I’m coming up on about 6 months of car-free life in Seattle. It’s certainly been challenging at times, and it’s only possible at all because I work from home, but I’m making it work. I’m curious if anyone else is trying to do the same thing. There are a ton of anti-car communities online, but very few people seem to actually go car-free as, like, an ideological thing
I’ve never owned a car because of my disability. My relatives drive me around when needed, or I take a taxi. I struggle even getting on a small car.
I do wish cars could be replaced by smaller and slower EVs, at least within cities.
Living in NYC and it’s amazing not having to drive. Going back to my parents place in NJ it feels inconvenient to have to drive everywhere. Much rather a quick walk, even when the weather isn’t great and there’s always the subway.
I wish.
For most of my life I lived car-free in The Netherlands. It was never a problem to bike, walk, take buses or trains thanks to the excellent infrastructure. I never owned a car there.
Ever since I moved to the US 10 years ago I’ve been driving my car daily. Not because I want to, but because I have to. My kids school is only 2 miles away but I have to drive as there’s just no pedestrian or cycling infrastructure between my house and the school…
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Yeah. I am car-free because of a disability. I usually use public transit around the city, but recently I’ve done a lot more trips by bike. Just got my bike fixed after an accident and I’m ready to go again and it feels liberating!
I also like these public transit-integrated taxi services that are significantly cheaper than a real taxi, and another 50% off for disabled riders.
I’m car-free because I don’t leave my room! Hurrah disability!
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Not anymore, I was for a couple years in Denver but that was over 10 years ago. Live in the burbs now but have a Brompton folding bike that I use for short trips to the grocery store and sometimes commuting to work. It’s so practical it’s amazing to take it into stores, use it as a shopping cart, and never have to leave it locked up. Just got back from the Netherlands and wow what a fairy tale society they have infrastructure-wise. The more I learn, travel, and see how some places in Europe are doing things the angrier I get with most of North America’s mentality/legislation.
Can I get a link to this bike? I wanna see what’s up with a bike that can double as a shopping cart.
Sure, Brompton is the brand. There’s lots of videos and stuff out there. This is the company website: https://www.brompton.com/
Not my pic, but this is how they look in “shopping cart mode”: https://i.redd.it/0ijx1ewfxip21.jpg
The bikes have a special mounting bracket for the bag, and it’s designed so the bag can just stay on the whole time, even when the bike unfolds again.
I’ve been car free since my catalytic converter got stolen in 2020. Didn’t feel like replacing it since I didn’t drive much anyway and I donated the rest of the car. I’m not fully free though because my gf has a car and we live together. So on trips to the store and stuff I still benefit from a car
I’m in Nanaimo BC and I live more or less car free. I own a car but I just put storage insurance on it and don’t drive it unless I absolutely need to. Otherwise I use my ebike to get around town. This works because we have some good multi-use paths that can take me from one end of town to the other and I don’t have to mix with traffic often.
Hi BC friend! I’m over in the Fraser Valley and similarly have a car, but only use it for going distances that are not reachable by my RadWagon ebike. We dont have good multi-use pathways because Abbotsford is run by dickheads, but going 40km on the shoulder/bike ditch is usually good enough to keep me from getting vehicular manslaughtered
Hallo! I grew up in Surrey and had friends in Abby so I know what you’re up against! Stay safe out there
Thanks friend!
I live in Atlanta and going entirely car free would be a challenge for my family of four, but we did manage to go from a 2 car family to a 1 car family which has been a nice shift.
It’s had a few lifestyle changes for us, mostly me since I try to leave the car for my wife when I go somewhere by myself. The sale of our second car funded the purchase of 2 ebikes, so we like to ride bikes around which has changed the kind of place we like to go around our city. It’s been a lot of fun for us.
When I occasionally need to go to work I’ve found that bike+transit works fairly well for my needs. Sometimes I’ll also just take only transit on days when the weather is bad but it’s a lot less flexible that way since the bus schedule is so infrequent.
Overall, I’d say that you don’t necessarily need to go all in on being car free to care about urbanism and reducing car travel. There are so many things out of our control with regard to the state of our city so sometimes taking smaller steps to reduce our car usage is all we can do.
I’m in a weird spot where I personally use a bike or public transport to get everywhere, but my parents still drive me around to wherever. They also think I’m weird for always using a bike, but that’s besides the point.
I’m in Chicago and just take buses and trains everywhere if I have to go beyond walking distance. As someone with a young child it can be a bit difficult sometimes but it’s mostly manageable. if I have to go somewhere weird in the city that that would take multiple lines to get to I just use an Uber, this is so rare.
This isn’t an ideological thing for me or anything I just don’t have car money
I’m car free for financial reasons too haha! There’s also a decent car sharing app where I live which I can use when I really need a car, like for going out to the countryside or moving something bulky. Between the upkeep of my bike, public transport tickets and occasionally renting a shared car, the cost of getting around is really low!
I was largely car free in Chicago (still used ours sometimes when we were going somewhere where we had to bring lots of supplies, like the beach or a big grocery trip). But since moving back to Florida there’s just no way. Everything is miles apart, and bus routes can only cover so much and and even those double back on themselves in inconvenient ways.
Car-free since a year. Couldn’t be happier. Had once to carry a computer case in a bus, but that was a direct line for 15 minutes.
i’ve been car-free for 6+yrs now, and it has honestly not been an issue because i’ve always lived in (fairly) large urban centres with decent public transit or okay to good cycling infrastructure. if and when i need a car, i’m lucky enough to have carsharing programs available here (Lower Mainland BC)
I lived car free in the DC area for a long time. The only true challenge I faced was taking my dog to the vet. I had a lot of friends tell me they didn’t realize it was possible to live car free until they watched me make it work. The biggest advice I have is to figure out the bus system near you. Usually your goal is to connect yourself to higher and higher quality mass transit
I had a lot of friends tell me they didn’t realize it was possible to live car free until they watched me make it work.
This is part of my motivation! And thanks - I am lucky to have good bus service in my area
