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One advantage of having a car that I don't see mentioned in the comments is safety. There are a lot of places where I don't feel safe taking public transportati

One advantage of having a car that I don't see mentioned in the comments is safety. There are a lot of places where I don't feel safe taking public transportations at night. Besides, bikes are more likely to get stolen or vandalized.

gedy 11y ago
I also am assuming most of the no-car commenters in the US have no spouse or small children. There's a lot more to life than commuting back and forth to the office.
- sevensor 11y ago
  I have a foot in both camps -- I have a wife and small children, and we own a car, but I use bicycle and public transit to get to work. There's really no safe way to get the kids to preschool without a car. I had to do this last week, due to some car issues. The cars whooshing by my tiny children as we walked to the bus stop on the narrow shoulder were utterly terrifying. I won't be doing that again soon. There were no economical alternatives to our current housing situation, so like many other commenters, we have to use a personal vehicle even though we'd prefer to avoid it.
  - gedy 11y ago
    Agreed. Yes the housing situation is basically a must to move away from expensive housing near work.
  - yodsanklai 11y ago
    Quite often, I see people carrying very young kids on their bike, either on a back seat, or in a special carriage. We have bike lanes pretty much everywhere in my city, but they are not always separated from the car roads. I don't know if I would take such a risk myself.
yardie 11y ago
Bikes are cheap compared to cars. No one is going to risk a prison sentence for it if they can avoid it. Besides, if it's stolen I claim it against the insurance and get another one. I'm referring to the cheap city bikes, if you have a carbon fiber competition bike keep it at home and save it for race day. Some cities bikes are so ubiquitous you have to really want to steal it to steal it. Last time I was in Ghent bikes were everywhere. If you didn't have one just grab the nearest unlocked bike off the rack. Most likely its 50 years old and the owner has abandoned it. Now that is a bikable city!

gedy 11y ago

I also am assuming most of the no-car commenters in the US have no spouse or small children. There's a lot more to life than commuting back and forth to the office.

sevensor 11y ago
I have a foot in both camps -- I have a wife and small children, and we own a car, but I use bicycle and public transit to get to work. There's really no safe way to get the kids to preschool without a car. I had to do this last week, due to some car issues. The cars whooshing by my tiny children as we walked to the bus stop on the narrow shoulder were utterly terrifying. I won't be doing that again soon. There were no economical alternatives to our current housing situation, so like many other commenters, we have to use a personal vehicle even though we'd prefer to avoid it.
- gedy 11y ago
  Agreed. Yes the housing situation is basically a must to move away from expensive housing near work.
- yodsanklai 11y ago
  Quite often, I see people carrying very young kids on their bike, either on a back seat, or in a special carriage. We have bike lanes pretty much everywhere in my city, but they are not always separated from the car roads. I don't know if I would take such a risk myself.

yardie 11y ago

Bikes are cheap compared to cars. No one is going to risk a prison sentence for it if they can avoid it. Besides, if it's stolen I claim it against the insurance and get another one. I'm referring to the cheap city bikes, if you have a carbon fiber competition bike keep it at home and save it for race day. Some cities bikes are so ubiquitous you have to really want to steal it to steal it. Last time I was in Ghent bikes were everywhere. If you didn't have one just grab the nearest unlocked bike off the rack. Most likely its 50 years old and the owner has abandoned it. Now that is a bikable city!