Living Car Free - Where are you from?

[QUOTE=manewal] 4 bags of groceries with a case of beer lashed on top. This rig has hauled 320 lbs up a 30 degree incline. QUOTE]

you are my hero. beer and bikes...ha ha. yes, please.

Bay Area of San Francisco. You get some rain but mostly warm weather, lots of mass transit options, a good bike culture and a diverse mix of populations and environments.

I live in Palo Alto/ Mountain View, two small towns that have stayed on bicycling's best biking towns. I can ride to work, train into San Jose or San Francisco. I've ridden to Santa Cruz, crossed the bridge to Marin County and ridden to Bodega Bay. A quick drive and you totally change climates. I've driven to Yosemitie (4 hours) and ridden from the central valley to the high sierras.
Beach, mountains, farmlands, redwoods, Santa Cruz mountains, city and small town...

I'm car free, I go to school in Richmond, VA and live in Virginia Beach, VA. Its a lot easier in Richmond but VB is not bad either.

Madison, Wi. Great bike paths and cagers are very courteous, but crappy midwestern winters.

Irving is about 10 miles west of Dallas and 20 miles west of Fort Worth. I live in the old downtown section which still has a concentration of businesses, so my essential goods and services are a short bike ride away. I also live near the commuter train station (8 blocks away) so I can get to downtown Dallas or work easily. The commuter train between Dallas and Fort Worth is very punctual, clean, roomy, and allows bikes on all trains.

I live a train stop or two away from Mr. King -- the area is ok, but the commuter rail is true to it's name and only built and run Mon - Sat. during typical work hours (6am to around 10pm) so it is occasionally a hassle to get out to a few places not in biking distance....since I'm going to be doing the majority of my remaining graduate studies remotely I'm probably going to be moving back around one of the light rail stations in Dallas where contrary to popular belief I find it relatively easy to get around w/o a car (and I go all over the metro area).

I'm car free, I go to school in Richmond, VA and live in Virginia Beach, VA. Its a lot easier in Richmond but VB is not bad either.

You commute from Richmond to VB? :eek: Or do you have residences in both cities?

tempe, az...it's a nice college town thrown into the middle of a sprawling, overdeveloped mess of stucco.

as for weather: you can ride year-round easily (summer you wake up early, winter you put on a sweater), and the riding (both road and mountian) is beautiful out here.
Well, most of Tempe (where I live) itself is a sprawl. ;) I commute to south Chandler, ride to Phoenix on occasion, ride to big box stores (when there is no other choice) in Mesa. I don't see much difference between riding in Tempe vs. riding out of it. Some roads are fantastic to ride on, others (high speed with narrow outside lane) are less enjoyable.

Longest I've gone without using car is 7 weeks. I've been kinda car free for a couple weeks now as the battery in my truck died and I can't see myself carrying a new one on my back and don't have a trailer, so I don't have a replacement yet.

Summers are fine for midday/afternoon bike for trips 10mi and less. Over that and you need to be careful or go in mornings.

Al

Ottawa, ON, Canada. Beautiful city to cycle in, give or take a little winter.

I regularly traveled 3 or 4 miles to high school by bicycle in Anchorage, AK. Anchorage isn't as bad as you'd think because it's never windy and really cold at the same time. In my opinion, Anchorage is very car-friendly but also fairly bike-friendly. The roads are straight and wide, and you can easily use sidewalks for biking, which works for people uncomfortable with being passed by cars going 50mph, because people almost never walk on the sidewalks except downtown. (things are too spread out.)

I bike-commuted to college in Montreal, QC. It was really cold sometimes in the winter. Other than that I thought it was a great place to ride a bike. To me, Center City Montreal would be a ridiculous place to use a car.

NJ suburbs of Philadelphia. Not bad, most roads have descent shoulders, buses have bike racks, and it's not really bad to get into downtown Philly which is very good for cycling, in my opinion, on most streets, anyways. Weather ranges from very hot to very cold, but most days arent bad.

Wichita, Ks. Not a bike friendly town. I been carfree two years. Usually I ride on the streets and plan routes to avoid the busy ones at busy times. Sometimes i find it easier to ride on the sidewalk.

In the winter i use knobby tires. I have a basket on the front for groceries that i take off when i am not using it.

Everything is close. Work is < 2 miles away via the park.

