Where are you from?

[Mtn Mike]

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.

Please elaborate on what makes your location good or bad for living without a car.

.....So fess up, where do you call home?

(edited for clarity...)

[manewal]

I live in South San Francisco. I ride each day about 12 miles into San Francisco, then haul my nursing gear (40 lbs) around the city doing home visits and back home again in the evening. I usually ride between 25 and 40 miles a day. Lots of hills and I'm over 60 so I have the assistance of a electric motor and a battery to help me on the hills. I'm using a kit called Stokemonkey developed by www.cleverchimp.com. This uses an Xtracycle whose large bags have also hauled home 4 bags of groceries with a case of beer lashed on top. This rig has hauled 320 lbs up a 30 degree incline. Slowly but surely.

[531phile]

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.

[zoogirl]

Surrey's kind of a suburb of Vancouver. From my house it's only a twenty minute walk or less than ten minute ride to the Skytrain, which is an elevated and fully automated light transit system, simillar to a subway or monorail. Bikes are allowed onboard most of the day. We've also got a very good bus system and almost all routes have bikeracks on the busses.

I've got a choice of four big grocery stores (Buy-Rite, Safeway, Save-on and a smaller independant) and several corner stores within a fifteen minute ride. There's also a big mall, a smaller strip mall and quite a bit of on-street shopping. Work is within both riding and walking distance. Why would I need a car?!

During a bad winter, we might get a foot of snow and it might hang around for a couple of weeks. It rains, though, a lot. It also gets up into the 30's (90's for you all down below ;) ) in the summer.

[natelutkjohn]

Norfolk, VA. It's a great town for carfree if you don't leave it. There's not a single hill anywhere, but its all waterlocked and to leave the area you need to hop on a bus to go across the tunnels, or take the ferry for the long way around (or go through Chesapeak for the real long way around - work for me is a 22 mile round trip by putting my bike on the bus across the water, or probaly close to a 300-350 mile round trip if I bypassed all ferries and busses and stuck to the bridges that it's legal to bicycle across :eek: ). Going to Virginia Beach however which is really just a part of the large city area here is a little less friendly. One big suburban hell, but it's still doable. Takes around 35 miles a day to do the basics including work commute, but it's great!

[BenyBen]

Montreal (Lachine), Quebec, Canada.

Not all areas on the montreal island are best, but mine's not bad. There's a couple of bike paths around which are practical. I have plenty of buses, that if you time it right can be practical too. Getting to work by bus is a pain (1h by bus, 30 minutes by bike), but it's doable. Get acquainted with your city's transport system website, and put it on bookmark. :)

I chose this place because I was close to a major hospital, health clinics, grocery stores and a big shopping mall. It happens to have quite a few bike shops around the bike paths as well, which is a great help.


If you plan on making the bike your major transportation mode, I heavily recommend getting a proper set of tools and learning the nuts and bolts of the bike (if you don't do it allready). I was relying on the bike shop to do all my work for 2 years and it ended up costing a lot in time and money. Maintaining your bike properly will prolonge components life, make you a happier cyclist (a tuned up bike is fun-er to ride) and make you more self reliant when something breaks along the way.

[sk8ar]

I am from Logatec (Slovenia)
And I don't own, drive or am being driven with car(except sometimes with parents)
I go to school 35km away from my home and I ugo with Bike(1h) or Walk-->Bus-->Walk (1h.30min)

[pmseattle]

Seattle, WA. I live downtown so life couldn't be any easier. It would actually be a huge pain in the neck to have a car. It is also very easy to get out of town with the bike here.

[svwagner]

madison, wi.

the cycling here is great, but public transit absolutely sucks (lame city bus system, no light rail, no amtrak connection). and the sprawl outside the downtown is just getting worse all of the time.

