Carless

[Paragon Fury]

So I think I've gotten to the point where people "pitying" me for something or thinking I'm insane for something is getting old.

I don't have a car. Or a license. So I ride my bike to work - 5 miles one way. Everyday. Rain or shine. Wind or snow. This morning it was 8 degrees (F) outside when I left for work and when I got out; yes, I understand that isn't a whole lot of degrees.

I walk to the bus stop to get to the city when I want to go to the mall or the market strip. In that same 8 degree (F) weather if need be.

I understand its odd; but I'm a bit confused as why people who've repeatedly been told/know that I don't own a car find it odd that I prefer a short bit of being cold to being unemployed.

Whats worse is I know not having a car hurts me in other ways. Not having a car in America is a relationship non-starter; like somehow people are incapable of having a social life because they don't own a four-wheeled vehicle (My like of anime, video games and things that already had that covered but not owning a car just adds to that).

I find it kind of funny that we have this big goal of cutting emissions and getting people off the road; but when someone takes it to the natural extension people think he is crazy.

 

[an annoyed writer]

Yeah, the US is kinda weird about that sort of thing. Part of it is the suburban expansion that happened right after WWII, which made it much harder to simply get around. Public transport only covers so much as well, and is woefully underfunded. I had to put up with such things as well, though unlike you I have a car because any trip I make is well over 20 miles of driving per-trip. In short, because of the suburbanism and the General Motors Streetcar Conspiracy, the US lacks a sufficient network of public transit systems to make life without a car fully sustainable and practical on a larger scale, and like it or not, that attitude permeated the average American's consciousness.

 

[tippy2k2]

Unfortunately 'Merica just isn't designed for bike use, which sucks because I love my shitty bike.

I live in a suburb in Minnesota and many of the streets don't even have sidewalks to use (you really don't want to be biking in the street...). I would love to bike more and use my car less but I don't think it'd even be possible for me to do that (living 20 miles away from my work place probably doesn't help either). The only time I was able to go carless was when I lived in New York City for a few months but aside from there, there are very very very few places you could live and not have a car.

Sidenote: How in the hell do you bike in the snow? I assume if you're 8 degrees out, you must be northern US with us Minnesotans.

 

[an annoyed writer]

Unfortunately 'Merica just isn't designed for bike use, which sucks because I love my shitty bike.

I live in a suburb in Minnesota and many of the streets don't even have sidewalks to use (you really don't want to be biking in the street...). I would love to bike more and use my car less but I don't think it'd even be possible for me to do that (living 20 miles away from my work place probably doesn't help either). The only time I was able to go carless was when I lived in New York City for a few months but aside from there, there are very very very few places you could live and not have a car.

Sidenote: How in the hell do you bike in the snow? I assume if you're 8 degrees out, you must be northern US with us Minnesotans.

Huh. You're just a tad north of me, actually. We've got the same issues of most of our roads not having sidewalks either, and bike trails are rare in Wisconsin as well.

 

[FPLOON]

But... I like being carless... probably because, in my situation, I really don't need it where the places I usually go to are within a good walking distance anyway! (I got rid of my bike years ago... yet, others regret that decision of mine...)Plus, I've seen the drivers that a walk pass on a daily basis... It's like the legal version of Death Race out there... and I'm not including the freeway when I say that!

I still do have licence (since like hell was I going to waste an opportunity to be in a classroom-like area where I'm the oldest), but it's just there so that I can tell my friends "Hey! If you're going to get drunk today, I'm driving... because I don't drink..." Also, the whole relationship thing wasn't even going to work even if I had a car... "Really? You were fine with the anime, the video games, the ponies, AND the specific porn... but, just because we both have the same top does not mean this relationship was doomed from the start..." (I don't understand other people women...)

That's why I stopped caring about what other people thought of my methods of transport to and from work because the only person that knows me is me... (Also, America is "weird" and I was born and raised to the point that everything else is more "weird" to everyone else by comparison...)

 

[Little Woodsman]

I'm in much the same boat as you, OP. Everyone thinks it's so weird...but for me it's just practical..cars are *expensive*, to insure, maintain, fuel...and my 'day job' gives me a free bus pass.
And of course there's the whole environmental factor...I have friends who rant & rail against the big oil companies...but then won't walk two blocks to pick up dinner or go to the store...{shakes head}

 

[TehCookie]

I think your crazy because anyplace is around 20 miles from where I live. Walking 40 miles to buy food is crazy. I also can't understand anyone who'd willingly lose all self respect and take the bus. I can smell the urine and filth when it drives by. Though if you do drugs it's a plus because there's a lot of dealers and hook-ups on them.

