Could you live without your car?

[Borachio]

This subject has no doubt been done to death already.

But research in the archives only gave me this:

Spoiler :

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper. (http://www.postcarbon.org/content/60days.ram?PHPSESSID=8dd7b96e1957d0421eda1e9db96d4 6a0) – T.S.Eliot

(link goes to a long but fun audio 'diary' from an average American living through the oil crash)

We live in a society that has accomplished great things. We have banished small pox from the face of the earth. We have unlocked many of the secrets to the most basic building blocks of life. We have even taken our first baby steps outside of this planet and into the universe at large. We span the globe, all 6.5 billion of us, and pat ourselves on the back and we deftly dodge every bullet nature can throw at us. It is tempting, so very tempting, to look back across the long history of shattered empires and lost civilizations and imagine that we are somehow different, better, than they were.

But the foundations of our mighty civilization machine are not as strong as you might believe. One central plank supports the entire behemoth: cheap oil. Remove that plank, and the entire thing comes crumbling down.

; though perhaps I should have searched harder.

So:
1. Could you live without your car?
2. Would you want to?
3. Do you like sitting in traffic?

Me: No. Yes. No.

 

[Disgustipated]

Yes, but my life would be hell
not only no, but hell no
no, who does?

I'd have to do at least 2 transfers on the bus to get to work, maybe 3. I could take a taxi, but that would eat up a good chunk of the money I make in one day. And then things like groceries etc. I hate shopping, and only do it once a month if I can help it. Which means I have a lot of groceries...

car=freedom (to me at least)

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

No , no and no . But for shorter trips in good weather , motorbike FTW.

 

[Grisu]

sure...some things like shopping would be a bit more hassle, but I already commute to and from work by public transport so the change wouldn't be that big.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

I have no real use for my car. At times it can be a trump and that's it. Thinks would look different if I had a family though.

 

[downtown]

I actually sold mine 2 months ago, and I actually live in AmericaLand!

Some things, like grocery shopping, did become a lot harder, but given how bad traffic and parking is in Chicago (and how expensive it is to have a car here), we've ended up saving several hundred dollars a month not having one. Plus, all that walking gives me a little more exercise.

Our situation is contingent on me having a job close to all of our train stops though. Should that change, we'd have to buckle down and actually buy a car.

 

[Arwon]

I don't drive. I bus and walk everywhere. So yes.

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

I bus and walk everywhere.

Well sort of I guess . But I like a large definition of "everywhere" , thus my own transport .

 

[Arwon]

It's pretty easy to reach places I want to go. I don't *do* outer suburbs.

 

[The_J]

mmhh...I could, but would not want to. I'm currently living on the land, and public transportation is just...partially non existant or just bad.
If there was good enough public transportation, then I could, but so...

 

[Cutlass]

It would be a world class inconvenience for me. But I could do it if I had to.

 

[GenMarshall]

No, I live in a suburban-rural location. Were not fortunate enough to have a metro system like Boston or New York.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

I already live without a car.
Where I live public transportation is so good that owning a car isn't worth it for me.

 

[Joecoolyo]

I live in Chicagoland, which means all the public transportation out here doesn't go around my suburb, but rather just to Chicago and back.

So I wouldn't be able to live without a car without it being a massive inconvenience to me and my family.

 

[Bamspeedy]

1. Could you live without your car?

Technically, yes. Sure, I can breathe without my car. I could go unemployed or work somewhere else and take a 50% reduction in pay.

Realistically, then no (I want to keep my job). Public transportation is not an option. A taxi would cost $50 to get to work and then another $50 to get back home. I suppose I could carpool, but would require me to carpool with someone who would have to drive 5 miles out of his way. And he likes to work as late as possible (in a different department than me) so I would be sitting around for at least 2 hours on most days waiting for him to get done.

2. Would you want to?

No.

3. Do you like sitting in traffic?

No. And I don't sit in traffic when going to and from work (no more than 30 seconds for the 1 or 2 stoplights I might come across, depending which route I take). I don't like waiting for a bus to show up (and the bus would sit in traffic as well).

 

[Flying Pig]

What car? My beloved vehicle is currently in the car equivalent of Intensive Care, so I've been doing without for the past few days.

 

[GinandTonic]

Lived most of my adult life without a car. Would be problematic at the mo since I need to move tools and materials a lot. I would prefer to take the train as a quicker and more relaxing experience, but the trains in the UK are so much more expensive (even with only one person in the car) that I cant afford to. A week ago I went up to nottingham to see my old man, collecting mrs tonic and a cousin from london on the way. £50ish in petrol. Would have been over £200 by train for all three of us. £18 in petrol to visit mrs tonic in london, £34 on the train.

 

[madviking]

For normal madviking activies here in Charlottesville, I don't need a car. But when I go back home, I do need a car.

 

[Leonel]

1. No
2. Jesus, yes!
3. I live in the Seattle area. What do you think?

I would love to not have to worry about whether my car is going to get stolen or damaged, maintenance, insurance, fuel, road rage and finding parking. Just sell it off and save like almost $200 a month in insurance and fuel costs alone. Sadly the area around where I live isn't conducive to a car free lifestyle as is most of the US.

I guess the thing I'd miss though is driving through the countryside or going on road trips.

 

[Tabarnak]

1. Could you live without your car?

Yes

2. Would you want to?

Yes

3. Do you like sitting in traffic?

Yes