[jamesdenver]

i live in Denver - we have good bus system, good express/regional routes too, and a new light rail line from downtown to SE end of city opens next year. The light rail to SW end of city is heavily used already.

also in the next 10 years voters (me) approved an ambitious plan to extend rail to all ends of the city, and connecting Denver/Boulder, and airport. I think it will be the largest and best rail transit system for a city that's not a big coast city (or Chicago)

http://www.rtd-denver.com/fastracks/

[PurpleK]

I live in a small town (pop c. 10,000) about 25 miles from my office in a larger city (pop. c.700,000). You would think this situation would not be conducive to carfree living. However, my morning commute is only about two miles to an express bus that takes me directly to my office building. When at home, there is a supermarket, drug store, banks, restaurants, etc 1-3 miles from where I live. Another town less than seven miles away has movie theaters, more restaurants, terrific shopping, etc. There is pretty good public transit if I absolutely have to get to the city or other places such as the airport. I'm in the south, but the winters can get cold. However, they are not that disagreeable and I am able to ride right through them.
Good luck if you decide to go carless. The key is recognizing carfree does have limitations (but so does car ownership, which requires resources, commitments, etc that living carfree releases you from). Going carfree means adapting to a different lifestyle, not living a car lifestyle without the car. For me, it became very rewarding once I adapted and now the thought of a car dependent lifestyle horrifies me.

[smurfy]

Dayton, OH here. All busses have bike racks. We're only one of five or six cities in the US that have "trackless trolleys" (electric busses). I think we have an excellent bus system in the county, outside the county there is very few choices (air force base, university and that's about it). West of Dayton in the county is mainly sparsely inhabitated farmland so not much, if any bus service.

I live about two miles from downtown so we don't need a car. Wife was raised in NYC so she never really learned to drive.

Speaking of busses, they are getting more crowded all the time, even outside of rush hour (probably due to the gasoline prices). On more than one occasion my wife had to stand up the whole time on the bus until she got to the suburbs. That was unheard of just a month ago!

[cabana 4 life]

madison, wi.

the cycling here is great, but public transit absolutely sucks (lame city bus system, no light rail, no amtrak connection). and the sprawl outside the downtown is just getting worse all of the time.

muskegon mi almost an exact match. we get alot of lake effect snow in the winter but its cool some days you gotta walk or push your bike to the main roads that are plowed

[Ashen]

I'm in Sammamish, WA

It's a pain actually, being such a remote suburb. I'll probably move into Redmond or Bellevue sometime.

[KristenGilbert]

I'm in Berkeley with a 12 mile roundtrip commute on my bike. This is a very bike friendly area as well as having decent public transit. I live within walking distance of everything I need to go to and a bus/BART ride to anything farther. I even have the availability to take my bike on BART an buses.

[Simplebiker]

I'm in Washington, DC. My commute is 19 miles roundtrip. It's easy to be car free here. Housing is available close to grocery stores, shopping and fairly good public transit in many areas. Plus I have easy access to taxis and car-sharing when necessary.

It would have been more of a challenge if I had attempted to go car free in Memphis the city near where I grew up and nearly impossible in the little town where I actually grew up. Some people do it in Memphis, but I never met anyone there that chose to be car free. There are probably a few downtown. Apparently my dad commuted to work on a bicycle in Memphis at least for a short time in the 70's. I'll have to ask him how that was.

[spider-man]

New Orleans, Louisiana

[mpop]

PIttsburgh, PA. I don't think Pittsburgh is very bike friendly, but I do get by.

[fallstorm]

I live in Ellensburg, WA. The OP probably knows where that is, but many of you probably don't. Look right in the middle of Washington state -- the university I attend sits at the geographic center of the state.

