5 ms·

Do any Seattle-ites not have a car? How do you get around? Asking as a NYer who would consider living there if the car-free life wouldn't be too painful

chamanbuga 4y ago
Living the car-free life in Seattle is depressing due to gloomy weather. Life in Seattle is great if you accept the grey and live outdoors as much as possible. For that you need a car.
- jobs_throwaway 4y ago
  I was afraid that'd be the answer. Do you use your car for everything, or are you able to handle day-to-day stuff on foot and use the car mostly for adventures?
  - lazyasciiart 4y ago
    I don’t drive and have been in Seattle for 15 years. I do carpool with friends to go skiing or camping out of the city, but day to day I used bike and transit for everything (until the pandemic, now I work from home and mostly just walk to nearby shops).
- simplyluke 4y ago
  This is the real answer. I walk/ride a bike a ton for about 7 months of the year here. Winter months I am driving much more often than anything else. Standing around waiting for a bus, walking a mile+, etc in the pitch black when it's 40 degrees and raining is not fun and given the option of just driving I take it.
- noirbot 4y ago
  I'm not sure that tracks? When I've visited Seattle with friends, I walk to almost everything, even in gloomy weather. I don't see how "living outdoors" requires a car - if anything, driving everywhere is the the opposite of living outdoors. Sure, if you want to go out to the mountains every weekend you need a car, but with a light rain-proof jacket, it's not too bad to walk or bike through much of the city. The grey weather is either depressing or not, but I don't find it to be much more depressing out of a car than in it.
et-al 4y ago
I know folks who live in Seattle and they get around by bike fine. However they all own cars as well to go to the outdoors on the weekend. Feel like that’s half the reason of living in Seattle. If nature is not high on your priorities, I dunno why one would trade NYC for Seattle. State income tax?
solson4 4y ago
I lived in Seattle from 2016-2020 and didn't have a car for about half that time. If your house and work are near a link stop you certainly don't need it, everything you'll need is in walking distance or a train ride away. Other than link and the rapid buses, there's good bus coverage, but it's slow, wouldn't want to rely on it IMO. Biking is not great. I did it a lot, but I'm comfortable riding through heavy traffic on steep hills, if you're not, probably would be hard to rely on. Finally, I'm big into climbing/mountaineering and lack of a car was never a big problem. I'd rent one the few times I had too (way cheaper than parking and insurance), but otherwise could usually carpool with someone else who was going. Sorta' puts you on someone else's schedule, but if you need a belay partner anyway...
mhink 4y ago
To be perfectly honest, although it's technically possible to go car-free here, it can be more trouble than it's worth. You'll be able to get to the essentials easily enough, but there are a long tail of places that you may want to get to which are only bus-accessible if you transfer- and that can add a ton of time to your trip. It's more realistic to think of Seattle as a city where you can be "car-light": it's entirely possible to go without driving during the week, assuming you commute by bus and have a small supermarket nearby to pick up dinner/essentials. Then, on the weekend, a vehicle can be super useful to fill in the gaps, whether that's going to the larger supermarket for bulkier goods, getting out of the city into nature, or going over to a distant neighborhood to check it out. Part of this is because of the city's geography- I might not mind (for instance) living in West Seattle and commuting by bus to downtown, but if I'm trying to go visit the Woodland Park Zoo up, I'd probably want to drive there because it would be a considerably longer trip involving a transfer in Downtown.
jandrewrogers 4y ago
Yes, I've lived in Seattle without a car, that is easily achievable and many people do this. In the core, you can get around by walking since the weather is mild most of the year, you don't even need to use public transit. You can expand your footprint on light rail and buses, which has been slowly improving its range but many people don't use those if they are in the dense urban areas. The one gap is that Seattle is surrounded by very popular nature and outdoorsy activities up in the mountains or out on the islands. It is one of the major perks of living in Seattle. If you want to spend a lot of time wandering around the Cascades, you'll need a car. Some people that have a car use it almost exclusively for outdoors activities, not day to day living.
- aendruk 4y ago
  Exactly, I have a $2k bicycle for daily use and a $1k jeep for getting outdoors. No concerns about leaving that at a trailhead overnight.
Analemma_ 4y ago
It depends where you live. I used to live in Belltown and did not have a car, this was just fine. But Belltown is right downtown so your choices are either very expensive newer buildings or older buildings that are somewhat affordable but kinda decrepit. But I'm now in the odd Queen Anne/Westlake border area and I think a car is pretty necessary, and if I were in the aggressively single-family zoned places like Magnolia it would be even more so.
slillibri 4y ago
I've lived in Seattle for ~10 years and haven't owned a car the entire time. I use public transit, walk, or a Lyft to get around. I live in Belltown (5th and Vine) and in general all the places I need to get to are within walking distance. Even the international district is only ~20-30 minutes walk for me, or I can take the light rail.
whateveracct 4y ago
There's a lot of fun places a 20-ish minute drive from Seattle. It's definitely worth it to have a car. And Tacoma is only 45 minutes away.
- poly_morphis 4y ago
  What's in Tacoma that would warrant a 45-minute drive?
  - whateveracct 4y ago
    It's just a cool place to hang out for a day. Many great restaurants, interesting and cool stores, museums, live music, a cool ae-card, other attractions, a great zoo, a great waterfront. Olympia's got cool stuff too but it's not as close. It's close to Tacoma though.
RandallBrown 4y ago
A friend of mine has lived in Seattle for about 8 years without a car so I have a pretty good idea what it's like. We both live in one of the 15 minute areas from this article. Public transportation is decent compared to most of the US (but worse than NYC obviously.) There are also lots of other ways to get around like Uber, scooters, bikes, and Gig cars (rental car you pick up and drop in public parking spots.) The biggest problem is getting to the mountains if that's your thing. That's the main reason I have a car.
lph 4y ago
It's possible, but you have to carefully choose where to live. I spent my 20's in Seattle with no car: I lived in an apartment-dense neighborhood close to shops and groceries (Capitol Hill), and relied on buses, walking, and biking for transportation. That was before Uber and Lyft, which would have helped to fill in the gaps. It was a fun bohemian lifestyle, but I wouldn't want to do it now that I have kids and have a much busier schedule. Buses here are really slow.

