jamesbenedict

I am retired in FL and two drivers live with me thus I do not miss a car. I think NYC where I have lived is best place to be carless. Many do not own a car and when one is needed they rent.

shelbyfv

Good to know.

WaveyGravey

We are a one car family.

Roughstuff

I was carless the vast majority of my years (I'm 70 now). I usually live(d) in small towns where it was easy to walk to the store, library, and tavern. In college towns (I was a college instructor) there were a lot of apartments and often bus service around campus and nearby facilities. The biggest thing I noticed not owning a car was the $$$ that was showing up in my savings account. It is worth the effort to become car free: emphasis on the word FREE...there are so many hassles that you avoid, and if you make a sustained effort to get your chores (Shopping, etc) done on a regular basis when you are in the right place at the right time, you'll do ok.

JoeyBike

New Orleans is great. HOT, but never snows, flat as a pancake, and all streets interconnect, so there is always a vast selection of routes to get anyplace you need/want to go.

Treadshredder

Hi all! I'm new to this forum (and this board), but saw this thread and thought I'd say hi 👋. I've been completely car free for around three years now, and I actually chose this part of central FL in part bc of the ease of biking. I've got a sweet bike trail maybe one mile away, plenty of other atv-type trails around, and most of the roads I ride have dedicated bike lanes. I even find the "highways" here to have safe pedestrian on/off/cross access. And if I find myself missing any of the tourist trap cities or big urban sprawl or mega shopping malls or bars and nightlife, I ....haven't missed any of it enough yet to hitch a ride to it. 😁

cooker

Sounds good. Are you healthy and of working age, or retired, or going to school, or some other circumstances? Live alone or with anyone?

friday1970

I wish I could go "no car"... sometimes. I simply need it for my IT job, where we service many customers all over SE Michigan area.
However...
On the weekends, I usually just park the car and use the bike almost exclusively. The only time I don't is going to my father's place, and only because the road he lives on is a deathtrap for cyclists (55mph, no shoulders, blind spots, etc)

WaveyGravey

We are a one car family, and it works great for us.

Hypno Toad

Congrats!

As empty-nesters that work from home, we are a one-car house ... and the primary reason we use that one car is getting our two dogs to places (we need a big cargo bike for them!)

I'm endlessly confused about our retired neighbors that have two cars and are using both daily ... and we live in an exceptionally walkable area - just two blocks to a vibrate mainstreet with tons of restaurants & coffee shops, a pharmacy, a hardware, a grocery store, a tap rooms, a wine bar, ... almost nothing you can't find within a short walk.

JoeyBike

Walk???

Most Americans never even consider walking. Or they can't, because they never did.

ClementineCake

I'm 33 and have never owned a car. It can definitely be difficult in north america. The car culture is strong 😅 I loved how normal it was when I lived in Europe and how walkable the cities were designed to be.

I-Like-To-Bike

Wouldn't it be ironic if some of your neighbors are confused about your choice to have two large dogs and keeping a car in order to take them places?

Hypno Toad

No worries, I'm confused about keeping a car that is mostly used as a dog bus. I know my neighbors are more confused about seeing me bike out in sub-zero weather to run errands by bike.

That said, I think of cars like the hammer in this old saying: "If the only tool you have is a hammer, it is tempting to treat everything as if it were a nail." Having a hammer in your toolbox isn't the problem, you need it when you need to pound in a nail, but there should be a bunch of other tools too, like a screwdriver to tighten a screw. Having a car is fine, but it should be just one of many transportation tools in your 'toolbox'. And because of its expense to operate, the car should be the last choice ... back to household tools, I have a compressor and pneumatic nail gun, but if I need to pound one nail, I'm going to grab the hammer because it's a lot less work than getting out and setting up the compressor and nail gun.

I-Like-To-Bike

Does it also confuse you when your neighbors use their automobiles to transport themselves in sub-zero weather, or choose to travel in comfort to destinations farther afield than the nearby vibrant mainstreet business establishments that you prefer.

Hypno Toad