I’m coming up on about 6 months of car-free life in Seattle. It’s certainly been challenging at times, and it’s only possible at all because I work from home, but I’m making it work. I’m curious if anyone else is trying to do the same thing. There are a ton of anti-car communities online, but very few people seem to actually go car-free as, like, an ideological thing
Car-free since a year. Couldn’t be happier. Had once to carry a computer case in a bus, but that was a direct line for 15 minutes.
I lived for 5 years car-free in Seattle. I’m still car-free, but I’m currently doing a bit of traveling so no longer in Seattle (although I may ultimately end up back there).
It’s definitely challenging. I wish there was more train coverage and greater frequency in general of transit service in Seattle. Back when I first moved, car shares were plentiful which made it really easy to hop in a car if I really needed to — maybe 5 to 10 times a year — but that whole thing mostly fell apart. When I left a few months ago, Gig seemed to be doing pretty well.
I lived for 35 years in Knoxville, Tennessee, and it would have been near impossible there. Your world gets very small when you go car-free, and that’s a problem in places where everything is spread out assuming everyone will have a car and can quickly traverse the miles between places you might want to be. There’s a downtown in Knoxville, but until the last 10 years, almost no one lived there. There’s a lot more housing now, but basic amenities like a grocery store and drug store are, so far as I’m aware, still missing. Downtown Knoxville is less a place to live and more a theme park.
I was sad to hear the only full-service grocery store in downtown Seattle closed during the pandemic, but there are still plenty of neighborhoods that are totally livable car-free. Could be better, but it could certainly be worse.
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I’m in Chicago and just take buses and trains everywhere if I have to go beyond walking distance. As someone with a young child it can be a bit difficult sometimes but it’s mostly manageable. if I have to go somewhere weird in the city that that would take multiple lines to get to I just use an Uber, this is so rare.
This isn’t an ideological thing for me or anything I just don’t have car money
I’m car free for financial reasons too haha! There’s also a decent car sharing app where I live which I can use when I really need a car, like for going out to the countryside or moving something bulky. Between the upkeep of my bike, public transport tickets and occasionally renting a shared car, the cost of getting around is really low!
I was largely car free in Chicago (still used ours sometimes when we were going somewhere where we had to bring lots of supplies, like the beach or a big grocery trip). But since moving back to Florida there’s just no way. Everything is miles apart, and bus routes can only cover so much and and even those double back on themselves in inconvenient ways.
Hey I’m Seattle too! Unfortunately I’m not yet, but I’m working towards being. King County Metro has a pickup within the block, but it takes 45 minutes to take that bus to the light rail, so about 1:20 to get to the city one way. When the Lynnwood extension opens then that will be cut down significantly, and with East Link I may be able to go down to a 1-car household
Cheers! Yeah, I’m really looking forward to the light rail expansions
I wish.
For most of my life I lived car-free in The Netherlands. It was never a problem to bike, walk, take buses or trains thanks to the excellent infrastructure. I never owned a car there.
Ever since I moved to the US 10 years ago I’ve been driving my car daily. Not because I want to, but because I have to. My kids school is only 2 miles away but I have to drive as there’s just no pedestrian or cycling infrastructure between my house and the school…
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Not anymore, I was for a couple years in Denver but that was over 10 years ago. Live in the burbs now but have a Brompton folding bike that I use for short trips to the grocery store and sometimes commuting to work. It’s so practical it’s amazing to take it into stores, use it as a shopping cart, and never have to leave it locked up. Just got back from the Netherlands and wow what a fairy tale society they have infrastructure-wise. The more I learn, travel, and see how some places in Europe are doing things the angrier I get with most of North America’s mentality/legislation.
Can I get a link to this bike? I wanna see what’s up with a bike that can double as a shopping cart.
Sure, Brompton is the brand. There’s lots of videos and stuff out there. This is the company website: https://www.brompton.com/
Not my pic, but this is how they look in “shopping cart mode”: https://i.redd.it/0ijx1ewfxip21.jpg
The bikes have a special mounting bracket for the bag, and it’s designed so the bag can just stay on the whole time, even when the bike unfolds again.
I myself have been car-free for about a year now. I own a Lectric XP ebike, and if you can learn to ride on the road and plan your route, it’s not too hard to commute via ebike, even in the states. Also helps is that there is a long bike trail that run throughout the metro area. In addition, the bus service in my city is very underrated and actually goes to places that people care about. So yeah, if you can operate an ebike, you can live car free.
I actually got a Radcity 5 Plus recently - I love it! I actually don’t even need to use it on a daily basis because most everything is more convenient by walking or bus, but it’s great for once or twice a week type trips
Well yes, but it’s not very hard in Copenhagen.
I lived car free in the DC area for a long time. The only true challenge I faced was taking my dog to the vet. I had a lot of friends tell me they didn’t realize it was possible to live car free until they watched me make it work. The biggest advice I have is to figure out the bus system near you. Usually your goal is to connect yourself to higher and higher quality mass transit
I had a lot of friends tell me they didn’t realize it was possible to live car free until they watched me make it work.
This is part of my motivation! And thanks - I am lucky to have good bus service in my area
Currently car minimal. I’d be free if my real estate agent wasn’t so good and got me a parking space for free 😔
There are times where I still use the car and if it wasn’t there I’d probably figure out an alternative but since it is there, I just default to it when doing things like larger scale grocery shopping or going to places that public transit would take a long time to get to 😩
One day, perhaps!
I’m also car free in Seattle. I sold the car in 2019, so the pandemic years were tough at times with limited public transport and the fear of COVID.
I’m in a weird spot where I personally use a bike or public transport to get everywhere, but my parents still drive me around to wherever. They also think I’m weird for always using a bike, but that’s besides the point.
i’ve been car-free for 6+yrs now, and it has honestly not been an issue because i’ve always lived in (fairly) large urban centres with decent public transit or okay to good cycling infrastructure. if and when i need a car, i’m lucky enough to have carsharing programs available here (Lower Mainland BC)