We don't have busses here. We have a paratransit service which offers transportation to the public in return for a small donation. It must be scheduled 24 hours in advance M-F, runs a limited route Saturday, and no service Sunday. The university currently has a drunk bus, but it only runs from the downtown bar district to one's home. Not something you'd want to ride otherwise. :)

It takes about 30 minutes to walk and 15-20 to bike from one end of the town proper to the other end. Since the city proper is smaller and somewhat compact, it's pretty easy to get by without a car. We also have quite a few cyclists, so people expect to see us more (although not many ride VC or semi-VC). We tend to get more of the "Get off the road!" comments because there's more time to yell with fewer people around (if that makes any sense), but I've never had anything intentionally thrown at me or had someone intentionally swerve to knock me off my bike.

As for practicality, I've found it may be easier in my city to live car-free than in a large city. When I lived in my apartment, I was a 10 minute or less walk to Albertsons for food and Fred Meyer for everything else. I'd ask them to double-bag it; they did so automatically after a week.

As for climate, everyplace is different, but we do have four seasons. It's blistering hot in the summer and icy in the winter. You just have to be ready for it, same as if you drove. Studded bike tires in the winter and good water bottles in the summer are essential. Sometimes Ellensburg's citizens call it "The Windy City 2" because spring and fall are always windy. We don't consider it a big deal to have 30-40mph winds. I'm just aware of what direction it's blowing so I get a nice tailwind one way of my trip.

[Dahon.Steve]

If you watch, the War of the Worlds staring Tom Curise, you'll see where I live because the Monsters from Mars destroyed the bridge in my town! Yup.. They filmed the movie in Bayonne, New Jersey or about 1 mile from where I live. I love that bridge and crossed it the other day to enter Staten Island. The motorist pays $6.00 dollars! YUK! Unfortunately, New Jersey is an expensive place to live and the property taxes are high.

What I like about living in the New York Metro is the massive amount of public transportation available. The streets are all 25-35 mph so I don't have to ride on 55 mph roads like those living in the burbs. Within a four block distance, there are 5 bus lines and the lightrail at my disposal. We have a center of town shopping district including three supermarkets with one located just across the street. What really cemented the deal was the lightrail which takes me to work every morning or I can head out toe shopping mall for only $53.00 dollars per month (unlimited ride). That rail line more than anything made me car and bike free! I no longer ride my bicycle to the train station in the morning because light rail is stress less and pleasant to ride.

As for weekend cycling, there's everything here. The trains can take you out to the burbs in an hour. It's flat where I live but you can find hills 20 miles away. There's a huge cycling community in New York City and I belong to a couple of clubs.

What's key is to study transit systems in large cities when looking for places to work and live along that train line. This is actually easier than you think because I've seen so many homes for sale within a mile of a train line. About 100 years ago, it was rare to find a home next to a train line but today it's just the opposite. Any home within 1 mile of a train line can make you car free.

[Roody]

I'm in the inner city of Lansing, MI and loving it. The metro population is about 250,000. It's a nice size for a bike, as you can ride almost anywhere in 30 - 45 minutes. We have 4 nice seasons, less snow in winter than cabana gets in muskegon, but colder temps. There's a big university, the state capitol, and lots of G.M. plants. Very few bike commuters, so I feel lonely sometimes, like a pioneer. The streets are narrow but very ridable. The pavement could use some work in some areas. The city bus system is comprehensive, but the evening and weekend routes are sparse. All the busses have racks, which are often full. There's a nice new bus terminal which also serves more than a dozen Greyhounds every day. There is one Amtrak -- Chicago to Port Huron, I believe.

[LY2KW]

I am from Vilnius, Lithuania. The public transportation is pretty good developed here, but I seldom use it as I can get myself everywhere on a bicycle. I commute to work year round, 10 to 40 km one way (depending on weather I frequently choose a scienic route).

[karmical]

Oakland, Ca

car free is pretty easy living in the bay area and after spending 10 yrs in louisiana it can never rain too hard for me to ride in out here, and its california so for the couple of real cold days we have every year, its really not that bad.

[Mtn Mike]

I live in Ellensburg, WA. The OP probably knows where that is, but many of you probably don't. Look right in the middle of Washington state -- the university I attend sits at the geographic center of the state.

