Heretic_Cata
We're gonna live forever
Don't have a car, don't need one.
And besides, drinking and driving is bad for you (unless you're in America).
And besides, drinking and driving is bad for you (unless you're in America).
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.
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.
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)
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.
1. Could you live without your car?
2. Would you want to?
3. Do you like sitting in traffic?