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I've lived this lifestyle a few different times while living in the USA, and every time it's just inconvenient enough that I need to go back to owning a car aft

I've lived this lifestyle a few different times while living in the USA, and every time it's just inconvenient enough that I need to go back to owning a car after a few weeks/months. The time I'm able to go car free varies on location and climate, but there's still not the required infrastructure to make this a viable option for everyday life outside of a few select metro areas. It's a real shame, because the positive benefits experienced are real and quite noticeable, even in a short timespan.

rjbwork 3y ago
It really just depends on how committed you are and what your lifestyle is. I successfully lived in Atlanta, of all places, using nothing but an e-bike and public transit for an entire year, with a Lyft here or there as necessary. I got into better shape than I have been since I was a teenager too. Biking in rainy sub-zero temps is a bit of PITA, but it builds character, and honestly there's something charming and invigorating about it if you've got the right gear. Would love to do it again, and in fact am planning to at some point.
- chasd00 3y ago
  > rainy sub-zero temps how does that work exactly? I've never seen rain when temps are below zero.
  - _dain_ 3y ago
    You can sometimes get a temperature inversion where the air near the ground is colder than the air further up, and then the rain doesn't have time to freeze before it hits the ground. Also surfaces can be sub-zero but the air above them is above zero and vice versa.
  - rjbwork 3y ago
    Ahh sorry, I interact with WAYY too many Europeans on the internet. I just meant below freezing, usually right below, Atlanta is not that cold. I think the lowest I saw during that year was about 11F.
scott_w 3y ago
> every time it's just inconvenient enough that I need to go back to owning a car after a few weeks/months. This is a huge problem in many places, though particularly bad in the USA from my experience of being there (a week in Austin, TX). It seems that the UK is following this model outside of London, unfortunately. I live in a relatively compact city (to the point you can walk to the city centre from the outer suburbs in about an hour) but the funding cuts to public transport are making it less and less feasible to live without a car. Inter-city travel, while totally possible by train, is also going the same way. Cancellations and late trains seem to be the norm (even before the strikes) and the cost is insane. I quickly costed up a trip I drove a couple of weeks ago: £65 in diesel or £200 for the train (2 people + dog) and a lot of inconvenience. Don't get me wrong, I'm 100% in favour of active travel and being able to live without a car. I want to see governments invest in this properly. If you follow the money, however, governments invest massively in car infrastructure, so people, unfortunately, drive cars everywhere.
- thx-2718 3y ago
  > Don't get me wrong, I'm 100% in favour of active travel and being able to live without a car. I want to see governments invest in this properly. If you follow the money, however, governments invest massively in car infrastructure, so people, unfortunately, drive cars everywhere. On the other end of it though wealthier people are designing boutique neighborhoods now. This is just one example but I understand there's similar concepts going on elsewhere: https://thehill.com/changing-america/524069-sprawling-city-gets-a-new-car-free-neighborhood/ https://thehill.com/changing-america/524069-sprawling-city-g... https://culdesac.com/ https://culdesac.com/ So maybe wealthy people wanting to live car free will push the design around more "closed" neighborhoods and limit the need for cars. Regardless I agree with you and don't really yet see a way for (American here) placing enough incentives to promote car-less neighborhoods or at least, less cars. Outside of the U.S. maybe easier to shift that. Something I've considered doing since I live in a relatively urban area is just using rental cars when I need to do a longer trip and leave getting things to delivery services when weather or time makes walking unfavorable. Which, if those things combined is less than what I currently spend on having car should get me ahead.
__MatrixMan__ 3y ago
I feel the same way. I did it for a decade. It was hard, but great. Then I got a dog. I want to take her hiking, or to the dog park, so I got a car. "I'll still ride", I told myself. But taking her for walks (they're pretty long walks), while not as good as my bike rides, is just enough exercise that going on a long bike ride just doesn't feel like the right thing. I still ride occasionally, like when I'm stuck on a code problem and need to clear my head about it, but it's not like it was. I miss it, but I also love my dog.
systems_glitch 3y ago
Dig in, I walked to work in -20 *F for five years in Troy, NY winters. One of the main benefits of that city is walkability! My wife and I still had a car between us for going outside the immediate area, but it was certainly nice not dealing with traffic and parking daily. We did live within a few miles of where we worked, a conscious choice when we moved to Troy.
fatnoah 3y ago
> ...but there's still not the required infrastructure to make this a viable option for everyday life outside of a few select metro areas... There's really no getting around this. Outside of many cities, the push for everything to get bigger (stores, medical providers, etc) has pushed everything to the outskirts of towns where space exists and is cheaper. I've lived a total of about 10 years in a US city without a car. To the great surprise of friends that asked me about it, I found it liberating, not constraining. The ability to go places and a) be able to stop and explore along the way and b) not have to worry about where to put the car was very freeing. There were infrequent times where I did need a vehicle, but ZipCar or a short term rental solved that issue.
jcims 3y ago
I've lived in the rural midwest almost all of my life and have never really had the option to not have a vehicle. I lived in Mountain View, CA for six months to try a relocation experiment and was quite happy with my bike and using public transportation or renting a car as needed. It certainly helped that my employer had a shuttle service for rainy days and the availability of same day shipping from major retailers and Amazon didn't hurt. I was pretty impressed with how easy it was to do overall, though. Moving back to my home in the midwest, it would be completely unsustainable and dangerous here. But I've found some trails and still get out on the bike regularly.
- kgermino 3y ago
  I find Midwestern cities are a good balance for that. In Milwaukee now and it's very easy/cheap to own a car (which we do) but most day to day needs are easily done without it. My wife and I combined drive a bit more than once a week on average, and most trips are either out of town or "the weather is mildly annoying and I don't feel like walking/biking today." I know a lot of families living a similar 0-1 car life here too.

