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I went to school in Boston/Cambridge, without a car, and was absolutely flabbergasted how much more convenient the city was with one when I graduated. It was li
by smeej 3y ago
I went to school in Boston/Cambridge, without a car, and was absolutely flabbergasted how much more convenient the city was with one when I graduated. It was like I hadn't known what I was missing. Places I thought of as "far apart" were really only a 15-minute drive from each other.
Getting to the airport really stood out. I thought of it as a two-hour trip, because I had to walk to a bus, then transfer to a train, then another train, then another bus. It took less than half an hour in a car. As a student, the difference in fare between mass transit and a taxi was enough that I couldn't swing it (dating myself--this was before Uber/Lyft), but I had essentially been trading my time for an extremely low amount of money when I look back at it.
- ghaff 3y agoI did as well. The reality was that we leaned on the people who did have cars all the time. To play Thursday night hockey, to buy booze, to get to Chinatown for dinner faster... And, yes, given I was usually carrying luggage I took a taxi to the airport--which is admittedly not a common trip for the random consumer on a personal trip. I know a couple who live in SF without a car, as much as a statement as anything else. And I see them making a lot of use of Uber, Zipcar, conventional rentals, and weekend visitors who have a car.
- smeej 3y agoI didn't know anyone on my campus with a car, but I did learn a life hack by accident as a sophomore that I played to my advantage for the rest of college: If I booked my flight to campus at the beginning of the school year with a very tight connection somewhere, I could run and make the flight, but my luggage would not. Then they would have to deliver it to me at my dorm in a day or two when it arrived! I would just pack enough for a couple days in my backpack and wait for my suitcases later!