We don't have busses here. We have a paratransit service which offers transportation to the public in return for a small donation. It must be scheduled 24 hours in advance M-F, runs a limited route Saturday, and no service Sunday. The university currently has a drunk bus, but it only runs from the downtown bar district to one's home. Not something you'd want to ride otherwise. :)

It takes about 30 minutes to walk and 15-20 to bike from one end of the town proper to the other end. Since the city proper is smaller and somewhat compact, it's pretty easy to get by without a car. We also have quite a few cyclists, so people expect to see us more (although not many ride VC or semi-VC). We tend to get more of the "Get off the road!" comments because there's more time to yell with fewer people around (if that makes any sense), but I've never had anything intentionally thrown at me or had someone intentionally swerve to knock me off my bike.

As for practicality, I've found it may be easier in my city to live car-free than in a large city. When I lived in my apartment, I was a 10 minute or less walk to Albertsons for food and Fred Meyer for everything else. I'd ask them to double-bag it; they did so automatically after a week.

As for climate, everyplace is different, but we do have four seasons. It's blistering hot in the summer and icy in the winter. You just have to be ready for it, same as if you drove. Studded bike tires in the winter and good water bottles in the summer are essential. Sometimes Ellensburg's citizens call it "The Windy City 2" because spring and fall are always windy. We don't consider it a big deal to have 30-40mph winds. I'm just aware of what direction it's blowing so I get a nice tailwind one way of my trip.

Yep, you're probably my nearest neighbor! Only a 150 mile bike commute to your local!

[pedex]

columbus ohio

no problems here, city is easy to get around, cost of living is dirt cheap, weather is typical midwest type stuff

[weed eater]

i live in oakland and we're moving to portland in a month. it's easy to live car-free here and easier in portland.

[karmical]

easier in portland.

i've heard this as well, but do not remember much from my trip to portland except that the next time i'm up in bend i will go back a little more sober and clearheaded so i can see if it can live up to all the hype..

[Chuckie J.]

Albuquerque, New Mexico. This is a big island in the desert. Totally spread out and car-centric yet we have these great bike paths all over the city that follow the arroyos (concrete drainage channels like in the movie Grease). Until I sold my car three years ago I didn't even know they were there. I call them The Bike Superhighways.

I'm mainly in the downtown-university area and its a breeze to commute by bike. Others may disagree because they don't bike but once you start doing it you just do it. You can't think like a motorist while biking; you have to look at the city differently. Before I sold my car, I couldn't see Albuquerque this way.

Chuckie

[Anthony King]

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.

once you start doing it you just do it
There's much wisdom in this circlular saying.

[weed eater]

i've heard this as well, but do not remember much from my trip to portland except that the next time i'm up in bend i will go back a little more sober and clearheaded so i can see if it can live up to all the hype..

karmical--i wrote a much longer post singing portland's praises in another thread in this fine forum

http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=1602103&postcount=31

[ArizonaAdam]

Las Vegas, NV (current and temporary). Re: biking; Weather fantastic, traffic terrible, bike facilities even worse. I could do vegas car free is I chose to, and kept my world very small, school (3mi), work(same), grocery(4mi), friends(1-7mi), all else(1-30mi). I would love too, and plan too eventually.
For some reason, no one understands 4-way stope here. I only see a few serious bike commuters here. The majority of day-to-day bike commuting here is a function of poverty and not choice, though I respect anyone who cycles in this town, I wish more people would assert their rights in traffic instead of ALWAYS just riding the wrong way on sidewalks and bike lanes. It drives me nuts.

Tempe, AZ (until 2 years ago, any one year form now). Great all around. College town, lots of LBS that appreciate mtb and commuting, great, tecnical trails, traffic too fast, but decent wide lanes for sharing.