I regularly traveled 3 or 4 miles to high school by bicycle in Anchorage, AK. Anchorage isn't as bad as you'd think because it's never windy and really cold at the same time. In my opinion, Anchorage is very car-friendly but also fairly bike-friendly. The roads are straight and wide, and you can easily use sidewalks for biking, which works for people uncomfortable with being passed by cars going 50mph, because people almost never walk on the sidewalks except downtown. (things are too spread out.)

I bike-commuted to college in Montreal, QC. It was really cold sometimes in the winter. Other than that I thought it was a great place to ride a bike. To me, Center City Montreal would be a ridiculous place to use a car.

I lived and worked car free in Anchorage for about 4 months a few years ago. I lived downtown on 9th Ave. The town was pretty easy to navigate by bike, once I learned to avoid the major car routes. When the snow started to fall, it wasn't much of a problem because the cars packed it down enough to make it ridable.

I've recently moved to a small town in central Colorado and rediscovered bicycling. I am originally from hot 'n' humid Missouri, most recently St. Louis. I never felt like even cruising around, much less going anywhere, in MO - too hot and sticky in the summer, too wet and/or cold most of the rest of the time. Here in my new home it is cool and dry, and living in a small town everything I need (work, grocery, laundry) is close by. There is some beautiful riding outside of town (as well as around town). The area is a big tourist draw, mostly during the summer, so there are good bike lanes along the roads. Locals in general are used to seeing and sharing the road with bikers, and many residents are bikers themselves. I am still getting used to the altitude, and am also an ex-smoker (still recovering), but I greatly enjoy riding again. I highly recommend a small town, with good weather and friendly people, for a car-free lifestyle.

Portland, Maine. Formerly, I'm from Belgrade Lakes, Maine

I've lived here for about 5 years. It's Maine's largest city with about 65000 people.

It has a relatively good bus system here with most of its routes in service every day. Each bus has a rack for bicycles. Greyhound and Trailways bus services stop here, along with Amtrak. Most of the major streets have side lanes, including the ones leading out of the city. Bicycle shops abound, some of them with their own clubs. However, traffic is rather unfriendly.

I get around by walking, biking, using the bus system, or cabs. Maine life, however, is largely associated around getting around cold weather and snow. Maine is a great place for biking when there's no snow, but I'm not out biking in the dead of winter.

What city are you from? ?
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I'm not "from" St. Pete, but I live there

originally from Dallas TX.

currently live in Munich Germany (4 years now)
Munich is VERY easy to be car-lite or car-free as:
* VERY compact city so distances small - around 90% of companies/residences/destinations are within 7 mile radius of center (near-metro around 1.5 million) - so walking, biking and bus are reasonable
* great public transit (subway, busses and trams in the city + trains for long-distance travel)
* bike-aware auto drivers
* bike lanes (although many poorly designed)
* long-distance bike routes (e.g. along rivers, major roads or train lines)
* 2 car-sharing companies
* downtown pedestrian zone
* city designed for pedestrian usage and then retro-fitted for auto usage (most North American cities opposite)
* climate ok - summer not too hot and winter not too cold (although fair amount of rain)
* while a car is an important social status symbol for the well-to-do in Germany it is not assumed that everyone has a car or that you are "deprived" without a car

spent 3 years in Portland OR.
Portland is one of the best US cities to be car-free/lite although it is not nearly as easy as in Europe.
* more compact than most US cities
* great planning organizations that attempt to plan the city transporation for multi-mode (i.e. bike, bus, pedestrain and auto instead of just designing road for cars)
* active bicycle advocacy (Bicycle Transportation Authority)
* decent bus service and light rail system with strong intergration for bicycles (i.e. racks on buses and bikes on rail)
* environmentally conscious culture so biking is "cool" and seen as a "good for society" thing
* because of large number of cyclists, drivers are bike-aware
* drivers are pretty bike-friendly (exceptions are mostly conservative out-of-Portland types who believe bikes belong on the sidewalk)
* relatively pro-environment, pro-sustainability government officials who see value in and support cycling as a way of life
* strong critical mass and "alternative bike culture" (although this has brought out many police-masser conflicts)
* mild climate so year-round cycling no problem (it drizzles but you just get wet)
- outside of the Portland metro area you cannot do much without a car (Amtrak only runs north or south)

and the rest of my time was in Texas (Dallas, Austin, Houston) where being sans car is about as easy and socially accepted as being gay in rural Texas (i'm not, and nothing against being gay, but i wouldn't want to try it in rural Texas). Austin is _better_ than the rest of Texas but EVERYTHING is still car-oriented and you are a FREAK if you don't drive a car -- you know, the size of your truck and how loud the engine is defines your social status and a bike (other than a Harley) is not big, cannot pull anything "impressive" and is not loud... so you must not be a "real Texan"...

