Living Car Free - Car Free and Loving it

hi all, since it appears there wont be a car free section i thought i'd start a thread with question/answer stuff and car free living experiences. how's it going not having a car?

The one thing I can't quite figure out is going to the laundromat. I walk there now (it's less than 1/4 mile) , but it's really a pain because laundry baskets are so bulky. I wonder if there are other peole who manage it?

I have a car, so probably shouldn't be contributing to this thread, but I would think one of those extracycle things plus a couple of large rubbermaid plastic tubs (wal-mart etc have 'em usually) would do it quite nicely. Or really any kind of trailer + big plastic tubs (with lids, so they can be water-tight in case it rains).

I think if I went car-free the first thing I would buy would be a trailer.

It's going GREAT here. Four groceries stores within walking distance (two miles); the dogs and cats go to the vet four blocks away; I have an arsenal of bikes to choose from, as well as spare wheels ready to go; weather's great. I have washer and dryer at home, but if I didn't I'd probably walk to the laundromat. (It's close enough.)

The only part I have yet to solve is getting the canoe to the bayou. I guess I need a trailer.

If you're within walking distance of a laundromat, one of those folding wire carts with wheels on (around $20 at the hardware store) made for shopping works nicely, eliminates the struggle to carry bulky laundry baskets.

i can fit all my laundry in my messenger bag and two bike buckets(old whole-sale food buckets with brackets to mount on a rack. you can make them yourself, theres direstions in Chainbreaker Zine). i saw a guy in portland who built his own canoe trailer. it looked awesome.

There's supposed to be instructions on the 'net for building your own bike trailer, that's one way to do it too. That Chainbreaker Zine sounds great!

I'm like as not going to do my post office trips walking with ye olde Radio Flyer wagon, it's not that far and that's the easiest solution for now. I eventually want to get another bike that's more touring oriented and put a rack and panniers on it. I may look at a bike trailer but I'd want to be one I can easily unhook from the bike and tow in with me into the p.o. - that's really the only use I'd have for a trailer right now.

If taking the laundry to the laundromat is all that's keeping you from going all-bike, then think about it: $500 a month or $700 a month or whatever it costs you to run a car, just so you can drive it to the laundromat???

you can get chainbreaker zine from microcosm publishing( www.microcosmpublishing.com ). they also have a zine about how to build a bike trailer, diy wheel buidling, diy repair, and other bicycle themed zine like Leapfrog(i love that zine).

Very cool. I'm thinking on my pannier bike (that I haven't gotten yet) with one of those "Blackburn" type racks, there's that flat surface on the top, which can be used to carry the odd large box, roll of packing foam, etc just tie it on there.

the bike buckets are cool cause the tops of them are flush withthe top of my rack so i have triple the space on top to carry stuff

Yep the panniers etc add to the flat or flattish place on top. This is why I don't see a bike trailer in my future right now, mess. bag, panniers, etc and for the post office trips just walk a couple of blocks with a wagon.

What's funny is, I'll probably get all kinds of interesting comments on my "fall into poverty!"

It's going great here! 2 months of no car, and my biggest problem is when I lose tools at work, the closest tool store is about 5 miles away on really busy roads, so I just need to learn to be more careful.

Kevink you can always get extras of the ones you lose a lot and then just try not to lose them - but you'll have backups if you do.

I'm car-free and it's going ok for now. I'm facing a very slight challenge right now. Yesterday, I think I sprained my ankle playing soccer. It doesn't feel as bad as it did yesterday so I'm debating whether I need to go to the doctor. In any case, although I managed to cycle the 1/2 mile home with no problem, I'm going to try to stay off the ankle at least one more day, so that means I'll probably be taking public transit to work tomorrow instead of my bike as usual. This little ankle injury really does show me how much my choice of lifestyle can be vulnerable to injury. I walk or bike almost everywhere and a more severe leg or ankle inury could limit my mobility significantly or force me to spend a lot more money on taxies or car-sharing. But I suppose the same could happen even if I owned a car if I injured both legs or even one or the wrong leg. When I owned a car, I had a manual shift anyhow.

Regarding laundry, for a few months, I walked about 1/2 mile to the laundromat. I also used one of those folding rolling baskets that you can take to the grocery or wherever around the neighborhood. I put my laundry in large trash bags and put those in the basket and walked to the laundry.

sorry about your pain.

our car died back in December. Good thing we live in Queens. heh.
Really, we only used the car for two things
1) getting heavy stuff from the grocery store, such as cat litter and cat food. But we do that by bike now, so it's okay.

2) getting home to PA to visit family and such: so THIS is a much bigger pain. We can take the bus, but it costs about $95 or so for two round trip tickets. A rental car is also an option, but its like $60-$100... much cheaper than OWNING a car, but still a pain.

I think we'd LIKE to have a car, just to get home to the parents quicker and stuff (some of my wifes family is in poor health, sooo), but we have just one income right now, and we're being forced to move... sooo.... buying a car for a few grand wouldn't help matters.... pooey

It's going GREAT here. Four groceries stores within walking distance (two miles); the dogs and cats go to the vet four blocks away; I have an arsenal of bikes to choose from, as well as spare wheels ready to go; weather's great. I have washer and dryer at home, but if I didn't I'd probably walk to the laundromat. (It's close enough.)

