Who doesn't own a motor vehicle?

[kenny weir]

As a follow-on to threads about gas prices, I'm interested in hearing the stories of any board members who exist without car ownership.

Is your non-ownership intentional?

Is it down to factors such as income and/or expense?

Has it dictated your career/lifestyle choices?

Or where you live?

Let me add that I am not an anti-car zealot. Had I the readies I'd rip out and buy a nice set of European wheels tomorrow - one with a great sound system.

It's just that financially I am so much better off without a car, and am fortunate to live in a city with a mostly excellent transport system. (That was a deliebrate decisions almost 20 years ago.)

It does cramp my choices a bit on the days when I have my son. Against that I can get a corporate-rate rental whenever I do need wheels. It's very cheap - I suspect I could rent a small car every other weekend and it'd still be cheaper than owning.

[patricia]

I haven't owned a car since I was in my early twenties. It started when I simply couldn't afford to maintain a car. Luckily, I've always lived in cities with excellent transportation systems. If I am within two miles of wherever I'm going, I walk, unless the weather is really rough.

When I was raising my children, they learned to use public transportation. Now, however, they both drive and gently tease me about not driving. They seem not to mind the expense of owning a car and that's fine.

I must say that over the years I have been teased from time to time about not driving a car. Oddly, I keep renewing my driver's license, but have rarely had to drive anywhere. The exception is the slight annoyance of always being the designated driver, since I don't drink more than a single glass of wine when I whoop it up. I don't mind doing that, since it doesn't involve my buying a car.

[Chalupa]

My wife and I gave up our car two years ago. We live smack dab in the middle of a major metropolis(Philadelphia) which had A LOT to do w/ our getting rid of the car. Having a car in a city is tough. Parking is a bitch and insurance is higher here than in the suburbs. However, when it really came down to it we only used ithe car 1 or 2 times a month and the hassle of keeping a car in the city didn't justify having one. Saving money was not really as much of an an issue for us as saving out sanity. We walk or bike EVERYWHERE. We both work w/in walking distance of our home. We also have easy access to supermarkets, shopping, entertainment, parks, you name it. We have a 9 month old baby and, while a car would probably be nice to have to run errands when the weather is crappy, we've adapted quite nicely to not having one. You'd be surprised how much food two people can haul back from the supermarket w/ backpacks and a baby carriage.

For those times when we need a car we rent from http://www.phillycarshare.org/ which has been a great experience for us. It's cheaper than Hertz and all of the cars they rent are hybrids.

Unless we move out of Center City I don't think we'll ever own a car again.

[Jazzmoose]

I've been carless in California (special permit required! ) since 1994, when I realized I was a shitty driver, and it really was my fault that I kept getting all those speeding tickets! The negatives: it really cuts down on the social stuff; no trips to Yoshi's for me, no quick runs to the music store. Positives: No quick runs to the music store! Impulse shopping is pretty much eliminated as and trips have to be coordinated with the wife.

Of course, there's the catch: she still drives. And if and when we move down South (as in really down south, not this California version that means LA or something...), I'll be joining the ranks of the motorized again.

[Big Wheel]

Don't have one, don't plan on getting one for a good long while if I'm going to stay in Boston. Outside of New York, it's probably the easiest city in the U.S. to survive without one. Very good public transportation network, commuter rail links should you ever want to go to the outlying suburbs, and the $9/hr ZipCar for short trips to the more inaccessible parts of the city (or if you need to haul a lot of stuff somewhere). Plus, my job subsidizes my monthly train pass, making it cost-free to ride the T whenever I want.

[Claude]

I have a driving license, but due to an eye disease I got aged 22 I never got to buy a car. Because of the permanently limited eyesight I cannot drive in the dark or on motorways. It wouldn't be worth getting a car just for doing shopping during the day, occasional weekend trips to the countryside, and I don't have a family yet to transport. The costs of owning a car are very high here. When I bought my appartment, a place in the parking lot would have cost an additional $30.000.

As I live next to the center of the city, my daily life is not affected very much by the absence of a car. Public transport is quite good here. I sometimes take a taxi to return home after going out at night. Many times I just walk, and I enjoy that.

For my regular shopping (food and other household items) I don't need a car, I can pass at a supermarket every day when returning from work. If I buy something larger such as furniture I ask it to be delivered to me or I ask a friend or my parents to drive me. I help them regularly with computer problems, so they do this to return a favor.

My girlfriend doesn't drive either (although she has a driving license too), she says she feels too anxious at the wheel, and I really don't want to test that

Edited April 21, 2005 by Claude

[jazzbo]

I own a car and a motorcycle, both of which are just resting, unregistered. I love motorcycles; fifteen years ago my wife (then fiancee) pretty much told me she wouldnt' be around if I continued to ride my cycles; I sold my BMW R65 and kept my then retired BMW R90 in the garage where it still resides.

For about a decade before that I had only had a cycle and never needed a car until I started playing in bands when I picked up a 1966 Belair wagon (straight six, three on the tree!) to haul drums and band members around. My wife and I used that for about seven years until we bought a house and both the car and the house began to need a lot of attention, and we decided to see if we could retire the car and save up for a new one. Well, we kept saving, we kept doing house repairs etc. We found we could get by quite well without a car, and so began to make extra payments to the mortgage instead of car payments. We bus to and from work, walk to the grocery store, etc. and take the occasional cab; lots cheaper than car payment, insurance, etc. And we're reducing the length of our mortgage by about oene half.

