Originally Posted by
naisme
will be soon relocated in the DC area, and have been met with some oposition when talking to perspective landlords who all say you need a car in DC. What is the Metro for? Is it these peeps are just blindered to the idea of alternatives to burning fossil fuel vehicles? Just wondering, as this is a chance to dump a big expense in my life, a Dodge Caravan, while it serves me well, it is 200-300 a month that could be saved or used to ride Amtrak to NYC to bike. It would be fun to start over in a new place with a new lifestyle being car free.
I guess I'm not quite understanding - why does your landlord care if you have a car?
As to surviving without a car in the DC metro area, it strongly depends on where you live/work and where you want to go. The places you named should be fine, but there are some places (especially the 'burbs in Virginia) where you can pretty much forget it unless you're comfortable riding in dense, high-speed traffic.
The weather is certainly milder in winter than Minneapolis, I would presume. It can still get reasonably cold, though probably not by your standards. Also, I'm not sure how it compares with your area but it gets really windy here in winter, which isn't much fun.
But all in all, it's not a bad area to bike, there are a ton of MUPs and rail-trails if you like that. I personally would highly suggest ditching the car if at all possible because driving in the DC metro area is a disaster. We've rapidly climbed the rankings and are now tied for the 2nd worst traffic in the country, behind only LA. Much of the reason I started commuting is simply because I hate driving around here.
In any event, welcome to the area (soon).