The only part I have yet to solve is getting the canoe to the bayou. I guess I need a trailer.

Here's a solution from Wike: http://www.wicycle.com/kit.htm

Here is a post I placed on the commuting page. It seems appropriate here as well.

Being car-free does not mean being independent of motor vehicles. What it means is a willingness to forsake the costly convenience of owning one. I, for instance, live 25 miles from my job. But I have a good option for bus transportation. I commute two miles to the nearest bus stop, load my bike on the front rack and take the bus to my job. No traffic and parking hassles. The bus fare I pay each year is less than the amount of a single month's car payment and parking fees. Does this mean I'm cheap? Not exactly, it means I choose to spend my money on higher priorities.....like living in an upscale neighborhood, going to Europe twice a year and routinely eating out at nice restaurants....things I could never do if I was saddled with the expense of motor vehicle ownership. Without a doubt, one of the smartest things I ever did in my life was abandon the car. It has made me more free and independent and I can not imagine ever going back. If people view me with a social stigma because I don't own a car, I really don't care and in fact relish the idea that I am showing it can be done.

I don't have a car, but my wife does. It's a bit of a pain when one of our two kids needs to be someplace across town at the same time as the other, etc....

Darn right on the not being "cheap" part, I could get into the whole "frugal living" thing but it looks tiring. Heck I like my sushi, $3 coffees, etc. But, getting rid of the car means I can save as much as if I were dining on pigeons and dandelions and digging the Goodwill dumpster for clothes, and I can still live in a fun way too.

that canoe kit is freakin sweet!

The biggest problem I've found is getting my golf fix. Other then that, I've been so happy for the last, wow, 9 months with out a car. It dosen't seem like it's been that long. I have a long commute to my morning job at a commumity college in Auburn, then back to Renton for my full time job at a cafe. I admit I've been riding the bus alot lately, but I'm moving too a new full time job at a restaurant in Aubrn so I can move my residence out that way as well.

I do have the odd moment where I think "Gosh, it would be awful handy to own a car right now" but those are few and far between, and getting less frequent.

When a horse stepped on my foot and broke my big toe, I was in a cast for quite a while. I bought an old zap motor from a friend and put it on my 70's adult trike that I restored. It alowed me to go anywhere, and I could pedal a little at first if I wanted then use the motor if I had done too much. I dicovered that the carrying capacity of that thing is HUGE. You can hang baskets all over the rear, the front, the sides. even go straight up. I paid $80 for the trike a few years ago, $60 for the motor and had a battery already. It will go 16 mph for an hour approximately. I have had it for a few years. The cost to run it is pennys. Now that my foot is OK I could take the motor off and still carry huge amounts of cargo if I need to.

I am very comfortable with no car. My apartment building has an Asian supermarket (Uwajimaya) on the ground floor, so I don't have to walk very far for basic groceries. My apartment has it's own washer and dryer so that's not a problem. If I want non-Asian food, there is a Trader Joe's about a mile away, right next door to an organic food co-op. There are dozens of excellent restaraunts within a few minutes walk. My job is only 1/2 mile away. Right across the street is one of the main bus stops in Seattle - I can get a bus to practically anywhere in three counties right on my doorstep. The Amtrak station is three blocks away.
I don't plan on ever owning a car again. It's just too easy to get along without one of those white elephants.

http://www.bikesatwork.com/bike-trailers/

Possible solutions for both laundry and canoe transport.

And golf too.

I don't wash clothes until they start to stink, so I end up typically washing just one outfit at a time. Rather than put quarters in a laundromat machine for some pants, shirts, and socks, I'd just wash them by hand in the tub and hang them up on a clothesline.

You really want to be cool, get a washboard! I've actually used one of those, yep, when I was a kid, lack of quarters.

I think I could fit at least 4 loads of laundry in my trailer. Don't have to though, since I have laundry in the basement.

Have never owned a car here. Some ppl say "you're okay now cuz you never owned one"

But I guess I made the choices based on the "no car" status. I can bike around a whole lot, use public transit, and I use cabs often enuf. The cab fares don't even come close to owning a car.

I bought a Burley nomad trailer last summer, and it's enabled me to do a whole lot more, an reliying on cabs a whole lot less. It's quite nice walking into the grocery store with the trailer in behind me and using it as a food cart. Once I paid, I simply need to put the food back into the trailer, no plastic bags.

I'm so glad there's a thread for this. I'm sitting here debating getting rid of my car since I live in Berkeley and have a 5 mile commute. I live within blocks of everything I need, including the laundramat and supermarket. I really hate owning a car. I just spent a month in London and Madrid and everyone there doesn't own a car or need to. Not only could I save on the money not spend on the car, on the gym as well. Thank Joe for a place like this for me to learn more about doing this.

hey! Welcome here. :) Getting rid of your car might be the very thing you've been waiting for.

But I'd say : try keeping your car for a while and rely on other means of transportation. Perhaps you will find that there will be occasions where you need the car. Better give yourself some time for slow adaptation.