[sydney_b]

I'm here in Lincoln, NE. We do have a bit of snow and one biter of a cold snap for about a week in january, but other than that it's not too bad. The streets are wide, drivers fairly considerate, hiways all have good shoulders, and street cleaners do trails and bus routes first thing. Where I live, which is in a centrally located suburb, I'm within 5 miles of downtown, 4 miles of 5 different groceries, and 4 or less miles to any other regular services. Lincoln has many miles of multipurpose trails as well as streets designated as "bike routes." Thus, you can get about anywhere in town on a bike. The only time it gets dicey is if you are determined to frequent the meglomarts on the edges. I do wish, however, that we had bike racks on our busses. Then life sans car, but with bike, would be really pretty easy around here.

[Roody]

karmical--i wrote a much longer post singing portland's praises in another thread in this fine forum

http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=1602103&postcount=31
I have heard that Portland requires cyclists to use bike lanes. I don't consider that to be very bike-friendly.

[weed eater]

hmm...that's interesting. I think California also has this requirement, but then, California also requires vehicles to stop at stop signs.

I do need to familiarize myself more closely with the Oregon Vehicle Code. One thing I can say about Portland is that it has some of the most sensible and well designed bike lanes I have seen.

[Roody]

I don't think California has this requirement. I think no state,including Oregon, has this requirement.

The city of Portland is one of a handful of municipalities that requires the use of bike lanes.

[weed eater]

a quick check on the web revealed that CA, OR and MI all have the "requirement" of bike lane/path usage in their VCs. Michigan's reads like this

(3) Where a usable and designated path for bicycles is provided adjacent to a roadway, a bicycle rider or an electric personal assistive mobility device operator may, by local ordinance, be required to use that path. Where a usable and designated path for bicycles is provided adjacent to a roadway, a bicycle rider who is less than 16 years of age shall use that path unless accompanied by an adult.

and the wording for California and Portland is similar.

I haven't found any specific Portland bicycle code or ordinances, but I haven't stopped looking...

Thanks for the tip!

[weed eater]

ok, here's what I found on the City of Portland Transportation site

http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?&a=71947&c=34814

The city specifically prohibits bicycle operation on sidewalks, but there's nothing about bike lane requirements that differs from the state code. of course there could be more in the Munic. Code that is not listed here.

One of my favorite things in the OR VC that I have seen is that bicycles are allowed to use interstate highways (outside of major metro areas like Portland). Don't know if I'd want to, but it might be handy when touring.

[tala_till_mig]

Gothenburg, Sweden. It's a very good city for carfree living. Lots of public transportation like tram, bus, train and boat, but also lots of bikepaths. I been carfree and on a bike all 11 years here, never a problem. My commute roundtrip is about 30kms.

//Jens

[Roody]

a quick check on the web revealed that CA, OR and MI all have the "requirement" of bike lane/path usage in their VCs. Michigan's reads like this

(3) Where a usable and designated path for bicycles is provided adjacent to a roadway, a bicycle rider or an electric personal assistive mobility device operator may, by local ordinance, be required to use that path. Where a usable and designated path for bicycles is provided adjacent to a roadway, a bicycle rider who is less than 16 years of age shall use that path unless accompanied by an adult.

and the wording for California and Portland is similar.

I haven't found any specific Portland bicycle code or ordinances, but I haven't stopped looking...

Thanks for the tip!
Yeah but . . . These are local option ordinances. As far as I know, no municipalities in Michigan actually require bike lane or bike path usage.

We still ride free in the Great Lakes State!

[weed eater]

Thanks Roody, and congratulations. But did you find any specific information about Portland's requirement of bike lane use? (I'm honestly curious.)

edit: [deleted a bunch of stuff because this is starting to sound like it belongs on the advocacy forum and I'd sooner stick myself in the eye with a broken spoke]

[Roody]

Thanks Roody, and congratulations. But did you find any specific information about Portland's requirement of bike lane use? (I'm honestly curious.)

edit: [deleted a bunch of stuff because this is starting to sound like it belongs on the advocacy forum and I'd sooner stick myself in the eye with a broken spoke]
There has been recent discussion of this in more than one subforum. Try a search, you should find several mentions.

