Cities where you don't need a car...

[TyCooN]

If you live in one of these cities, would you prefer using public transportation or driving around in your own car?

 

[RSS]

I always prefer a private space to a public one. But in New York, London, Paris, and other cities with a similarly good public transporation system ... I will use it.

 

[changy]

even in ny, if you live outside of manhattan, a car is useful

 

[Aptidude]

Washington is a city where you do not NEED a car but the public transit system is terribly flawed and the city makes no effort encourage people take it. Therefore everyone drives and it is miserable. On the other hand, Chicago and NYC provide such excellent public transportation, that I would take the subway or bus over driving any day.

 

[ktrp]

Public transit is crap some places, and tolerable others.

What's nice is when you can get by with walking/the odd cab.

Before I had kids I owned a condo, did not own a car, and walked to work. I rented a car about once a month for a weekend if I wanted to do stuff out of town.

Driving deserted winding roads is sort of fun. Not drinking much at dinner so I can crawl through stop and go traffic is not so much fun.

 

[binge]

I haven't had a car for 5 years now. I don't even have a valid driver's license.

 

[Rambo]

Jesus I envy you people in cities where you don't have to drive to get ANYWHERE.

 

[TyCooN]

Originally Posted by binge

I haven't had a car for 5 years now. I don't even have a valid driver's license.

Originally Posted by Rambo

Jesus I envy you people in cities where you don't have to drive to get ANYWHERE.

I want to live in a place like that.

 

[changy]

Originally Posted by TyCooN

I want to live in a place like that.

You also don't have to pay $600 per month for parking.

 

[esaul17]

As a student in Toronto, the TTC gets me pretty much anywhere in-town I want to go, but some places may take a transfer or two and be inconvenient. I am not sure if it would be less convenient than finding parking though. And than paying for a car.

The main issue is if I buy something larger in size at a Walmart or something and have to try to navigate through the TTC with it.

 

[ChicagoRon]

I haven't owned a car for 10 years. I take buses and trains occasionally, but generally take cabs and rent a car if I need to go far or to the burbs. Works out just fine for me. Leaves me a lot of free cash to blow on fun.

 

[Biscotti]

I'm in Louisville, KY and no longer have a car; I live, go to school and work downtown - I get anywhere in a 5 min bus ride. Buses stop at 11:45 though, so if I have to work until 2AM, I catch a cab for $7 or so which isn't that bad, and in the summer I just walk home. Honestly I am able to live on $500 (that is including rent, utilities, food, beer, etc). Sometimes I ride my bike as well.

 

[impolyt_one]

Seoul:
Bus and subways are $1/ride, you can combine a string of bus and subway rides together in certain ways on one fare, because bus and subway stops are often convenient for some and not for others.

Two types of taxis, regular and deluxe, regular meters drop at a little over $2, deluxe a little under $4, I don't know the system but it's pretty cheap. You can go from one side of the city to the other laterally or vertically for about $10, diagonally corner to corner for about $20, and Seoul is pretty sprawling. A normal ride I take is usually about $5 though.

Cars: price to purchase are double that in America, gas is double the US price, cramped parking (that's like where you have to fold in your mirrors, and sometimes climb through the other side to get out) is about $300/month for a spot, so double that if you work somewhere and need a parking spot at work too. You can get better spots if you lay down a big deposit, like $2K, and you can get it refunded to you when you're done. Landowner will use the money to make more money on their own. Valet and streetside parking costs are similar to other cities.

None are bad, but driving is pretty insane here and there's nowhere to open a car up, so while car ownership here is completely unnecessary and cars can be bought for fun purposes here, I don't know how much you can enjoy them. My friend took me for a ride in his modified SL63 the other day, we were blasting the big bridges and tunnels, but apart from that it was more like stoplight racing, more braking than accelerating; there's barely any room to open cars like that up. That said, having a nice car over here is a special thing, you definitely cruise for girls if you have a nice car.

 

[NewYorkIslander]

I'm in Brooklyn, and would be able to survive w/out a car (and have) but having one is very convenient especially with two young kids. I live and work in the same neighborhood, but on opposite ends, so with the exception of Monday and Tuesday, we (I work with the mrs) drive to work. Wed, Thurs, and Fri street parking is easy enough and we're home early enough for it not to be an issue (everyday before 5). Monday and Tuesday are a ***** parking near work because of street cleaning, so Sunday we make sure the car is on a Tuesday side, walk in, get a lift or walk home, move the car over to a Monday side, and viola.

 

[ratboycom]

Originally Posted by impolyt_one

Seoul:
Bus and subways are $1/ride, you can combine a string of bus and subway rides together in certain ways on one fare, because bus and subway stops are often convenient for some and not for others.

Two types of taxis, regular and deluxe, regular meters drop at a little over $2, deluxe a little under $4, I don't know the system but it's pretty cheap. You can go from one side of the city to the other laterally or vertically for about $10, diagonally corner to corner for about $20, and Seoul is pretty sprawling. A normal ride I take is usually about $5 though.

Damn, I wish it was that cheap here. Trains/subways are super convenient and I can stay out till about midnight and still get home. Though its much much more expensive. To go to Shinjuku from my apartment it costs about 3.50$, to go to somewhere on the other side of town, like Ueno or something its like $5-7 one way. Taxis are asinine, to get to somewhere that takes 20-30min on the train costs about 70+$, more if its late at night.

All in all I have been doing fine without a car here, but sometimes I really wish I had one for getting **** from the hardware store or trips to Costco. At the very least I want to get a bike to cruise to the beach with a girl, or just go out joyriding.