apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

When I lived in the city of SF, we drove about once a week - and that was to find a new parking spot before the street cleaning and accompanying parking ticket got there once a week.

It was handy to have a car for the occasional trip but rarely was the car used within town since public transportation was so good.

My partner and I had a car in Brooklyn for a few years, but most of the time we just drove it to re-park every night to comply with the street-cleaning schedule. Mostly we just got a lot of tickets. Last year we left the car with my partner's family in a small town, and although we miss it occasionally, the quality and availability of public transportation, along with the savings in fuel consumption, have me convinced that it was definitely the right choice.

When I moved to DC I decided to sell my car within 8 months. Residential permits, tickets, parking, ugh. Being from L.A, becoming carless was a huge deal. My family thought I was crazy. But, it was one of the smartest things I have done, financially, healthwise, and just logistically.

I live in Chicago and my partner and I own 1 car. We use it somewhat less than 5 times a week, mainly little errands, once every couple of weeks a carpool to work. I think we could get away with no car but it has really come in handy for moving, traveling, and the occasional IKEA trip or with other large loads.

I have been car free since 2007!! I ride my bike or walk to get around, catch rides from pals if needed and borrow cars for other trips/needs. It is kinda annoying to really want to go do something and not have a way of getting there to do it, but the money I've saved on fuel/lisencing/repairs/insurance, the prospective incidents/accidents that had been avoided, and the reduction of carbon footprint (at least for a while) has made it worth it.

I sold my car after moving to DC too. My only parking option was street parking and that got old fast with moving the car for street cleaning along with them changing the street cleaning days with no notice. I prefer the metro, walking, and buses to get around town anyway.

I did the math and just owning the car and paying for insurance cost me over $10 per day. I sold the car on craigslist and got a ZipCar membership for when I need to drive. I only used it a couple of times a year until I started volunteering with a rabbit rescue that meets outside of the city for adoption days once a month. Even using it once a month is still much cheaper than owning a car.

The biggest relief for me is that I don't have these unexpected expenses for damage to the car. Periodically, we get reports that someone has gone down a block and bashed in the windows of every car on the street. I shudder to think of how many hundreds of dollars that I would have spent on such things.

If I had a job that paid more and had the option to park in a garage, then I might feel differently about owning a car. In my current life, it would be more hassle and expense than I want.

I have been car-less for over a year now and people ask me all the time how I do it...but I love it! I live in Chicago and my neighborhood is perfect for public transportation, I'm within a 3 block walk of 3 train lines and too many bus routes to count.

I've officially decided I will never live anywhere where I can't live without a car. And after over $500 in assorted tickets from the city in a two year span, I don't miss it one bit! All those tickets made me hate the color orange for awhile...

I'm in the middle of deciding whether or not to sell my car. My previous neighborhood had no convenient public transit and pretty much nothing was walking distance. So I had to use my car regularly.

Where I live now, however, I find I'm not using my car and am not sure I even need it. There's lots within walking distance and there are several public transit options that are nearby and take me nearly anywhere I need to go.

Add in car sharing programs for when I need a car and I just don't know that I need my own personal car at all anymore.