Living Car Free - Living Without a Car: My New American Responsibility

From the story......
"Owning a car has always been a luxury in the Third World, something beyond the pale of the middle class. In countries like Vietnam, Peru and Bangladesh, just to name a few, only the very rich owned cars. When I came here from Vietnam with my family at the end of the war, I remember such delight when my older brother bought his first car. We were still sharing an apartment with my aunt and her children, but as we cruised the streets at night, it felt as if we were becoming Americans.

The automobile, after all, is intrinsically American, and owning one largely determines how we Americans arrange our daily lives -- it is as essential to us as the train and metro are to Japanese or Europeans. Indeed, a car is the first thing a teenager of driving age desires; to drive away from home is an established American rite of passage. Even the working poor are drivers here."

The rest of the story........
http://www.alternet.org/environment/92528/living_without_a_car%3A_my_new_american_responsibility/

I can tell you from experience, however, that being on the right side of the green divide is not easy. As I trudged to work this morning, a 40-minute trek, I dearly missed my car. As I budget my time and memorize bus routes and timetables, it seems as if I am returning to my humble immigrant beginnings, repudiating some notion of being an American. But I'm not. Giving up the car is my new American responsibility.

This guy doesn't sound like he will be carfree for too long! The most successful at being carfree are those who don't see it as an agony. They learn to enjoy walking and biking and, if they can't get to their favorite Asian market, they learn to do well with what is close by.

I don't understand how this guy managed to survive in San Francisco with a car. Every time I've tried to motor there, I end up wishing I were on foot.

Never thought about it from that perspective...hmmm..............

Well, since so many things in my life have sucked, I learned to look at the bright side of almost everything; it's the only way I have to avert another episode of depression. So, for the writer, all I can say is: "At least you had a taste of it for awhile! Now you get to show the rest of us lead-bottoms how to do it the 'other way'."

It was a good article. I tried to find Andrew's email to send him to the car free site on this forum. I posted below some comments he made about his choice of being car free requires a huge sacrifice. It doesn't.

The problem with Andrew is that he's become bus dependant. Until he learns to use human powered machines (bicycles) along with buses, he'll always be at the mercy of poor public transportation. A much better solution would be to live several blocks from the lightrail station and buy a folding bike to really take advantage of multimode transport. Does anyone know his email address?

>>>>It's an odd feeling to be on this side of being green. Without a car, my sense of time and space have been immediately altered. What was once a matter of expediency is now an effortful navigation

<"I'll be there in 15 minutes!" I used to tell a good friend who once lived nearby but who now resides, without a car, at an inconvenient distance. Going to my favorite Asian food market suddenly has turned into another arduous chore: Once a 30 minute event, it has become a two-hour ordeal, with bags in hands, and bus transfers.<<

They learn to enjoy walking and biking and, if they can't get to their favorite Asian market, they learn to do well with what is close by.


Seeing that he is Vietnamese, I think it is quite unlikely that he will give up the Asian market.

The author as the son of a general is used to a life of privilege. He left Viet Nam in a C-130 not a crowded boat preyed on by pirates according to wikipedia and the kqed website. It is admirable that he tried to give up car driving but understandable that he sees it as a hardship. When I bike to an asian market I'm the only one arriving by bike. The immigrants came here to live like Americans so they'll be the last ones to willingly return to biking. So I admire Andrew Lam for dropping the car, but like you guys say he needs educating that the hardship comes from his mental state and self awareness. It would be a good move if he finds joy in car free living and uses his writing talent to communicate that to the rest of the world.

I'm not sure what all the complaining is about. I had a chance to use a car this past weekend and opted against it. I don't need the thing, I just flat-out don't need it. There's no place I want to go that I can't on a bike, except those that would need an aircraft anyway. The thought of locking myself in a steel box again and fussing here and there just does not appeal to me anymore.


Seeing that he is Vietnamese, I think it is quite unlikely that he will give up the Asian market.

One of my rituals was to drive to the Indian food restaurant once a week. On a bike that got less convenient, so I started buying the core spices and making it myself. I recently went to the restaurant again for the first time in years and realized MY curry is now a lot better than their curry, which tasted totally bland and lifeless. Intead of eating out, I've constructed a fully operational kitchen with a bookshelf full of spices and foods I can select from.

I'm not sure what all the complaining is about. I had a chance to use a car this past weekend and opted against it. I don't need the thing, I just flat-out don't need it. There's no place I want to go that I can't on a bike, except those that would need an aircraft anyway. The thought of locking myself in a steel box again and fussing here and there just does not appeal to me anymore.



One of my rituals was to drive to the Indian food restaurant once a week. On a bike that got less convenient, so I started buying the core spices and making it myself. I recently went to the restaurant again for the first time in years and realized MY curry is now a lot better than their curry, which tasted totally bland and lifeless. Intead of eating out, I've constructed a fully operational kitchen with a bookshelf full of spices and foods I can select from.

I think that the asian market comment assumed that the asian market is the only place he would be able to buy the ingredients for some of the dishes. The fish sauce and siracha and shrimp paste are starting to show up in the "international" sections of the american markets in DC but the herbs vegetables and fresh noodles and preserved duck eggs, durian and things like that aren't.