rjbwork 3y ago

It really just depends on how committed you are and what your lifestyle is. I successfully lived in Atlanta, of all places, using nothing but an e-bike and public transit for an entire year, with a Lyft here or there as necessary. I got into better shape than I have been since I was a teenager too. Biking in rainy sub-zero temps is a bit of PITA, but it builds character, and honestly there's something charming and invigorating about it if you've got the right gear. Would love to do it again, and in fact am planning to at some point.

chasd00 3y ago
> rainy sub-zero temps how does that work exactly? I've never seen rain when temps are below zero.
- _dain_ 3y ago
  You can sometimes get a temperature inversion where the air near the ground is colder than the air further up, and then the rain doesn't have time to freeze before it hits the ground. Also surfaces can be sub-zero but the air above them is above zero and vice versa.
- rjbwork 3y ago
  Ahh sorry, I interact with WAYY too many Europeans on the internet. I just meant below freezing, usually right below, Atlanta is not that cold. I think the lowest I saw during that year was about 11F.

scott_w 3y ago

> every time it's just inconvenient enough that I need to go back to owning a car after a few weeks/months. This is a huge problem in many places, though particularly bad in the USA from my experience of being there (a week in Austin, TX). It seems that the UK is following this model outside of London, unfortunately. I live in a relatively compact city (to the point you can walk to the city centre from the outer suburbs in about an hour) but the funding cuts to public transport are making it less and less feasible to live without a car. Inter-city travel, while totally possible by train, is also going the same way. Cancellations and late trains seem to be the norm (even before the strikes) and the cost is insane. I quickly costed up a trip I drove a couple of weeks ago: £65 in diesel or £200 for the train (2 people + dog) and a lot of inconvenience. Don't get me wrong, I'm 100% in favour of active travel and being able to live without a car. I want to see governments invest in this properly. If you follow the money, however, governments invest massively in car infrastructure, so people, unfortunately, drive cars everywhere.

thx-2718 3y ago
> Don't get me wrong, I'm 100% in favour of active travel and being able to live without a car. I want to see governments invest in this properly. If you follow the money, however, governments invest massively in car infrastructure, so people, unfortunately, drive cars everywhere. On the other end of it though wealthier people are designing boutique neighborhoods now. This is just one example but I understand there's similar concepts going on elsewhere: https://thehill.com/changing-america/524069-sprawling-city-gets-a-new-car-free-neighborhood/ https://thehill.com/changing-america/524069-sprawling-city-g... https://culdesac.com/ https://culdesac.com/ So maybe wealthy people wanting to live car free will push the design around more "closed" neighborhoods and limit the need for cars. Regardless I agree with you and don't really yet see a way for (American here) placing enough incentives to promote car-less neighborhoods or at least, less cars. Outside of the U.S. maybe easier to shift that. Something I've considered doing since I live in a relatively urban area is just using rental cars when I need to do a longer trip and leave getting things to delivery services when weather or time makes walking unfavorable. Which, if those things combined is less than what I currently spend on having car should get me ahead.

__MatrixMan__ 3y ago

I feel the same way. I did it for a decade. It was hard, but great. Then I got a dog. I want to take her hiking, or to the dog park, so I got a car. "I'll still ride", I told myself. But taking her for walks (they're pretty long walks), while not as good as my bike rides, is just enough exercise that going on a long bike ride just doesn't feel like the right thing. I still ride occasionally, like when I'm stuck on a code problem and need to clear my head about it, but it's not like it was. I miss it, but I also love my dog.

systems_glitch 3y ago

Dig in, I walked to work in -20 *F for five years in Troy, NY winters. One of the main benefits of that city is walkability! My wife and I still had a car between us for going outside the immediate area, but it was certainly nice not dealing with traffic and parking daily. We did live within a few miles of where we worked, a conscious choice when we moved to Troy.

fatnoah 3y ago

> ...but there's still not the required infrastructure to make this a viable option for everyday life outside of a few select metro areas... There's really no getting around this. Outside of many cities, the push for everything to get bigger (stores, medical providers, etc) has pushed everything to the outskirts of towns where space exists and is cheaper. I've lived a total of about 10 years in a US city without a car. To the great surprise of friends that asked me about it, I found it liberating, not constraining. The ability to go places and a) be able to stop and explore along the way and b) not have to worry about where to put the car was very freeing. There were infrequent times where I did need a vehicle, but ZipCar or a short term rental solved that issue.

jcims 3y ago

I've lived in the rural midwest almost all of my life and have never really had the option to not have a vehicle. I lived in Mountain View, CA for six months to try a relocation experiment and was quite happy with my bike and using public transportation or renting a car as needed. It certainly helped that my employer had a shuttle service for rainy days and the availability of same day shipping from major retailers and Amazon didn't hurt. I was pretty impressed with how easy it was to do overall, though. Moving back to my home in the midwest, it would be completely unsustainable and dangerous here. But I've found some trails and still get out on the bike regularly.

kgermino 3y ago
I find Midwestern cities are a good balance for that. In Milwaukee now and it's very easy/cheap to own a car (which we do) but most day to day needs are easily done without it. My wife and I combined drive a bit more than once a week on average, and most trips are either out of town or "the weather is mildly annoying and I don't feel like walking/biking today." I know a lot of families living a similar 0-1 car life here too.