For me, living in the country, it's the "do what you want" part that requires car ownership. I ski nearly every weekend morning from Thanksgiving weekend into April. The closest hill is 18 miles away. In summer, kayak put-in on the river is 6 miles, the take-out about 8. Car required for both activities. And some logistics for the kayaking. However, if we could live in a town where everything was within walking distance having only one car might work. But not no car at all, at least not in a rural area.

I have stayed several times in a place near Dusseldorf, Germany where my friends are car-less. The bus is at the end of the street, a good mix of stores is about a mile, the train to center city is a bit further. They do fine with bikes and public. That could work if we didn't do outdoor stuff. Certainly cities and towns could be designed so that cars are unnecessary. But good public transport, bike lanes, and locations of stores are all key. I recently rode a bike and took trams around Antwerp, Belgium and it seemed very reasonable. A lot of Europe does this well. Here? Not so much.

I think that in most of the US going carless is only reasonable in cities or well-developed towns and then only if your activities don't require equipment, different locations, or both. We used to live in a Boston suburb and having no car there would have been possible. But things like visiting friends in other towns, say for dinner, especially in winter/bad weather, would not have been possible without a car.

On the other hand, we have 12 year old and 19 year old Saabs. The cost of registration, insurance and maintenance is not terrible. And the convenience is great.

• Would you live without a car if you could?, No Snaab, Mon, 23 Mar 2015 16:11:19
  • Did it for a while..., PGAero , Thu, 26 Mar 2015 14:15:18
    • Great post! Thanks! n/m, Noel, Thu, 26 Mar 2015 19:22:58
  • Re: Would you live without a car if you could?, Justin VanAbrahams , Tue, 24 Mar 2015 13:36:21
  • Depends, DE , Tue, 24 Mar 2015 11:44:37
  • Re: Would you live without a car if you could?, Craig, Tue, 24 Mar 2015 11:02:25
    • We had friends in DC who did for a couple of years., Cary, Tue, 24 Mar 2015 18:10:51
  • Absolutely not..., EGD , Tue, 24 Mar 2015 07:30:40
  • A bigger question, No Snaab, Tue, 24 Mar 2015 05:23:12
    • "The Human Scale", Snowmobile , Tue, 24 Mar 2015 10:05:33
    • That's a better question, Noel, Tue, 24 Mar 2015 05:59:50 <-- Viewing This Message
      • Re: That's a better question, vvack0matic , Tue, 24 Mar 2015 06:28:23
  • Not where we live, or are likely to live, Noel, Tue, 24 Mar 2015 00:26:52
  • Re: Would you live without a car if you could?, BobS, Mon, 23 Mar 2015 19:58:44
  • Not now but mostly did..., Snowmobile , Mon, 23 Mar 2015 17:43:46
  • Not good for me., saabsince 93b , Mon, 23 Mar 2015 17:30:58
  • Our kids almost do, MI-Roger , Mon, 23 Mar 2015 16:21:09

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