ok, my entire family is made up of Texans and Texans are nice people, it's just not a good place to bicycle or try to live without a car (or be a liberal or care about the environment) --- although it can be done anywhere - i was car-lite in Houston Texas for 2 years - you get used to the "are you sure you don't want me to give you a ride? it's awful hot out there."; "when will your car be out of the shop?"..."it's not in the shop. i just like riding my bike."..."no really, what's wrong with your car? do you need gas money?"..."no, i ride my bike for my health and to reduce pollution and my consumption of fossil fuels, but mainly becuase i like to"... "no, really, i can give you a lift. it's no big deal!"

and the rest of my time was in Texas (Dallas, Austin, Houston) where being sans car is about as easy and socially accepted as being gay in rural Texas (i'm not, and nothing against being gay, but i wouldn't want to try it in rural Texas). Austin is _better_ than the rest of Texas but EVERYTHING is still car-oriented and you are a FREAK if you don't drive a car -- you know, the size of your truck and how loud the engine is defines your social status and a bike (other than a Harley) is not big, cannot pull anything "impressive" and is not loud... so you must not be a "real Texan"...

ok, my entire family is made up of Texans and Texans are nice people, it's just not a good place to bicycle or try to live without a car (or be a liberal or care about the environment) --- although it can be done anywhere - i was car-lite in Houston Texas for 2 years - you get used to the "are you sure you don't want me to give you a ride? it's awful hot out there."; "when will your car be out of the shop?"..."it's not in the shop. i just like riding my bike."..."no really, what's wrong with your car? do you need gas money?"..."no, i ride my bike for my health and to reduce pollution and my consumption of fossil fuels, but mainly becuase i like to"... "no, really, i can give you a lift. it's no big deal!"

:roflmao: ....are you sure you still don't need a ride?

I often think about moving to a more ped/bike friendly city/atomosphere, but I'm kinda "stuck" here for a minute and just make the best out of a poorly planned built environment.

Born in Moscow, USSR. Moved to Minneapolis, MN when I was 4.

Grew up in the suburbs, where it is OK to poor to be car-free, but doable for those with the desire to do it.

Living in the city, it is easier, especially in downtown, as it is the terminus for almost all the buses, which are otherwise not as convenient. As downtown is thoroughly lacking in grocery stores, it's not as good as it should be. As 3 are in the process of going up within fairly decent distance, it is getting better.

In any case, I'll be moving to Montreal when I graduate. Much better city life, the public transport is amazing, the the women are so much better looking.

What city are you from? For those of you who are completely car free, or at least don't own a car, I want to know what city you are from. Certain places are easier to be car-free than others. One might think that in warmer cities it would be easier live car-free. After an informal tally of posts from people with locations in their avatar, I now know that this is not the case at all. In fact, I'm seeing just the opposite. I assume that most people are from major metro areas; this may or may not be the case. Also, please elaborate on what makes your location good or bad for living without a car.

I ask this question because I am thinking about taking the leap to carlessness myself. My town is doable, but will present a few challenges. I am looking for inspiration here. So fess up, where are you call home?

Garden Grove, CA is STILL a nice place to ride despite all the traffic in the area.

;)

New York. Harlem, baby.

Cabbies are jerks, yes. But they are predictable jerks.

NYC. Brooklyn. Drivers suck and sh%tty streets.

Seattle here. Wedgwood to be exact. 8 mile commute one way to work and I live in between (within a two block walk) two grocery stores and a drug store. It fairly easy to go car free or car lite. Our vehicle is mainly used to get to the recreation areas that we are blessed with in this state.

Portland, OR. Car-free be mee... my opinion: Portland is a great place to be car free. Trimet is pretty awesome, bike lanes almost everywhere, not to mention the ordinance that bikes are allowed use of a full lane :D! (although I wish the lady who passed me by this morning knew that when I took the lane >:\)

Originally from Honolulu, HI. I had a car while living there :B But also managed to use my bike when I needed to (like when my car got impounded :P).

uhh... that about does it, I suppose :B

I live in San Diego. Moved here about a year and a half ago and I still don't own a car. It's tought though. It's definitely a handicap for me in term of find jobs(I freelance as a graphic designer) because everything is spread out here in San Diego and the bus system here isn't the best. There's the commmuter train called the Coaster which I used almost every other day which is great, but the times are really limited to commuter hours and the weekend hours are almost nonexistant.
I'm actually thinking of moving somewhere more bicycle friendly and less car dominated. Portland, Oregon looks good, but it seems like it rains too much there. I haven't really found my niche here in S.D. yet.

if you like portland enough, you'll just start to deal with the rain. i love it there, and i don't like rain, but i just learned to become indifferent. plus, it doesn't rain hard very often. it's more like it drizzles on and off constantly.

