When Ellen first moved from New York to Los Angeles, she decided not to own a car as a “test”, she says. “I grew up without car culture in Vancouver, and I wanted to try it out for a year.”
Five years on, she still has no plans to buy one. “It’s certainly a stereotype that you can’t not drive [in LA], but a lot of people do get around without them. I sometimes dream of getting one for road trips, but I think I’ll just rent for now.”
Not America, similar experience in Perth, AU. Good PT but getting to some places that way is dangerous or frustrating. Taxi/Uber works well for those cases. Nice to not have the expenses of a car.
No car in NYC, no problem. No car in LA is bold.
Renting cars for road trips is definitely the way to go though. Put that wear and tear on somebody else’s car, and dont waste the money on a car sized for road tripping that you utilize 1% of the time
yeah im in chicago and this is not uncommon. still to many cars but if you live within a mile of an el station you can easily get by without a car. If your good with biking there is almost no were within the metro line limits that it would not work.
I did this in LA for 4 years back when I was in my mid to late 20s. I bicycled, walked, and metroed everywhere. Sadly, this eventually became very difficult due to certain life circumstances, and I admittedly willingly returned to traveling around by wheeled coffin.
That said, getting around LA without a car was an amazing experience and were I a younger man, I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. I met amazing people, gained a unique perspective and love for the city that will be with me until the day I die, and the health benefits and street smarts I gained are traits I still benefit from.
Living without a car in NYC is pretty great. That’s whole categories of expenses I don’t have.
Took the train last night to an event, walked to a nearby bar, walked to get some pizza, took the bus home. Easy-peasy.
Someone in the friend group took a car (Lyft) home, but I can’t imagine wanting to spend like $30 to save maybe 20 minutes in that situation.
Now imagine doing that without having in your pocket the knowledge that this is voluntary, your life isn’t on the line, and if it fails you can go back to your real life.
Woah the metro connects Long Beach & Santa Monica?
Anyway the worst part about not having a car, inability to haul large items, inability to bring a bunch of stuff with you like change of clothes, snacks, hobby supplies, etc.
Cargo bikes, bike trailers, panniers, messenger bags, backpacks, rental vans, delivery, et cetera. There are so many ways to bring all your shit with you without a car.
Heck, my university’s marching band members all get to their practice field without cars. Even the sousaphone players. There’s a CSA delivery guy who rides his cargo bike past my house daily. And nobody, but nobody, around here brings appliances and mattresses home in their cars. All of the stores offer home delivery.
They do make bags to carry things.
Good for people who have hobbies & needs that are small enough to fit into bags.
It’s different planning. People in cars tend to take everything ‘just in case’ instead of just what they need. Realistically, if you live in a metro area then if you leave with your wallet and some spending money you don’t need to carry anything
