Could you live without your car?

[Heretic_Cata]

Don't have a car, don't need one.
And besides, drinking and driving is bad for you (unless you're in America).

 

[Theige]

I sold my car when I first moved to NYC. It turned out to be a huge mistake. Back then, I could have parked it in my apartment building in Forest Hills for $80 per month. It would have allowed me much more freedom on the weekends.

When I moved back to Manhattan from California eight years later, I kept my car. I even used it to drive it to a job in Brooklyn every day for a year which was a reverse commute. It was far faster than taking the subway. But parking on the street with alternate side parking is a royal pain.

Later, I decided to get another car to do drivers eds at Bridgehampton race track at the end of Long Island before it finally closed. One of my racing buddies runs 7 or 8 parking garages in various Manhattan buildings, including the Helmsley Hotel on 42nd Street. He gave me the best parking spot in the garage for $300 per month. I could drive it out myself whenever I wanted.

That said, you can definitely get by without having a car in the greater NYC area. But it does make it so much more enjoyable to be able to go to the beach or go skiing when you want to do so. It is a luxury, but it is one well worth while if you can afford it.

Awesome! Yea I can't afford it right now. I have family in the area who I can borrow a car from if I really need to. That and then there is Zipcar, which I haven't actually used but I hear great things about.

Anyways, the subway is awesome. Anyone who complains about it is a moron. And anytime the subway doesn't make sense (which isn't often) you take a cab. And cabs really aren't very expensive at all! Much more awesome than driving yourself anywhere.

 

[Formaldehyde]

You forgot to mention buses. They are indispensable for traveling crosstown and up and down the avenues that aren't serviced by subways.

I had to google Zipcar. What a great idea. But it wouldn't work for a day trip to Hunter Mountain or the Hamptons unless you can overcome the 180 mile daily limit. But then again, there are specialized buses which go there as well.

 

[amadeus]

No, it says in my contract I have to drive to work.

 

[Tycho Brahe]

I don't have a car, and I'm doing fine. Not planning on getting one annytime soon.

 

[Ice_Tyrant]

Considering I only recently got a car anyway I figure I could. Just walk everywhere. or bike. Or get me a chariot.

 

[Oerdin]

Yes, I could survive without one but I wouldn't want to.

 

[Theige]

You forgot to mention buses. They are indispensable for traveling crosstown and up and down the avenues that aren't serviced by subways.

I had to google Zipcar. What a great idea. But it wouldn't work for a day trip to Hunter Mountain or the Hamptons unless you can overcome the 180 mile daily limit. But then again, there are specialized buses which go there as well.

Yea, I don't take busses enough. I really should.

 

[Disgustipated]

And I guess I should say they'll just have to pry my car from my cold, dead hands. I'll never give it up. If we run out of oil, I'll convert it to run off of pig crap.

By the time I'm old, hopefully cars will drive themselves. I'd hate to reach that age where I can't drive anymore, and have to give up driving. I've been in love with driving since I was 16. I do feel bad for older people now days that have to give it up. I don't want to lose that mobility to drive my car or walk.

An interesting article I saw linked on Drudge said that more and more younger people aren't driving. This statistic surprised me. Why would that be? Is it because young people don't have money to buy a car? I got a job as soon as I was 16, and saved up money just so I can buy a car. But I suspect most young people today can't save money. Or is there another reason young people aren't driving? When I was young, having a car was the ultimate goal in our teenage lives (other than sex, but I never succeeded in that one )

 

[GinandTonic]

And I guess I should say they'll just have to pry my car from my cold, dead hands. I'll never give it up. If we run out of oil, I'll convert it to run off of pig crap.

By the time I'm old, hopefully cars will drive themselves. I'd hate to reach that age where I can't drive anymore, and have to give up driving. I've been in love with driving since I was 16. I do feel bad for older people now days that have to give it up. I don't want to lose that mobility to drive my car or walk.

An interesting article I saw linked on Drudge said that more and more younger people aren't driving. This statistic surprised me. Why would that be? Is it because young people don't have money to buy a car? I got a job as soon as I was 16, and saved up money just so I can buy a car. But I suspect most young people today can't save money. Or is there another reason young people aren't driving? When I was young, having a car was the ultimate goal in our teenage lives (other than sex, but I never succeeded in that one )

A young male driver in the uk will cost £1500-6000 to insure. None of the insurance companies want their custom. It's got to the point where to get that first years no-claims young men except terms like one passenger only and not insured between ten pm and six am. Six grand buys an awful lot of taxis.

Young people also tend to live in the most densely populated areas where cars are of the least utility and the greatest cost - parking and congestion charges - and mass transit is most economically viable and present. Young people tend to have the least need to transport stuff - no kids, less pets, less expensive hobbies etc. For many trips they go as a group so even if a car is required they only need one between four or five.

If insurance is going to cost thousands and you can walk to uni/ work/ shops/ pub so all you really need a car for is away missions (where you can hope a mate has one) the desirability drops vastly. Then you grow up, move out of the city centre, get a mrs and a spaniel, need to shift tools and materials - oh and the insurance has dropped 90% - and suddenly a car is pretty bloody cool.

 

[Tahuti]

Actually, I don't even have a driver's license*. Considering I'm going to study in Amsterdam - which is infamous for its traffic congestion - soon, I'm probably not going to get one soon, let alone own a car.

I do have (illegal) driving experience

 

[Disgustipated]

Internet & Technology in General. As the Associated Press and others have pointed out, the rise of the Internet, text-messaging, and social media has coincided with a decline in the percentage of young Americans with driver’s licenses, and in driving overall. One of the authors of a University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute study tracking the trend said plainly that in countries where “more people use the Internet, there is a lower proportion of drivers.” In the past, automobiles have represented freedom and a means to connect and socialize. Nowadays, though, people are more likely to feel connected via Facebook and smartphones.

I guess I have found a reason for it. The original article I read on the subject was FT.com, this is from time (linked from CNN)

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Car? What car?

 

[JohnRM]

1. Could you live without your car?

Not without altering any other facet of my life, at the moment.

Yes, given the opportunity to move closer to work.

2. Would you want to?

Yes, but I really don't want to live closer to work. There is also a caveat; I don't want anyone else to have cars, either.

3. Do you like sitting in traffic?

Who does???

 

[azzaman333]

I don't have a car, or a license, so obviously yes.