jon c. 

At those temperatures (which I haven't seen since the 80s), I'd have zero interest in leaving the house.

Walter S

And why ask that question? Give him a break. 26 below zero is cold.

Machka 

Yeah ... when it was that cold I usually wanted to be in hibernation mode.

prj71

Cuz I can?

Just bought a new 2018 AWD car. Boy is that thing warm inside when it's cold out!!!

cooker

He has no interest in the forum subject year round, and has a strange need to tell us.

Sad.

350htrr

Some people feel the need to tell others why they don't, live car free or even car light, maybe cuz they don't understand why anyone would actually want to, given in this case the minus temps...

Mobile 155

You have a very valid point. To me excess cold, wet or crime are all good reasons to move. They wouldn't be reasons I would be motivated to drive less or ride my bikes more. I have never grasped the riding on ice and snow thing. That is just me.

GWGorham

From what I've gathered talking to local bike commuters (MN) negative 25 is the general cutoff.

350htrr

Really.? WOW.! Mine is 5*C...

wipekitty

I just remembered something: it was actually the very cold weather that pushed me to ultimately get rid of the family vehicle.

My significant other and I moved to our current location in June 2013 - for my job. Cycling was something I couldn't do much of in our last location, and I was pretty pumped about commuting by bike and doing nearly all of our errands on bike. The temperatures dropped in mid-November, and I kept commuting by bike because parking was expensive at work and besides, it was fun!

During a super-cold week in early January, the crappy furnace in the sketch apartment we ended up in met its match, and I went out to get a space heater. In the car. Which wouldn't start to come home. It wasn't the battery: some little piece of plastic snapped, screwing up the alternator. Given the cold temps and snow, the tow trucks were backed up - and I waited something like 7 hours. I could have walked to the store and back in less than two hours.

The hassle of dealing with the car, as well as the several hundred dollars I threw down to get it fixed (I really couldn't do my own work in sub-zero weather, and there's ordinances about non-working vehicles) seemed to outweigh the positives of having a car that I used once a month.

In February, I bought a house, and in March, I sold the car.

BillyD

You may want to stop trolling this forum if you have no interest in it other than to stir up trouble. That's actually the truest definition of trolling.

Roody

Thank you!!!

(I deleted a not-very-nice post I left for the guy.)

Siu Blue Wind

Thank YOU!

People don't realize that we actually do watch threads without posting in them.

PdalPowr

Right now I am car light.
I don't care how cold it is outside if I could I would be car free.
Maybe car sharing if I planned to live in a big city.

This can sound extreme but car free is just the beginning for me.
If my children need clean water it is up to me not to pollute it.
I do not critisize others for having a different lifestyle that makes living light difficult.
In the summer almost all clothes are washed by hand then that water is used to flush the toilet.
Anything I can reutilise I do.

Will I ever be car free?
I hope so but my goal for the now is small steps one at a time.

PdalPowr

A good joke and well meant.

wipekitty

Back to the topic: would anyone else like to share their motivations for becoming car-free or car-light?

ThermionicScott 

I'm car-light-er at the moment. The key to my old Outback snapped off in the ignition lock cylinder. So I'm carpooling with the wife while I wait for the replacement parts to arrive, and for the outside temperatures to get more reasonable for bike-commuting (a lot can go wrong if you have to stop at -12°F.)

I'd love for this to be my portal into only getting around via bike, but my cold-weather clothing only does well down to about 10°F. Something to address.

linberl

To the OP topic, I have been car lite since I retired 6 years ago. Why - because the thought of getting back in the car to drive after years of commuting literally made me nauseous. My car became associated with hours in traffic, my leg hurting from constantly shifting (5 spd), and seeing part of my day and life disappear. Once I retired, I bought an ebike, since I hadn't been on a bike in 35 years. I used it to build my confidence and skills and then passed it on to another retiree. A year and a half after retiring, I was riding non-electric bikes I had fixed up and restored myself.

Now, I'm ready to part with the car. It gets less than 400 miles a year put on it, as I primarily use when I need to take a passenger. Still trying to figure out ways that make sense to deal with that. Today it was raining and I picked up a friend to go to a matinee. Not something I can do on my bike. My friend has no car. Uber or Zip car would make the movie prohibitively expensive; we're cheap seniors hitting up the bargain matinees, lol. But other than situations like that, the car is not needed so I have given myself until September (end of the insurance period) to figure it out. Then, I will go car free.

I don't miss driving, I see so much more when I ride. It's better physically and mentally. And in my area, traffic is bad so I get there almost as fast on the bike, lol. And at least I know I won't be mowing people down in farmer's markets because I'm too freakin' old to be driving!

Roody

Basically, IMO, the passenger is responsible for his/her transportation just as much as I'm responsible for my own ride. For years I kept an extra bicycle or two so that visitors could join me if we decided to go somewhere. Now I mostly walk and my friends know that it will be fun to join me on a walk if we're going somewhere together.

Maelochs

I went car-lite so I would be accepted on this forum.

cooker

You'll have to do the math, but I suspect paying to keep the car on hand just to go to the cinema would make the movies even more expensive. So think of Uber as more than paying for itself, if it frees you from even more expensive car ownership.

Walter S

Think how much more acceptance you'd find by going totally car free, giving up your home, and living in the woods on cold food you grow yourself.

tandempower

But what about drive-in movies?

linberl

Do drive-ins even exist anymore? I haven't seen one in years, although I do have fond memories of fighting with my brother in the back of the station wagon while my parents told us to behave =).

Machka 

They're long gone. Last time I went to the Drivein would have been almost 30 years ago.