Though I also live outside Flint, Michigan which I believe is the most dangerous city in America this year (worse than Detroit).

 

[Guffe]

Same here, non car owner.
But I believe there are a lot of us here in Finland who don't own cars.
Big reasons being, the price of the friggin' car to start with, insurance prices, fuel prices, tax prices etc etc.

In cities there are good bus connections (and the busses are well taken care of), for example Turku were I now live and Tampere were I used to live.
And were I lived as a younger kid, a small town, everything was in biking distance of maximum 15-20 minutes.
I've never really needed one so to say. But I guess eventually something will come along that makes me get one.

 

[Vylox]

Just what I need .... to be lazy while spending $20,000 or more for the initial cost, plus a couple hundred more a month for insurance, gas, and all the other stuff that motorized vehicles need in terms of maintenance.

Yup. I'll walk, and to hell with those that complain about it.

 

[bigwon]

My context: i live a 20 minute walk away from my work place so that's what I do. I've worked with alot of chinese folks (elders and younger students who've all bought there own relatively snazzy rides) who've also been weirded out or tried encouraging me to buy a car......just laughs..hehehe

but I'm pretty well off despite working a part time cooking job. Small town living mind you which is cheap as all hell.
Haven't been convinced that I need a vehicle although every other aspect of my lifestyle is pretty much what accommodates that me thinks.

things such as:
- living in danky basement suites
- eating very simply (cutting costs, and trips to the shop)
- enthusiasm for getting a routine amount of walking every day
- imminent life ending disaster, social collapse, alien invasions, etc.

that's pretty much all that i have to worry about. I think it's a pretty sweet deal! despite the lacking of interchangeable bed partners, regular ice caps and bourbon...other things folks do to fuzz up the void that eventually awaits them .....getting off track here.. ;P

Biking and walking.....good stuff...

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

I have a full license, but apart from laundry runs (using a friends or parents vehicle) and taxi runs to town for drunk flatmates I don't use private transport.

Hell I even starred in a bus commercial, I just don't often find situations where a car would beat walking/public transport.

 

[farscythe]

same boat for me. i cycle about 30 mile daily for work (split shift all the back n forth adds up) and all the people at work are constantly telling me to just get a car or a moped or something.. it gets old

but meh..i like cycling (and im living in a 3 bedroom house on only 25 hours work a week)
so yea.. for me its either keep the house or get a car, unless i can get more work soon.

sad thing is i live in holland where cycling is pretty much a way of life and im still getting shit for it.. i imagine its worse for you lot.

 

[Esotera]

I can't imagine why anyone would want to live with a car unless they lived literally in the middle of nowhere, had some form of disability, or had a job that required them to drive around a lot of places. They're really expensive, don't get you any exercise, and make towns a horrible place to live in for everyone else due to congestion, noise, and emissions. The bike on the other hand costs a couple of hundred quid to maintain (if that) and helps keep you fit. For long journeys I just use a train or bus, and if I'm moving to a new house or something then I might beg to use someone's car, but I've successfully used the train before.

 

[Rack]

I've got a license, but no car. They're expensive and stressful to drive and maintain. The nearest supermarket is 5 minutes walk away, the best is 10 minutes walk. My work is 15 minutes walk and it's a 15 minute walk to the train station if I need to go to any major cities. In the 4 or 5 times a year I need to go anywhere else I can take a taxi.

And yet people still think it's weird I don't have a car.

 

[Gali]

No license and no car for me. Someday I'll get at least a license in case something happens and I really have to drive. But otherwise I don't see the need to have a car since my city has very good public transport. Even when I was still living on the countryside I had the opportunity to take a train or bus.

As a student, I can even take a bus, train or subway for free to some extent (until I'm in another federal state). And still some of my friends who are studying too pity me for not having a car. I guess cars are still holy to many Germans.

 

[Foolery]

No car for me either. I do have my license though. Work is only a 40 min walk. They're just too costly and I'm saving for school.

 

[FalloutJack]

That's funny. I don't drive either and I don't have this problem. People generally understand my decision, and I live in Pittsburgh.

 

[Kevlar Eater]

No car or license as well. Since I live close to where I shop, work and don't need to a social life to feel human, why buy a car? They're expensive to buy, maintain and insure, and a miscalculation on the road means a car crash, which is inconvenient for all involved.