chamanbuga 4y ago

Living the car-free life in Seattle is depressing due to gloomy weather. Life in Seattle is great if you accept the grey and live outdoors as much as possible. For that you need a car.

jobs_throwaway 4y ago
I was afraid that'd be the answer. Do you use your car for everything, or are you able to handle day-to-day stuff on foot and use the car mostly for adventures?
- lazyasciiart 4y ago
  I don’t drive and have been in Seattle for 15 years. I do carpool with friends to go skiing or camping out of the city, but day to day I used bike and transit for everything (until the pandemic, now I work from home and mostly just walk to nearby shops).
simplyluke 4y ago
This is the real answer. I walk/ride a bike a ton for about 7 months of the year here. Winter months I am driving much more often than anything else. Standing around waiting for a bus, walking a mile+, etc in the pitch black when it's 40 degrees and raining is not fun and given the option of just driving I take it.
noirbot 4y ago
I'm not sure that tracks? When I've visited Seattle with friends, I walk to almost everything, even in gloomy weather. I don't see how "living outdoors" requires a car - if anything, driving everywhere is the the opposite of living outdoors. Sure, if you want to go out to the mountains every weekend you need a car, but with a light rain-proof jacket, it's not too bad to walk or bike through much of the city. The grey weather is either depressing or not, but I don't find it to be much more depressing out of a car than in it.

et-al 4y ago

I know folks who live in Seattle and they get around by bike fine. However they all own cars as well to go to the outdoors on the weekend. Feel like that’s half the reason of living in Seattle. If nature is not high on your priorities, I dunno why one would trade NYC for Seattle. State income tax?

solson4 4y ago

I lived in Seattle from 2016-2020 and didn't have a car for about half that time. If your house and work are near a link stop you certainly don't need it, everything you'll need is in walking distance or a train ride away. Other than link and the rapid buses, there's good bus coverage, but it's slow, wouldn't want to rely on it IMO. Biking is not great. I did it a lot, but I'm comfortable riding through heavy traffic on steep hills, if you're not, probably would be hard to rely on. Finally, I'm big into climbing/mountaineering and lack of a car was never a big problem. I'd rent one the few times I had too (way cheaper than parking and insurance), but otherwise could usually carpool with someone else who was going. Sorta' puts you on someone else's schedule, but if you need a belay partner anyway...

