shipwreck

Is the purpose of the carfree forum to talk about how cars are horrible and unneeded, and therefore how awesome we are as individuals to eschew them? Not that I believe this happens all the time, or even very much, but its on my mind, and thought I would start a new thread on it rather than further derail another one.

I think it is to offer tips on car free(or light)living, methods of dealing with some of the issues that that lifestyle brings, choices and options that affect our lives without driving.
Cause lets face it, as a super minority in an admitedly car-o-centric country it does bring some hurdles.

My main purpose in coming here is not only that, but to prove to myself that I am not alone in choosing to do this very difficult(where I live at least)means of moving myself and my goods around the bulk of the time. Untill recently I was the only person in a small town of 2,000 that avoids driving as much as possible. And as there aint no public transit, shoulders, or even a bike rack here, some times its nice to get some moral support.
As long as its realistic. Not poor us, not yay us, just carfree(or light) us.
Almost everyone has something to offer on these pages at one time or another, despite bickering and disagreement of methods or reasons. Even the Super cheerleader HooHaa two wheels good four wheels bad types show a certain level of enthusiasm that entertains.

For the record, I am car light. It would be really hard to go 100+ miles for 2000 pounds of supplys every few months, or to go to and from the airport 70 miles away, carry eldery family members to the various doctors without one. There is no zip car, bus stop or taxi service here. And borrowing a car so I could say I was totaly car free would be pretty crummy.

sauerwald

I did a cross continent move 3 years ago, and when I did, I decided to not move my car (my wife kept her car, so we are car-light). In making that decision, I had lots of questions of if it would be possible, and started reading LCF to see what issues people came up against. When I did the move, I spent a lot of time trying to minimize what I thought the car free issues would be - I close a place to live that was within bike range of work, groceries etc. I also thought that I would need a car more often than I actually have, so I wanted to be close to a car rental location. A lot of the issues are the same issues that I confronted with bike commuting, so that is another good forum to read.

Roody

I always liked coming to a forum where it was ok to be enthusiastic about being carfree without having my enthusiasm constantly misconstrued as a put down of others who don't share my enthusiasm. Unfortunately, this is no longer it.

Roody

Overheard on the Mountain Biking sub forum:

"Therefore you must not understand that some people don't like mountain biking, and you are putting them down. Furthermore, a responsible adult would be too busy to even have time for mountain biking, and disabled people can't do it either."

I-Like-To-Bike

Car free enthusiasm is not a license, nor a free pass from critical responses to make ridiculous claims about personal economics, foolish assumptions about the intelligence level of people who are not car-free enthusiasts, wacky assumptions that associate simple life aspirations with people not owning a car. Most of all "enthusiasm" is not a license to make smug assumptions and extrapolations from a poster's experience (or wishful thinking) on to any/every other non car-free enthusiasts.

no1mad 

Aside from the occassional ankle biting, it's refreshing to be able to talk about alternative transportation without getting into the usual cycling specific debates of frame material, components, cargo management, drop bars vs every other type of bars.... all that and more gets tiresome.

Roody

I think that's a good point. There came a time when I had learned all that I needed to know from BF about the mechanics of bicycling and bicycles. I then moved along to the more social sub forums. That's one of the great things about BF. T here are many forums, and people who are not interested in one forum should feel free to move along to a different one.

shipwreck

Just so you know, I believe that no one has ever knocked anyone elses chip of either of thier shoulders over the internet. So I am not trying to devalue your enthusiasm for car free living. I actualy share it, but tempered with an apparently different mindset acknowledging all the gray areas involved.
Not trying to argue any points with you, in fact the only reason I am bothering to respond is the fact that over the years I have read some of your posts with great interest. Not always absolute agreement, but with respect.

So when I and everyone else is in lockstep with the same views on the subject, and there is no point in posting because we all know what everyone else thinks and agrees on, then I will have lost interest in one particular forum(I got the hint)and will move along to a different one.

