Originally Posted by
GodsBassist
Asking 'am I car-free' is just beeeeeegging the question of what car-free actually is. Nobody on here will have the same answer to that. The fact is, though, that there's no club or certificate or secret handshake that you get access to because you meet the preconceived definition of what car-free is (or is there?).
For what it's worth, if I were in your situation I'd consider myself car-free. From a practical point of view, though... it's just a term, who cares.
On a more sarcastic i'm-going-to-pick-the-term-car-free-to-death-note I will never be car-free. Cars and car infrastructure dictate that I go to the grocery store 3 miles away instead of the one 1 mile away because of a crappy intersection that's not passable. It means I have to wait 3 minutes on average every day waiting for the same 'walk' light to change for me. I will always pay increased prices for goods at big box stores because they have to provide extra space for people to park their cars. When I order things on-line, the delivery truck is inevitably delayed due to traffic.
#woeisme #imaslavetotheautomobile
Over the years I've been visiting this forum, I've tried at least twice to get people to agree on a working definition of commonly used words like carfree, carlight, and even "car" itself. It's been a big failure. I think by any definition, carfree and carlight people are independent thinkers who don't want to agree on definitions. So I have given up on the effort with no hard feelings.
BTW, I agree that we all pay part of the price for other peoples' cars, even if we don't own one ourselves. Don't forget about taxes--a big chunk of the city and county budgets go to road construction and repairs. Those local revenues for roads usually come from property taxes and sales taxes, which carfree people pay at the same rates as car owners.