PLUS my wife is the very worst driver imaginable; anytime she would drive off I would get this sinking feeling that I would never see her again. Having a car for a long time that she hated to drive, and then having no car at all, is a more relaxing situation!

I admit I was never into cars after I couldn't keep my 1964 Alfa Romeo Spyder 1600 going way back in the mid-seventies, and started riding motorcycles. . . . Honestly I don't miss cars and traffic and wrenching and paying insurance and garage repair bills and parking fees. . . . And after so many years when I see SUVs flying along with drivers gabbing into cellphones or applying makeup I just think how silly they are and try my very best to stay out of their way. I'm happier not having to deal with traffic; I read a book and have a nice rejuvenating walk instead. We're well situated for public transport and neighborhood shopping and entertainment and make the most of it. Now if they just hadn't built 500,000 homes right across the street from us!

[catesta]

I have to admit, I love cars, always have.

I am down to one vehicle at this time, sorry to say I could not do without it. When I move I'm hoping to severely reduce my dependency on a daily driver and pick up another classic for weekend cruises. B-)

[Don Brown]

I've never owned an automobile. I got a driver's license in 1965 but that was the very last time that I've been behind the wheel of a car. I do keep my license renewed (it's good I.D.) but I'd never risk actually driving. Fortunately, Toronto has excellent public transportation. My wife owns a car so we are able to get out of the city if necessary. Amusingly enough, my brother-in-law is half owner of a car dealership here. He came to Canada from Trinidad and couldn't believe it when he met his first North American who didn't drive. But jeez, there are all kinds of people who don't. Two of them are/were science fiction writers - Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury.

[Brandon Burke]

I donated my car to a battered women's charity before moving to SF last fall. Smog checks, the aforementioned gas prices, insurance, etc all factor in as reasons. I ride a commuter train to work every day -- paid for by my employer! -- so it's really only an issue when I need to get groceries or furniture.

Also, I think that riding public transportation makes all of us better and more understanding people. It's easy to get swallowed up in our own little worlds when driving. Taking the subway/bus keeps you in check.

-- Brandon

[Michael Fitzgerald]

Does your public transportation somehow NOT have the people muttering to themselves, talking on their cellphones, etc.? Plenty of people in their own little worlds that I've seen. Or is that just a NYC thing?

Mike

[Big Wheel]

Does your public transportation somehow NOT have the people muttering to themselves, talking on their cellphones, etc.? Plenty of people in their own little worlds that I've seen. Or is that just a NYC thing?

Mike

Since a fair amount of the Red Line of the Boston T is underground, most cell phones don't work on it. (I have T-Mobile, and do get a signal in a couple of downtown stations because they installed an antenna down there.) But most of my commute is cellphone-free.

[Randy Twizzle]

Also, I think that riding public transportation makes all of us better and more understanding people.  It's easy to get swallowed up in our own little worlds when driving.  Taking the subway/bus keeps you in check. 

God bless you, but I've been commuting to work on different forms of public transportation for the last 25 years. and it's made me understand that most people should be swallowed up, preferably by large mammals.

[BERIGAN]

Also, I think that riding public transportation makes all of us better and more understanding people.  It's easy to get swallowed up in our own little worlds when driving.  Taking the subway/bus keeps you in check. 

God bless you, but I've been commuting to work on different forms of public transportation for the last 25 years. and it's made me understand that most people should be swallowed up, preferably by large mammals.

Your viewpoint was probably the same as Brandon's.....25 years ago, give him time to feel the way you do.

[kenny weir]

Interesting replies, with responses coming from several of the cities I would've expected.

Until recent upheavel in my family life (six months ago), I was driving regularly. But now I'm on my own, and have my son 2-3 nights a week, I have reverted to carlessness.

It's surprising how quickly driving becomes stange - and scary. Last night the ex and I and our son were heading across town to get her to a Bette Midler show. Unfortunately, the whole inner city was gridlocked because of a truck fire in the Burnlet Tunnel. Bumper to bumper wherever we turned. I got very uptight, even though I was in the back seat. In the end we packed it in and went and ate gelati!

I think regular driving, the familiarity of it all, diminishes the fear that should always accompany sucgh a dangerous activity.

Like others here, I have found it easy to alter my shopping habits and so on.

One other big plus about public transport: It's prime time for reading.

[Jazzmoose]

Also, I think that riding public transportation makes all of us better and more understanding people.  It's easy to get swallowed up in our own little worlds when driving.  Taking the subway/bus keeps you in check. 

God bless you, but I've been commuting to work on different forms of public transportation for the last 25 years. and it's made me understand that most people should be swallowed up, preferably by large mammals.

I think that's highly unfair and, as a large mammal, I find it personally offensive. Reptiles should always be used for such purposes...

[Joe G]

Well, duh! Moose are herbacious and would never be employed in such a manner. The only way to get swallowed up by a moose is to lie at the bottom of a beaver pond!

[kenny weir]

Mind you, about four weeks ago I did take Bennie, 4, for his first spin dodgems. Wah bam thank for the clang, mam!