And just a note, my thread is not a troll for arguement, but a sincere question about what we get out of all this. Riding a bike is a fairly simple activity with some very complex aspects. Sometimes I think that I should just do it and say the heck with what anyone else thinks, but then again as I said in the original post, I do draw some moral support from this site.

Ekdog

I happen to think there is a great deal wrong with our car-centric transport systems, and I like to come here to share ideas about how we can improve them and minimize car use. To one loquacious and reititerative poster, this comes off as "foolish", "wacky" and "smug" (these are his favorite adjectives), so he has embarked upon a quixotic campaign to stamp out any such conversation. Apart from this eccentric fellow, most of the other participants here seem to enjoy discussing these issues in a civilized manner.

I am also fond of reading about more practical issues, such as what kind of equipment car-free and car-light folks are using, how they manage to carry out their daily routines without a motorcar, and so on.

JoeyBike

People here have a wide range of experiences thanks to a nonconventional lifestyle. I have learned things and hopefully added to this rescourse. This is why i am here.

Artkansas 

My purpose in coming here is to share the experience of living car free, with others who have adopted the same lifestyle, or are interested in doing so. I want to learn what others are doing, experiencing and what discoveries they make whether it's articles they find, videos or what occurs to them while riding along. Of course this sub forum should be about using a bicycle as one's prime form of transportation. It's a big topic and branches out into the commuting, utility bikes, and winter riding forums as well.

Drv1913

Being carfree is a goal towards which I am s-l-o-w-l-y working. I lurk and occasionally post here to get ideas for bicycle-centric solutions to various minor problems, to read about broader, related issues (e.g., the contentious, yet perennial "simple living" topic), and to interact with all the interesting posters here. This is the only BF subforum for which I at least read every thread, and I've mentioned before that I've read through all the archives. I am not anti-car, and I don't think that most of the people who post here are, either; however, if you can't be enthusiastic or even, dare I say it, smug about being carfree on a carfee forum, what's the point?

wolfchild

It's interesting to read about other peoples experiences, with this alternative lifestyle. I don't agree 100% with some of the posters, their reasons for being car-free may be different from mine, they may be living a different lifestyle then me...but I still enjoy reading their posts.

Stealthammer

I've been carfree or carlite for 23 out of the past 28 years, but I am also a bit of an eccentric according to those who know me best, so reading posts from other riders who embrace the joy and freedom of traveling primarily or solely by bicycle makes me feel a bit less of an "odd sort". And since most of my friends, and all of my family know that this has been my choice for most of my life, I guess I also enjoy the feeling of having a connection with others outside of my small circle of acquaintances.

ilynne

It's a public forum on the internet. Eventually the argumentative people find somewhere else to pick fights with strangers. It will get better.

And then it will get worse again. I just try to ignore the noise. If you don't respond to it, it dies out pretty quickly.

lasauge 

This. Nobody in my immediate circle is car-free or car-lite, and even among my cycling acquaintances there's not much enthusiasm for using bikes as practical vehicles, so if I want to talk about these topics and learn from other people's experiences, I have to come online and visit forums like this one.

As for being smug, I'm extremely careful to make my transportation mode a non-issue; in the same way that I don't want people to think I ride a bike because I got a DUI and lost my license, I don't want to give any impression that riding my bike everywhere makes me a special snowflake. I've been so successful in this that it's only during the winter that coworkers start asking questions (because riding a bicycle when there's snow on the roads is fairly conspicuous). I don't shy away from talking about how I live without a car when I'm asked, but I never bring it up, and I'm always careful not to brag about the positive aspects of my lifestyle.

Dahon.Steve

I don't know if there are any other forums like this one anywhere on the net. When I Google carfree, this forum is the only one appears. I've searched for those who are carfree thanks to public transit and there are none!

This forum is more like Weight Watchers in a way. I lost alot of weight on that diet but gained it all back when I stopped going to the meetings. This forum helps to keep you carfree!! I used to rent once or twice a year but not anymore. I was even thinking of buying a motorcycle a year ago even that desire came and left.