From Buffalo, NY, but moved to Santa Rosa, CA for better weather.

So...Santa Rosa. No problems so far. Digging the sunny 70 degree daytime temps here in mid-November. On the other hand, the rent is killer for the tiniest little craphole imaginable. Toss up, but the weather really does kind of make up for it.

Washington, DC

bike, bus, Metro, ZipCar/Flexcar, and Avis for those longer trips.

I rarely use the family car (better half must have it for work)

minneapolis area here. never owned even a drivers licence. familly and friends help out when i need to haul heavy/bulk items. moved close to work. a nice twenty minute walk. moved here from yuptown so's i could walk to work. have an extracycle. slowly (read lazily) dialing it in. i love it's stability. however, there is the need, at least for me, to cancel out the squirminess if you will with the rear loaded. so some front racks are needed. even with dummy loads to balance the ride out. half step gearing now also granny when it's finally set. as for cycling in the twins: tis great! i say this because there are so many interconnected roads/trails/whatever here. when i go to downtown i rarely have to ride on the street. i'll simply go around on the pathes/backstreets. it does take longer but i have no problem with that.

suburb ..Kingston
city .. Brisbane
state .. Queensland
country .. Australia

Where I live we have great bikeways and everything ( even the hospital and local forest which has mountain bike trails ) is within 5km from where I live ......It's great and the local council is very bike friendly they put out new maps every year , and they have a free program to teach children the correct way to be safe while riding , They have strict helmet laws ( which doesn't bother me as I've been down the road and know that they work .
From where I live it's about 50 minutes ride to the Surfers paradise ( Gold coast ) I only know this because a friend and I rode it a few years ago ,it's also only about a 1 1/2 hour ride to Stradbroke island ferry and you can take your bike on that for free ( just pay the $9.00 ( both ways ) single person toll . The ferry ride takes about 40 mins but the view is amazing and when you get there there riding around the island can take from 1 hr to all day if you want to look around , as for surfers paradise it's cool but gets very busy . These are some of the booklets you can get ........

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Autokat/11111.jpg

north of Burlington, Vermont.... a rural setting... this winter should pose a real challenge... i'll be biking between 9 and 15 miles one way, most of the time in the dark... studded tires and ski gloves will be necessary....

Burlington is a pretty bike friendly city and if you lived and worked there you could easily get around on foot.

From Buffalo, NY.

But moved to Santa Rosa, CA so I could ride year-round more easily and enjoyably.

Apex, NC...Just ditched my car in order to commute 7-8 miles to work one way

Fun so far!

Toronto, ON. 7mi round trip commute to work, subways and streetcars for lazy days ;)

We are in the biggest city in western Colorado, Grand Junction. The "metro" area here has about 100k people. The riding around town is pretty good. We are car-light, we usually walk or ride most places, drivng the car once or twice a week. There is good bus system in town but we have never had to use it. As a student I think I get a free bus pass.....

The weather is pretty good here, usually sunny and mild. Had a bit of snow overnight but it melted off by noon. The drivers aren't too bad here either.

Bowling Green, Kentucky. Easy city to get around in. I live car-lite. When my son becomes 18 I plan to go car free.

Woo

I am a student in toronto. I bike about 9.2 km to school one way every day, regardless of weather. I actually sort of wish it could get colder and snowier. I like being the last man biking (as conditions get worse) I think I've got some kind of brain thing :p . I had a teacher at my school who is a fairweather cyclist tell me that I'm not being brave or manly (I wasn't really trying) but foolhardy by biking. I just told him I was sorry that he felt that way, and that I'll ride till the day I die.

ridgecrest, ca usa

crazy little town, wild west i suppose...everything is within a 10 mile by 10 mile square
yet only a few people bike anywhere much less walk....people from big cities will be laughing at the
'long' distances we have here

Living in Little Rock.

