What's it like not to have a car?

[ringmastery]

Anyone here live in a big city and uses nothing but public transportation because or finances or cause it's impractical to own one? Do you like not having a car or find it annoying?

[HEyHEY]

1. I did, it sucked

I lived a ten minute drive from my work at a shoe-store...it took 45 minutes on the bus with the transfers and shit.

But when I worked downtown I didn't take my car, I took transit and got to work 20 minutes faster than if I had driven.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

2. I didn't have a car when I was young-I grew up in the city

I learned to drive but didn't have a car until I was 27. I preferred not to have one-parking was a bitch-but because of my job in sales a car is now a necessity.

In Mass, car insurance is outrageous, traffic sucks, parking costs a small fortune, and most apartments and condos do not include a parking space. After all, this a city where a parting space recently sold for $160K!

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Northeast/04/27/boston.parking.ap/

On edit: I live 7 minuted on the subway from Downtown Boston. It would take me 20 minutes at least in traffic to drive there, and cost me about $40 for two hours of parking. Street parking is pretty much non-existent.

[JPJones]

3. I lived in a European city for three years

No car - no problem. You have to make more frequent trips to the grocery - you can only buy what you can carry. Cuts down on junk food! You also buy less crap in general.

[Karenina]

18. I live in a European city

This after over a decade in "car central" where I drove 100 meters to the corner store to avoid being attacked on the street, 30-40km every year... Heaven, I'm in heaven! Parking, Benzin, oil changes, repairs, insurance, DWB? POOF! WEG! These feet were made for walking and that's just what they do. Sometimes put rollerblades on 'em or more often let 'em pedal the bike. Wanna go a bit further? Take the train. They're not always on time, but usually good enough for rock and roll!

[ForrestGump]

4. I have a motorcycle,a nd can sometmes borrow a car, but I walk

to and from work (few miles each way) and often to and from the supermarket (about halfway to work). Great exercise. I love walking, though, and -- even when I'm not especially into taking a stroll -- will walk many miles rather than take a bus -- I hate waiting for 'em.

When I've been without wheels before, I've used buses and walked an awful lot. The problem is that most US towns and cities have terrible public transportation. It depends a lot on where, exactly, you live. There's no reason -- not even sprawl -- why public transit in the US can't be at least the equal of that in many other countries.

[JPJones]

5. Name that tune

They didn't have car keys, and they didn't have roads --
They didn't have those ugly convenience stores, or Texacos
In fact, all around the world, a long long time ago,
people would walk, where ever they had to go.

Well now it's the 1990's, and the gasoline does flow,
but I still try and walk most of the places I have to go
But sometimes my friends will stop and say,
"Hey Frank! There's a bus or a cab over there...
Why don't we go ahead and get in it?"
But I say no, no, no, and didn't you know,
you get to know things better when they go by slow.

[KT2000]

6. Some good points

I went without a car in the city for a couple years while I saved for a new one. There are some things I miss about that time. I would recommend everyone try it.

The first thing you will learn is that a car keeps us separated from out community. You may as well be in a spaceship speeding through the neighborhood - because you are enclosed in your own environment and everything that exists outside the car is generally an annoyance to your efforts to speed through.

Walking on the sidewalks in high traffic areas will teach you quickly how dirty our air really is. When your nose is even with the exhaust of all the vehicles it is truly disgusting. Pollution is no longer an abstract. I developed great sympathy for the dogs that are forced to breathe the air at that level.

You will be in better shape if you opt to walk to get things done. Buses are not always scheduled conveniently to you needs and you will end up walking - and then adopting a speed walk.

I live in a rural area now and walking is something I have to fit into my day as an "activity." I miss the feeling of belonging to the community and the pace of not having a car - but the nearest anything is 7 miles away.

Try it! You could always go out and get a car if you change your mind.

[ForrestGump]

7. YOu also see a LOT more on foot

Good and bad. Even in places that've been your home for years, you'll see shops and so on that you never before noticed...how could you, speeding along even at 20 mph, unless you're some rubbernecking idiot who shouldn't be behind the wheel? Walking is always the best way to get to know a place you've moved to, or a place you're visiting (as long, of course, as that place is safe for walking).

[HuckleB]

8. I have a car...

but I've only driven it three times in the last ten weeks. Twice for day hikes in the Cascades, and once for a backpacking trip in the Wallowas. I bike, train and bus it otherwise. It's just as convenient, it's cheaper, and I'm getting exercise all the time, rather than sitting in a vehicle. A friend of mine doesn't own a car, and hasn't owned a car in a decade. He walks, buses and cabs it. When he needs a car, he gets weekend discount rate rental, which is probably what I should do, rather than pay insurance every month. It would be cheaper.

That is all.

[RoadRunner]

9. I lived in San Francisco for 2 yrs without a car

and I didn't miss it at all. I occaisonally rented a car for short trips, but otherwise just used public transportation, walked, and rode a bike.

There's a book called "Divorce Your Car" by Katie Alvord that coveres the practicalities involved, highly recommended.

[Senior citizen]

10. Now that I'm retired, it is great not to have a car.

But when I was working I sometimes had to leave an hour earlier to make sure that if either of the two busses I took to work was late or broke down, I'd still get there in time. I'd use the time to have coffee and read the paper before work.

Now I live within walking distance of the bank, the post office, the library, a supermarket, a shopping mall, my health clinic, my senior center, the eye doctor, and much more. Almost all busses stop within a block of where I live, and the trolley is 2 blocks away.

When I moved downtown, people warned me it was dangerous. Turns out the very nice neighborhood I lived near previously has a much higher crime rate. Affluent neighborhoods are a tempting target to crooks, but a busy downtown usually has streetlights, open stores, lots of people around, and a police presence even at night.

You do have to deal with street people when you walk. But after a while you get to know which ones to give a wide berth to, and which ones deserve some change if you have it to spare.

On edit: I do have one of those backpacks-with-wheels (and a hidden pull-out handle) for when I want to bring heavy stuff home from the store.

[Raven]

11. When I lived in the Boston area,

I left my car at home and took the "T". I had a law partner who did not own a car and she walked everywhere. Not having to depend on a car is liberating. Now I need one because I'm in the country.

[jmowreader]

12. I wouldn't live in an American big city with no car

I lived in Seoul for a year and Berlin for six with no car in either place; the public transportation systems in both cities are fantastic, so didn't miss having a car one bit.

If you lived in New York or Boston you could do okay without a car--if I lived in Boston (I went to two Army training courses at Fort Devens) I would own one for trips to places the MBTA didn't go but for around town I wouldn't use it except when buying something too heavy to haul on a bus or a T train.

I wouldn't live in Seattle without a car; they have a decent bus system, or did the few times I went there, but I'd be all over Western Washington and that's hard to do with no car.

[HuckleB]

13. If you're only using it for play...

living in Portland or Seattle, it's actually cheaper to rent a vehicle when you're going to hit the road. Factor in payments and insurance, and you're coming out way ahead.

[Bertha Venation]

14. In So. California, it was extremely difficult.

My car died one January, and I couldn't afford to buy another until December that year. I lived in Long Beach and worked in Torrance (both in L.A. County). A Long Beach-Torrance commute isn't so far with a car, but public transportation is an absolute JOKE in Southern California. From home, I walked or bused about a mile to the light rail station; took the Blue Line train to a station in Carson, then bused about six miles to the office. The trip averaged one hour forty-five minutes.

Driving, the trip took half an hour on a bad day.

Friends drove me to and from rehearsals, shows, meetings, doctors, and the grocery store. My sisters and their kids came to me for visits, and I only went to their houses when it was a holiday or some day-long gathering.

So. Cali. + no car = :grr:

[GingerSnaps]

15. I live in a area where you don't need a car

I have been car free for 2 years and I am happy.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

16. When I lived in College Station, Texas, I had no car

it's more of a pain in the arse to own one there than not, so I didn't have one. I did have a bike. And there are buses ALL over the place. And roommates and friends willing to give you rides places, and most everything was on campus or right near it anyway.

Didn't miss not having one, in fact, it was quite nice.

Wish I could go back to it now, but I live in suburban hell with no mass transit.

Suckity suck sucks.

[Kellanved]

17. Berlin: no need for a car

I co-own a car, which is basically only used to drive to IKEA. It is not that traffic is bad in Berlin; it is not. Outside the rush-hour the streets are not full of cars. Rather public transportation is faster: I can get from one end of the city to the other in 30 minutes; by car that is impossible. Also the bicycle lanes allow going by bike very fast and relatively risk-free. This is somewhat diminished by bikers driving on the wrong side and/or not looking at the traffic lights.

oh: that University students can use Public Transportation for free, while gas costs a metric shitload of money helps too.

[NoodleBoy]

19. I have no car.

I don't even have a license, though I know how to drive.

I'm living at home now (20, in college, that's my excuse), and can scrape by doing jobs here and there. I'd have to pay for everything if I wanted a car-- buying, insurance, breakdowns (and cars mysteriously get fucked up if my dad touches them)-- so I haven't even bothered.

I wish I did have a car though. It's a damn catch-22-- I'd be able to get a car if I had a decent job. But, in order to have a decent job and go to school at the same time, I'd need a car to drive somewhere.

Public transportation? In Phoenix? Right. I might end up getting a bike instead.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

20. I lived for ten years in Portland without a car, and friends of mine

who live in New York and Chicago have never learned to drive.

However, it really depends on where you live. It was easy to live without a car in Portland, because the public transit is fantastic, but here in Minneapolis, where the pubic transit is mediocre, I have to have a car, if only because my relatives live in the suburbs.

[soleft]

21. I loved having a car in the city but ended up being too expensive

Mostly because of insurance, my monthly payment was $300. A lot of people in NY put down addresses out of the city to get a cheaper rate, but I was too chicken to do it. It was great to be able to leave the city whenever I wanted, get to another burough quickly, get to the beach, ride out to Ikea, or even run around town to do quick errands or take my son to school if he was late.

Since I sold my car about nine months ago, I've rented cars a few times and it cost me less than my monthly insurance payment, once I rented a mini van, once I rented a convertible, so in a way it's nice there's a big variety of cars to rent. I've probably taken more cabs than I should have, but I'm going to be cutting on that drastically shortly - I did just buy bike so that should help.

Bottom line, I really couldn't afford to live in the city and have a car, and I've found not having a car is very doable.

[curse10]

22. I hated it

Sometimes I need to get in my car and drive. Sometimes waiting 30 minutes for the bus doesn't cut it.

I take the bus and subway everyday- but I'm so glad I have my car.

[ikojo]

23. I live in St Louis and have not had a car for 14 years now.

It's not always easy but I am centrally located. I would not be able to live in the far western suburbs because bus service out that way is virtually non existent, especially on weekends. I suppose they assume the cleaning people don't need to get out that far on Saturday and Sunday.

One thing I have noticed in my years of taking public transit: I am often the ONLY white person (or one of less than five) on a packed bus. Those who use public transit are often assumed to be less educated, poor and black. I think that's why public transportation is not funded very well in the US, the politics of race and class.

The reason I don't have a car is because I like to spend my money on other things like gadgets. I am an electronics fanatic.

Bus pass is $50 per month...what would insurance/car payment and maintenance be?