Bluish Green

"We" are car light. My wife drives the car, and I am a full-time bicycle commuter. We ditched the second car on Oct 1, 2012, and this LCF forum was helpful to some extent in accomplishing that goal. I have realized some pretty amazing benefits from the lifestyle change and learned to conquer a number of challenges. I come to the LCF discussions to learn about the experiences and insights of others in different cities (and countries), to pick up the occasional tip or good idea on how to personally be more car-free, and for social interaction, hopefully good-naturedly.

I like to hear what others in this small sub-set of the modern world are thinking. This includes "cheerleading," inpirations, imaginations, exasperations, all of the diversity of thought that comes when you open a topic to free discussion. It is all interesting reading, and sometimes very illuminating. I'd like to see my country move forward and become better for this kind of lifestyle choice. We are too dependent on cars and it is negatively affecting our overall health.

I also participate regularly in the Commuting, Clydesdales & Athenas, and Winter Cycling sub-forums. All are good (and at times great). Commuting is my favorite for tracking mileage and getting advice and support. Winter Cycling is great for tackling cold-weather bicycling issues, and C & A is my favorite for social interaction and because I am down to 250 pounds, and size is its own challenge.

All are good, though, as is LCF. I learn from others probably more than the other way around, but hopefully that will change with more experience as a full-time all-weather bike commuter. I belong to all 4 of those bicycling sub-categories and find value in all 4 discussion groups.

gerv 

+1. It's the Weight Watchers of transportation!

I'm pretty sure most people come here to hear a few ideas they aren't likely to hear on the TV. It's great to form a community and throw a few ideas around. I don't mind nay-sayers too much as they can balance the conversation... as long as they don't outnumber everyone else (and I can skip BS posts).

I've also picked up a quite a few ideas here that I've incorporated into my lifestyle. To give you an example, there was a post here sometime around 2006 that eventually got around to talking about "Navy showers" as a means of saving money and doing a good job with the least amount of resources (... ie, a common theme on LCF...).

So I tried it out and have being using this technique for many years.

Roody

I was directing no hints at you whatsoever.

And obviously I have no problem with controversy. I have often been in the minority on issues discussed here, and loved it. I was one of very few who supported the auto bailout, for example, in a passionate but respectful thread that lasted for several weeks. I am so glad that there were people there from all sides of the argument.

My problem is with a couple people who come on this forum and make disrespectful comments about me and others--personal comments that are false, but repeated so often that others must come to believe them. It's just wrong to constantly say that carfree people are arrogant or smug, or we can't understand that not everybody can be carfree. It's rude and disrespectful to repeatedly say that carfree people are irresponsible moochers who can't hold a well-paying job. But this happens over and over. I don't understand why this misbehavior is tolerated by either the forum members (us) or by the moderators.

no1mad 

If this is how you normally 'contribute' to a discussion of this type, perhaps you should seek out other forums to haunt that have topics that doesn't bring out your negative side.

Jared.

Here is a suggestion Roody:

I like to read this forum for tips, tricks, and anecdotes on living car free and the problems/solutions that arise from it.

Ekdog

That's his only stock and store, I'm afraid, putting people down. It's not limited to this sub-forum, either, by the way. He spreads his negativity wherever he goes on Bike Forums.

Roody

thanks for the suggestion, Jared.
I have had a certain person on my ignore list for a couple weeks now. It helps a bit, but the threads are still disrupted and derailed, and that bothers me. Also, I'm not totally convinced that ignoring a bully is ever a good solution. But I'm going to try it a while longer.

no1mad 

While I appreciate your candor and I am tangentially aware of his reputation, I haven't had that much direct interaction to form a clear and concise opinion one way or the other- and as I Mod, I feel I have to give him the benefit of the doubt.

That being said, I stand behind my earlier statement. Debate can be healthy for discussion, so I'm not saying everyone has to be in lock step with each other, but I am saying it has to be done with civility. Comments that bemoan, belittle, are demeaning or condescending towards another has to stop- and it applies to everyone.