mhink 4y ago

To be perfectly honest, although it's technically possible to go car-free here, it can be more trouble than it's worth. You'll be able to get to the essentials easily enough, but there are a long tail of places that you may want to get to which are only bus-accessible if you transfer- and that can add a ton of time to your trip. It's more realistic to think of Seattle as a city where you can be "car-light": it's entirely possible to go without driving during the week, assuming you commute by bus and have a small supermarket nearby to pick up dinner/essentials. Then, on the weekend, a vehicle can be super useful to fill in the gaps, whether that's going to the larger supermarket for bulkier goods, getting out of the city into nature, or going over to a distant neighborhood to check it out. Part of this is because of the city's geography- I might not mind (for instance) living in West Seattle and commuting by bus to downtown, but if I'm trying to go visit the Woodland Park Zoo up, I'd probably want to drive there because it would be a considerably longer trip involving a transfer in Downtown.

jandrewrogers 4y ago

Yes, I've lived in Seattle without a car, that is easily achievable and many people do this. In the core, you can get around by walking since the weather is mild most of the year, you don't even need to use public transit. You can expand your footprint on light rail and buses, which has been slowly improving its range but many people don't use those if they are in the dense urban areas. The one gap is that Seattle is surrounded by very popular nature and outdoorsy activities up in the mountains or out on the islands. It is one of the major perks of living in Seattle. If you want to spend a lot of time wandering around the Cascades, you'll need a car. Some people that have a car use it almost exclusively for outdoors activities, not day to day living.

aendruk 4y ago
Exactly, I have a $2k bicycle for daily use and a $1k jeep for getting outdoors. No concerns about leaving that at a trailhead overnight.

Analemma_ 4y ago

It depends where you live. I used to live in Belltown and did not have a car, this was just fine. But Belltown is right downtown so your choices are either very expensive newer buildings or older buildings that are somewhat affordable but kinda decrepit. But I'm now in the odd Queen Anne/Westlake border area and I think a car is pretty necessary, and if I were in the aggressively single-family zoned places like Magnolia it would be even more so.

slillibri 4y ago

I've lived in Seattle for ~10 years and haven't owned a car the entire time. I use public transit, walk, or a Lyft to get around. I live in Belltown (5th and Vine) and in general all the places I need to get to are within walking distance. Even the international district is only ~20-30 minutes walk for me, or I can take the light rail.

whateveracct 4y ago

There's a lot of fun places a 20-ish minute drive from Seattle. It's definitely worth it to have a car. And Tacoma is only 45 minutes away.

poly_morphis 4y ago
What's in Tacoma that would warrant a 45-minute drive?
- whateveracct 4y ago
  It's just a cool place to hang out for a day. Many great restaurants, interesting and cool stores, museums, live music, a cool ae-card, other attractions, a great zoo, a great waterfront. Olympia's got cool stuff too but it's not as close. It's close to Tacoma though.

RandallBrown 4y ago

A friend of mine has lived in Seattle for about 8 years without a car so I have a pretty good idea what it's like. We both live in one of the 15 minute areas from this article. Public transportation is decent compared to most of the US (but worse than NYC obviously.) There are also lots of other ways to get around like Uber, scooters, bikes, and Gig cars (rental car you pick up and drop in public parking spots.) The biggest problem is getting to the mountains if that's your thing. That's the main reason I have a car.

lph 4y ago

It's possible, but you have to carefully choose where to live. I spent my 20's in Seattle with no car: I lived in an apartment-dense neighborhood close to shops and groceries (Capitol Hill), and relied on buses, walking, and biking for transportation. That was before Uber and Lyft, which would have helped to fill in the gaps. It was a fun bohemian lifestyle, but I wouldn't want to do it now that I have kids and have a much busier schedule. Buses here are really slow.