Originally Posted by
pedex
I made a somewhat similar choice when I went car free back in 2001. It is a very small group of people that live like that by choice for certain.
I have known others that have as well. Still I contend the choice to do so was made with the same amount of thought that someone makes in a job choice or the purchase of a car. None of the people I have met assumed the rest of society is fooled into buying a car or intimidated out of riding the bus by the auto industry.
For 8 years all in my friends and I rode motorcycles. Not once in that 8 years did any of us think we were better informed than our neighbors or fellow workers. Nor were we interested in riding a bus then either. And while our fuel costs were less than our pick up driving friends none of us took a cut in pay. And I am not now about to advocate that my doctor be paid minimum wage after medical school.
The guy that got me back into cycling was car free for years. His car freeness did cost him money when his job moved. He survived and eventually got a better job and no longer is car free. If asked today what he preferred he is happier today.