Living Car Free - Phoenix...

From various posts on LCF I got the impression that car-free was difficult
in Phoenix, but here it seems to say that they've committed to having a
public transportation option:

http://www.valleymetro.org/metro_light_rail/grand_opening

A transit system that won't operate 24 hours and doesn't access all of the valley.

From various posts on LCF I got the impression that car-free was difficult
in Phoenix, but here it seems to say that they've committed to having a
public transportation option:

http://www.valleymetro.org/metro_light_rail/grand_opening
great place to be carfree, but only if you like to ride the bike 300 plus days a year.

great place to be carfree, but only if you like to ride the bike 300 plus days a year.

Hey... where do I sign up?

i live in phoenix, just be carefull where you ride. this is not the safest city anymore. and the light rail is swell, but has it draw backs. i own a car too, but i love riding in the city and taking the lightrail all over and at nite im in my volvo!

Hey... where do I sign up?

Lots of places to live here.
You will have months with out rain. When it comes you might be wondering what is hitting your head?


Phoenix is on a grid so you can mostly use the collector streets. There isn't anywhere safe, and you can obtain police call data to ensure where you don't want to go.

Phoenix is a case study in Asphalt Nation by Jane Holtz Kay. If what she writes about it is true, I would never want to live there.

Phoenix is a case study in Asphalt Nation by Jane Holtz Kay. If what she writes about it is true, I would never want to live there.

As I stated if you don't mind getting on your bike every day, you will like it here.
Sure you can use transit but biking is far more fun and faster at times.

We have tons of routes in a basin or a mesa, asphalt doesn't freeze, bike lanes get swept, weather is 70 degrees, and most people don't use anything of this from what I see so it is all for you.

I have cycled all over the earth and this is much easier and less stress full.

As I stated if you don't mind getting on your bike every day, you will like it here.
Sure you can use transit but biking is far more fun and faster at times.

We have tons of routes in a basin or a mesa, asphalt doesn't freeze, bike lanes get swept, weather is 70 degrees, and most people don't use anything of this from what I see so it is all for you.

I have cycled all over the earth and this is much easier and less stress full.

No doubt.

I lived downtown for a minute right by the Central library and can attest that getting around Phoenix proper by bike is awesome.....once outside the city limits, not so much.

weather is 70 degrees

Maybe in the Winter.

PHX has its faults, but i think its a great cycling city. You have plenty of bike lanes, and although they arent fool proof they are hella better than the roads in NoVA outside DC. The weather is amazing with exception to one week in january (for us pansies who live here its relatively cold) and the months of july and august. THe light rail is limited, but makes sense if used in conjunction with cycling. I work at a LBS and we've noticed an increase in cycling as transportation, so somethings working...

I always thought it would be harder to ride in 110F summers than in the rust belt winters. But I don't really know, having never tried it.

I always thought it would be harder to ride in 110F summers than in the rust belt winters. But I don't really know, having never tried it.

I can comment having live in the Mpls-St.Paul area for quite awhile. Now I live in AZ, though not Phoenix, but in an area warmer than Phoenix. Much easier to ride in heat than ice/cold. I have commuted in temps down to -10 and now up to 115. (that's my upper limit, though we have see temps at 126)

But I will say this, a commute by bicycle is much better than a commute by car no matter what the temperature. :)

I always thought it would be harder to ride in 110F summers than in the rust belt winters. But I don't really know, having never tried it.

Well you can only ride for about an hour past 106. But that only means you need to cool off at your favorite store, mall, or public pool. You do more night/morning riding which you can ride longer. Less maintenance.

I too came from MN. After spending 5 years in PA. For me I will take a hot summer vs cold winter. Besides I can take a 54 dollar bus ride and three hours to Flagstaff and be around 85 degrees. This is the same if I want snow in the winter.

It is no Portland, but if you don't mind the less bicycle community your golden. We tend to get the driving culture moving here which makes it hard to gain a foothold. 100,000 people move into Maricopa County here every year.