Interesting place. The west is the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains, nothing but hills. The east is flat delta land. There's supposed to be 50" of rain and 5" of snow. January lows hover around 30. So I think it should be bikeable except for a couple of days. Not much in the way of bike paths around here, most of the streets have the required 0-3" curb to the right of the lane boundary. Some are more generous.

The cyclists I have met are pretty nice and I've joined with the local bicycle advocacy group. This isn't my regular commuter bike, but its fun.

http://www.pointhappy.com/gcf/GordonOnStiletto.jpg

Statesville, a town of 20,000 in the gently rolling hills of the NC Piedmont. We're about 45 miles north of Charlotte (2+ million people), and about 45 miles west of Winston-Salem (250K).

It's a mixed bag for car-free (I'm car lite).

I live downtown, and everything I need day to day is within a 5 mile radius. Most streets are wide. Most speed limits are 35 mph or less. Traffic is mostly light. The hills are more fun than difficult. We have two good LBSs. Hot summers, cool winters, wonderful autumn and spring. Precip on average every third day (including short-lived summer t-storms). We have many county roads good for road cycling; there's a good MTB trail 12 miles away. We're building a 26-mile unpaved MUP. This is a "Tree City USA" and we've been an "All America City."

On the downside, cycling is unusual here. Other cyclists are about 50% kids, 30% invisibles and 10% fair-weather recreationalists. Ignorant motorist behavior is common, most of it well-intentioned (e.g., they won't pass, or they yield when they shouldn't), but some of it not (honking, buzzing, yelling). Intracity public transportation is limited to a van service requiring 24 hours notice (and allowing only 1 bag of groceries!). There is no intercity mass transit -- not even Greyhound. There are no proper bike racks.

Currently I'm looking for permanent employment, and I'll probably have to leave here, which I wish weren't the case. I was born here, and this town fits me like a comfy old sweater.

Conroe, TX. Smallish town 50 miles North of Houston. A few people commute to Houston from here, but mostly not. No bike paths at all, but pretty much all the roads are somewhere between good to great for cycling. There's no mass transit to speak of, but there is regular Greyhound service. The nearest megamall is about 10 miles south of here, I've biked there and its a pretty comfortable ride. Other stuff is much closer; you'd be hard pressed to be more than a couple miles from a large grocery and a large warehouse store (walmart, target, lowes, home depot, etc). A lake within 10 miles has marinas, rental boats, relatively good fishing and recreation. One could easily replace a car in the driveway with a boat in a slip.

Summers are brutally hot. Its hard to describe 100F with 95% humidity to someone who's never felt it. Those days are not the exception, they are the RULE in July and August. On the other hand, there is no snow, and most winter days are 50F, dry, 10 kt wind out of the North or South East depending on frontal passages.

Very rarely teenagers will do something stupid like throw a paper cup at a cyclist, but for the most part, drivers handle bicycles pretty well.

Speed limits in the center of town are 30'ish, but elsewhere folks drive much faster; 70mph. They aren't being agressive, thats just the smooth traffic flow rate.

NB: I'm not car free, but I don't have a commute either. I use them in my work. I think I'll likely always own a half-ton pickup. I max it out about a dozen times a year, so cost wise, its about the same as renting a truck, and they last forever as long as your expectations are reasonable. Also real handy when you break your leg, (lesson learned last year).

Happy Christma-chanu-kwanza-ka everyone. :)

I'm in Ottawa, Canada, Mtn Mike. We have one of the better public transportation systems in Canada. Mostly it's buses with one very short diesel-light-rail line as a test project running a few miles through town.

If you want to get around without a bike or car here, you can on the bus. A bike lets you cut travel time where a connector bus would have you waiting 30 minutes or more and walking would take longer than either waiting or biking. They have racks on buses in summer but I have a folding bike to take on the bus in winter.

Winter can be brutal here. -42degrees, while not an everyday thing, isn't uncommon. Not a big deal once you're used to it - "no exposed skin" rule.

BTW: I'm told by a friend who emmigrated here from Texas, geographically, Ottawa is a lot like Austin.
Pop ~1 million, spread out over a large area. He also says we have "the bus system from heaven." :)

Conroe, TX. Smallish town 50 miles North of Houston. ....
NB: I'm not car free, but I don't have a commute either. I use them in my work. I think I'll likely always own a half-ton pickup. I max it out about a dozen times a year, so cost wise, its about the same as renting a truck, and they last forever as long as your expectations are reasonable. Also real handy when you break your leg, (lesson learned last year).