[Walkafire]

Longmont Colorado....

Bus System is pretty good here... bike Racks on the front... get to other towns real easy.

[AverageCommuter]

Muncie, IN. The whole city is about 5mi. across, so distance is no problem. We get a full 4 seasons of weather. The busses have bike racks, except in winter (now what sense does that make), but their schedule is short. They leave the terminal at 6:30am and return for the night at 6:30pm. I've never had any trouble while riding, though I have friends who have.

[Guest]

Formerly Chicago, and now Arlington, VA. Both are bike friendly, but Chicago is not as bike friendly as Arlington (never seen a "Share the Road" sign in Chicago, and they're everywhere here, for instance). Chicago has a phenomenoal transportation system that just can't be beat. Arlington is way spread out, and lots of time, you have to go into DC or Maryland for something or another. Then you have to fight traffic if you choose not to take the trails, and even if you take the trails, you still have some breaks in the trail where you deal with traffic. *sigh* Still, the trails here in NoVa/DC/MD are some of the best I've seen.

Koffee

[carless]

I have heard that Portland requires cyclists to use bike lanes. I don't consider that to be very bike-friendly.
In a general way Oregon and specifically Portland has very unique qualities for car-free folks. Think of the big picture, read the Oregonian and the Eugene Register-Guard. There are discussions about limiting the parking places in Portland, bike lane markings, urban growth limits, and strict building codes. You can fly into Portland, hop on Max and go 40 miles in any direction by bus. There are films on the internet of people moving between houses on bikes in Portland, they serve coffee to cross some bridges(can't remember) and ghost displays on accident scenes. Compared to other cities I like Portland.

[slisk]

Rotterdam, Holland

This is an easy biking town. Dedication to the cyclist is the case here! Everything is close and you have safe lanes and friendly motorists (most of the time)

Slisk

[danimal]

tempe, az...it's a nice college town thrown into the middle of a sprawling, overdeveloped mess of stucco. but despite that, being carfree in tempe is pretty easy except it's a bit of a haul to get to a big grocery store, and there's the typical bike vs. suv drama you get everywhere. if you want to leave tempe you need a car or you need to wait for the (usually hourly) bus service (and there are only two spots for bikes on the buses. we're getting a lightrail in a couple years, so we'll see how that changes things (and if i'm still in tempe to see it).

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.

[Juha]

What it says beneath the avatar. Good place to be car-free: reasonable public transportation (both coverage and cost-wise) and plenty of bike paths. Our winter can sometimes be a challenge for biking.

--J

[rousseau]

Surrey's kind of a suburb of Vancouver. From my house it's only a twenty minute walk or less than ten minute ride to the Skytrain, which is an elevated and fully automated light transit system, simillar to a subway or monorail. Bikes are allowed onboard most of the day. We've also got a very good bus system and almost all routes have bikeracks on the busses.

I've got a choice of four big grocery stores (Buy-Rite, Safeway, Save-on and a smaller independant) and several corner stores within a fifteen minute ride. There's also a big mall, a smaller strip mall and quite a bit of on-street shopping. Work is within both riding and walking distance. Why would I need a car?!

During a bad winter, we might get a foot of snow and it might hang around for a couple of weeks. It rains, though, a lot. It also gets up into the 30's (90's for you all down below ;) ) in the summer.

Just curious..are you living is some kind of special thermal zone in Surrey? Otherwise, it never gets into the 30s in the Vancouver area. The hottest temperature this year was at 3:00 PM on July 31, when it hit 28.8, and that was during a week-long "heat wave" when maximum temps made it up into the mid-20s.

[pakole]

I like in Boston, MA. Everything is so close that I have to make special efforts to go biking for an extended period.