Living car free

[Erik_Twice]

As I start thinking about leaving the nest and living on my own one of the ideas that keeps floating in my head is that of not owning a car. As someone who can simply hop to the subway or train station and reach the middlemost plaza of Madrid in half an hour despite living in another city, the idea of having to mantain an inefficient, expensive and polluting metal box of my own seems quite unappealing.

Owning an automobile would be, at best, a solution to a problem I shouldn't have. If a city doesn't allow me to live without owning my own car, why live there? Why become more sendentar? Why force myself to take a wheel when I can relax and read? According to the Spanish Institute of Stadistics, driving would end up taking 21% of my income*. Why pay that when taking mass transit is so cheap?

And when it comes down to it, I think car-driving is uncivic. We dedicate more space to moving cars and parking than we often dedicate to people in our cities and car accidents are one of the leading causes of death in the world. One fifth of all CO2 emissions are made by cars and it's one of the key causes of rising obesity rates**. To me, choosing to drive over the alternatives would make me an accomplice in making our society worse.

I admit I'm lucky in that regard, though, it's easy for me to go carless. My city's transist system is quick and efficient. I can walk to the grocer's shop and to the station. Nobody is lobbying to ban or otherwise limit mass transity in my country and people don't think only drug addicts take the bus. But still, it's an important change and I think it's for the better.

Feel free to share your thoughts. It has been a while since we last had any kind of controversy


*According to the Spanish Ministry of Industry, the average cost of keeping a car are between 2500 and 3500€ per year.
**I could count the number of obese people I saw while in the Netherlands with one hand.

[fastbilly1]

I am jealous. My town, Nashville TN, has a joke of a mass transit system. Buses that rarely go anywhere outside the of the strip and downtown. If we had a rail system for passengers that was actually useful, I would take it. I would much rather read than drive. However I cannot live car free, co-owning a farm and all.

[ZeroAX]

I disagree with your logic

[Jmustang1968]

I love owning a car. Freedom to go when and where you want.

Driving can also be a lot of fun. The concept of not owning a car is nearly unfathomable.

[dsheinem]

http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/transit/:

Unlike many U.S. infrastructure systems, the transit system is not comprehensive, as 45% of American households lack any access to transit, and millions more have inadequate service levels.

I'm in that 45%. Living car free is just not an option if I want to do even basic things like go to a grocery store or grab a beer with some friends.

[MrPopo]

I love owning a car. Freedom to go when and where you want.

Driving can also be a lot of fun. The concept of not owning a car is nearly unfathomable.

It really depends on where you are. Like Norris said, the infrastructure is good enough that he could go without a car without hardship and in general things are dense enough that he doesn't need that "gotta drive to get somewhere" thing. America has a rather unique relationship with the automobile thanks to just how spread out we managed to get (helped by how young the country is).

[Frag Mortuus]

Even though I love cars, I more so LOVE the idea of not owning one. The headache, money, and time spent on cars is terrible IMO. If I lived in a metropolis I would rarely drive. My friend lives in downtown Pittsburgh and while he does drive, he also lives within walking distance from the subway which he takes whenever possible (and its free). Plus when you get downtown and are walking from shop to shop or wherever it is that you are going, you really feel like part of the city.

When I visited him earlier this year, we only drove one place because the subway is still being built and only runs through half the city. Being able to get around the city and find new places made me fall in love with the place so much so that my wife and I are planning to relocate there sometime in the next few years.

With that said, I do still agree with JMustang. The freedom that owning your own car grants you is very liberating. I would hate the feeling of being stranded in the event that I needed to go out of town to see a sick relative or something else of that nature. I guess I like the idea of not having to depend on a vehicle.

[Jmustang1968]

I love owning a car. Freedom to go when and where you want.

Driving can also be a lot of fun. The concept of not owning a car is nearly unfathomable.

It really depends on where you are. Like Norris said, the infrastructure is good enough that he could go without a car without hardship and in general things are dense enough that he doesn't need that "gotta drive to get somewhere" thing. America has a rather unique relationship with the automobile thanks to just how spread out we managed to get (helped by how young the country is).

Even so, I would still want to own a car. I just like having one. I can see how he could do without one. I know many in NYC do no own a car.

Cities around the nation are built on the basis that we will be driving. Most of us Americans love our larger houses and spaces of land. Just a cultural difference I suppose.

[ninjainspandex]

America is just to vast for everyone to have public transportation, especially once you get to the middle of the country. Just wide expanses of nothing but farm land, but the cost of living there is much lower than in a city, which helps us afford to having a car.

[Luke]

I've never had or rented a car in Chicago. Never had had the need to. The city is a grid, the public transportation efficient, and cheap. And if I have to walk a mile to get from A to B, it's a pleasure.

In Eastern NC, you need a car. A car with really good air conditioning.

When I lived here as a student, I had no car for years. I got my first car when I was 20. Used the buses to get around, which was also a great way to meet new people.

Wish I lived in an area with decent public transportation.