LOL, I broke my leg this year, which forced me to be car free for 2 months!. You must have automatic. I couldnt drive my 5 -speed pick up truck, and was forced to take the bus, or catch a ride with someone. Now that I can drive again, I don't, and my pick-up truck is for sale :D

Happy Christma-chanu-kwanza-ka everyone. :)

I'm in Ottawa, Canada, Mtn Mike. We have one of the better public transportation systems in Canada. Mostly it's buses with one very short diesel-light-rail line as a test project running a few miles through town.

If you want to get around without a bike or car here, you can on the bus. A bike lets you cut travel time where a connector bus would have you waiting 30 minutes or more and walking would take longer than either waiting or biking. They have racks on buses in summer but I have a folding bike to take on the bus in winter.

Winter can be brutal here. -42degrees, while not an everyday thing, isn't uncommon. Not a big deal once you're used to it - "no exposed skin" rule.

BTW: I'm told by a friend who emmigrated here from Texas, geographically, Ottawa is a lot like Austin.
Pop ~1 million, spread out over a large area. He also says we have "the bus system from heaven." :)

It seems that public transit is generally better in cities north of the border, hense making it easier to get around despite the cool weather.

I live in Normal, Illinois. A college town of about 50,000 but with the neighboring town of Bloomington, it's closer to 110,000. I have only been car free for about a month, and I have not yet used the publice transportation system. Everything is pretty close to where I can either walk, ride, or do without.

I live in an inner suburb of Melbourne, Australia. Many people who live in my area will tell you that having a car is a liability, and they infrequently drive, if at all. There are quite a few bike lanes/bike paths to ride on, and the roads are generally good too. The outer suburbs aren't as good, but in general I would say that Melbourne is quite bike friendly.

I live in Tucson, AZ. I've been car-free for nearly two years and I've been commuting by bicycle since 1988. I picked up a BikesAtWork trailer in July and haven't talked to so many people about cycling in all the years of commuting by bicycle before then--every time I go shopping or haul something I end up answering questions and talking about bicycling--this year for giftmas I brought home a brand-new 27-inch TV on the trailer. It was a blast, and the box was as big as a love-seat! (sorry, had to share that).

Tucson has been improving but it's still mainly a "car city" where you can expect rotten people in cars to do all the rotten things they do when they think you're wrong for not being on the sidewalk (which by the way can garner you a $150 ticket). Tucson is NOT bike-friendly. The only people who go car-free in this town are idealists and the poor. I fall into both categories.

And even though it's crazy riding a bicycle in Tucson I don't worry about getting run over because it's far more merciful than the "straw death".

Newcastle Australia. the cycling is good (but does get hot in summer), very few hills (which can be a let down). Dont own a car but do have my L's, unlikely to get a car as petrol is more expensive over here compared to you guys in the states (about US94cents a litre). I just hitch a ride when i have to with friends/dad.
Keep up the cycling

Minneapolis now - I agree for the most part about MPLS, Tiroleaf. There's a few sketchy areas, tho, and they REFUSE to plow the back roads of uptown (I guess I need a Pugsley). Lived in Pittsburgh - sucks for bikes. Lived in Boston - great for bikes.

Knoxville is probably typical of mid-sized cities in the US. It would be practical to live car-free here if you chose your living location carefully (heroic if you did not). Public transportation is mediocre. Much of the town sprawls horribly. Streets in general are not bike friendly. But the weather here is not too extreme, and if you work downtown and live in a nearby neighborhood, you could do it (or if you live close to work elsewhere).

I used to live entirely car-free in Eugene, OR, and essentially car free in Corvallis. It was much easier there.

Washington, DC

bike, bus, Metro, ZipCar/Flexcar, and Avis for those longer trips.

I rarely use the family car (better half must have it for work)

DC has been striping bike lanes as it repaves streets. Last summer I noticed they've even installed a
full lane as bike and bus only. Along 7th street near the MCI center. If the police would enforce the
rule they'd be a welcome addition. I'd love to see these on all the state named avenues at least.
I'm not sure of the proper behaviour when a bus comes along- I usually find an place to let the
bigger vehicle pass since if I inconvenience a bus I'm slowing 20 or so people. When a car tries to use
the lane I just hog the middle since it is my space. 7th street is so jammed that cars make better
time following a slow bike than staying in their lanes. DC has a long way to go but some things are
getting better.

Hi sk8ar man i agree with you i 2 don't like cars big smoke giving monsters :eek: :eek: :eek: