Public transportation is well prepared for most things in Portland, OR. Ironically, the 20 years I was a car owner were spent in NYC. I could not actually use the car to commute to work there, that would have been insanity. It was used only on weekends for shopping etc. Presently I have a large Fred Meyer to the West (.75mi) and a much smaller Safeway to the East (.5mi). I have a Bob Yak trailer for weekend shopping. Backpacks for mid-week pickups. I recently bought a Mongoose Envoy and it can carry almost as much as the trailer when both panniers are attached. We have a foot of (melting) snow on the ground (a very rare occurrence) so I had to walk to the FM and back yesterday.