favor by getting rid of it, too many transmission problems.

 

[GatorToof]

I guess if I am incapable of driving, and the conditions are too rough for biking, I can always go full circle and ride a trike. That is what I used to ride when I was a little person.





Last time I was on a trike my left foot moved forward before my right foot was on the pedal and I got a cut on my right shin. It bled quite a bit and my neighbors were in the parking lot to help me. I put polysporin on it to keep away infections.

 

[HarveyCanal]

After many years riding a 125cc motorcycle, I tried riding my friend's 3-wheeler. It was just out on his street, but the first time I went to turn left I took my foot off of the peg and ran over my own leg with the back left tire. Luckily I had the wherewithall to stop the 3-wheeler right there and escape with just the back of my left calf scraped off.

 

[rootlesscosmo]

GatorToof said:rootlesscosmo said:





I remember very vividly this being a concern before I learned to drive. You'd be surprised how quickly you adjust.




I remember very vividly when the price of gas was cheap. Looks like I missed my chance to "adjust."





Sayin'




huh?

 

[james]

I keep hearing the title of this thread to the tune of "Living Inside Myself" by your man, the unexpectedly Canadian Gino Vanelli.

 

[GatorToof]

rootlesscosmo said:GatorToof said:rootlesscosmo said:





I remember very vividly this being a concern before I learned to drive. You'd be surprised how quickly you adjust.




I remember very vividly when the price of gas was cheap. Looks like I missed my chance to "adjust."





Sayin'




huh?




You were talking about making the adjustment to the drivers side of the car. I am talking about the price of this adjustment is going up. As a result people who could/would/should be valuable drivers may have missed their chance.





It is one thing to decide to live without a car, it is a completely different thing to have no choice. It seems clear to me that we "missed our chance" because these hot head "environmentalists" got paid gov't bucks to fight tooth and nail against the further development.

 

[DB_Cooper]

GatorToof said:rootlesscosmo said:GatorToof said:rootlesscosmo said:





I remember very vividly this being a concern before I learned to drive. You'd be surprised how quickly you adjust.




I remember very vividly when the price of gas was cheap. Looks like I missed my chance to "adjust."





Sayin'




huh?




You were talking about making the adjustment to the drivers side of the car. I am talking about the price of this adjustment is going up. As a result people who could/would/should be valuable drivers may have missed their chance.





It is one thing to decide to live without a car, it is a completely different thing to have no choice. It seems clear to me that we "missed our chance" because these hot head "environmentalists" got paid gov't bucks to fight tooth and nail against the further development.




Your mind is like an Escher drawing.

 

[Danno3000]

I've made it to 31 without ever owning a car. Between a bike, the metro, autoshare type deals, and renting, I've never once wished I were a car owner. You'll manage Ben.





I'm very glad I don't live in a place where a car is the precondition of anything. I intentionally live in a neighbourhood where apartments don't come with parking spots because we can all get around quite nicely using our legs.

 

[DJFerrari]

rootlesscosmo said:Thing is, as a driver in SF you kinda grow to hate cyclists.




I'd pick them off one by one if there wasn't a chance of me scratching my car.





- SF driver

 

[onetet]

I've been living in Baltimore without a car for 16 years. We have one subway line, one light-rail line, and a miserable bus system, but I ride them all and walk quite a bit.





I've spent lots of time in Toronto, incidentally, and have to say your system is exponentially more effective than ours.





I've turned into a bit of a public-transit advocate and by coincidence just wrote this piece if anyone's interested:


http://www.baltimorefishbowl.com/stories/im-walking-here-12-ideas-to-improve-public-transit-in-baltimore/

 

[tripledouble]

im all for beefing up public transit. in philly, i end up not using it much myself. i can bike most places. ive always had a car though but try to minimize use. i actually rarely walk, but when i do schlep for 30minutes or more my body feels great.





i had a supervisor back in the day who refused to drive. he was supervising 11 different school sites in all corners of the city and he stuck adamantly to his Public trans. after three or four years, his directors gave him a 6thousand dollar bonus to put toward getting a car and he still refused and pocketed the dough. i still bump into him once in a while standing at trolley stops.





a good friend of mine has horror stories about his dad memorizing bus routes and taking him and his two brothers on trips to the supermarket to get fifteen bags of groceries, necessitating two buses. f that but i guess it builds character

 

[GatorToof]

The bus here is powered by gas. I don't trust them. I would ride the bus more if they were electric.

 

[DJ_Enki]

FortyFivan said:rootlesscosmo said:Thing is, as a driver in SF you kinda grow to hate cyclists.




I'd pick them off one by one if there wasn't a chance of me scratching my car.





- SF driver




Just hit 'em with a brick as you drive by.

 

[DJFerrari]

DJ_Enki said:FortyFivan said:rootlesscosmo said:Thing is, as a driver in SF you kinda grow to hate cyclists.




I'd pick them off one by one if there wasn't a chance of me scratching my car.





- SF driver




Just hit 'em with a brick as you drive by.




Still worried about the bounce back. There has to be another way. Hmmmm...

 

[LaserWolf]

onetet said:I've been living in Baltimore without a car for 16 years. We have one subway line, one light-rail line, and a miserable bus system, but I ride them all and walk quite a bit.





I've spent lots of time in Toronto, incidentally, and have to say your system is exponentially more effective than ours.





I've turned into a bit of a public-transit advocate and by coincidence just wrote this piece if anyone's interested:


http://www.baltimorefishbowl.com/stories/im-walking-here-12-ideas-to-improve-public-transit-in-baltimore/




My impression had always been that Baltimore has good train and rail to DC, Philly and Ny.


Last time I went I wanted to train to DC, but the web sites for all the rail options were so poor I couldn't be sure of stations, times or costs.


I am sure if you use them regular it is all very clear, but for a tourist it was a nightmare.


I already had a rent a car so I drove to Silver Spring almost every day.

 

[onetet]

LaserWolf said:onetet said:I've been living in Baltimore without a car for 16 years. We have one subway line, one light-rail line, and a miserable bus system, but I ride them all and walk quite a bit.





I've spent lots of time in Toronto, incidentally, and have to say your system is exponentially more effective than ours.





I've turned into a bit of a public-transit advocate and by coincidence just wrote this piece if anyone's interested:


http://www.baltimorefishbowl.com/stories/im-walking-here-12-ideas-to-improve-public-transit-in-baltimore/




My impression had always been that Baltimore has good train and rail to DC, Philly and Ny.


Last time I went I wanted to train to DC, but the web sites for all the rail options were so poor I couldn't be sure of stations, times or costs.


I am sure if you use them regular it is all very clear, but for a tourist it was a nightmare.


I already had a rent a car so I drove to Silver Spring almost every day.




On a weekday, you can ride the MARC, which is probably $7 to DC... something like that. But certain peak-hour trains are massively packed and unpleasant. Still, if you're in that situation in Bmore again on a weekday, just head to Penn Station and there's a MARC almost every hour.





On the weekends, you have to pay Amtrak rates, which can be $40 each way for what would be a 45-minute drive. Pretty ridiculous.





Trains from Bmore to NY and Philly are regular, but exorbitantly expensive. Megabus all the way.