As for rural Az

There are so few roads you get to use the Interstate system minus Phoenix and Tucson
Due to very remote sections in AZ there are very few cars out on the road or two don't have a problem passing you.
AZ is trying to get shoulders on its roads and sees this important as cars. It has a good bicycle state map.
They also are implementing roving photo radar.
It is one of the better places to tour in less than a hundred miles I can be at six thousand feet.Mexico is only a few hundred miles to the south. I can take mass transit down to Ajo Arizona and only be 40 miles from the border.

If you have the desire, you can be sans car in Phoenix. I did it for about a year before going back to car lite status. I was lucky that my work was close and was outfitted with bike racks/showers.

I managed to stay mostly on bike routes or side streets most of the time.

The problem with Phoenix is its lack of progressive thought leadership from the residents. It's a cesspool in this regard IMO. You never hear ppl talking about sustainability, commuting options, better communities, or water issues (at least among my peers). Everyone has their head in the sand as if these issues don't exist or aren't important enough to think about. I find this staggering when you consider how sensitive the area is to some of these issues.

The new lite rail is a positive step in the right direction by the city planners. However, it's the ppl that will have to adapt and make this effort successful. I just don't see the grass roots type energy in this city to make signifigant gains outside of the car and 6 lane side-streets throughout the city.

But ya - carfree in Phx can be done...

If you have the desire, you can be sans car in Phoenix. I did it for about a year before going back to car lite status. I was lucky that my work was close and was outfitted with bike racks/showers.

I managed to stay mostly on bike routes or side streets most of the time.

The problem with Phoenix is its lack of progressive thought leadership from the residents. It's a cesspool in this regard IMO. You never hear ppl talking about sustainability, commuting options, better communities, or water issues (at least among my peers). Everyone has their head in the sand as if these issues don't exist or aren't important enough to think about. I find this staggering when you consider how sensitive the area is to some of these issues.

The new lite rail is a positive step in the right direction by the city planners. However, it's the ppl that will have to adapt and make this effort successful. I just don't see the grass roots type energy in this city to make signifigant gains outside of the car and 6 lane side-streets throughout the city.

But ya - carfree in Phx can be done...

Yes agreed, what amazes me is how many things are here geared towards green. ASU has a sustainability program, We have two bike Co-ops in the valley and another program to get bikes to kids through building them. We have government who is pushing to build green buildings. We have several community rides each week and weekend rides galore. We have many dozens upon dozens of wonderful bike groups ABC, CAZbike, TBAG etc. Several cities have bike coordinators and even a state.
Yet where are the people it is like some underground cult you never hear about???

I'm not quite Phoenix, but I'm in Tempe, so I'm close enough. I find myself in Phoenix every so often, mostly when social events beckon. Car free isn't a problem, even in the summer, though with the heat you should be aware of the consequences and the symptoms of heat exhaustion. Personally, I rarely use the public transit anymore, though the Light Rail makes me want to head into Phoenix more often.

Can you take your bike on the Phoenix light rail trains?

Can you take your bike on the Phoenix light rail trains?

Yes there is four bike spots per train car so right now 8 , plus if there is room you can put it anywhere it fits.

I was carfree in PHX for a couple of years. My home-work-home route was awesome. Some others were lame.

On the MTB tip, Phoenix did have monumentally better in-the-city single track than the Portland metro area. It blows away many cities in that respect.

The problem with Phoenix is its lack of progressive thought leadership from the residents. It's a cesspool in this regard IMO. You never hear ppl talking about sustainability, commuting options, better communities, or water issues (at least among my peers). Everyone has their head in the sand as if these issues don't exist or aren't important enough to think about. I find this staggering when you consider how sensitive the area is to some of these issues.

I haven't lived in Phoenix, but the times I have visited relatives there, I was impressed at how much time they spent driving to get between activities. And that's from a former Angeleno. It seemed like it would be hard to keep up with your friends on bike if everyone else was living such a sprawling lifestyle.

Having lived near Palm Springs, I have seen the same denial from desert residents there. During a 15 month period where it did not rain one single time, I never heard anyone talk of water rationing or conservation. It was green lawns and golf courses as usual. The aquifer below them was falling quickly, but no one seemed to care.

I think that just trying to live a "normal lifestyle" in a desert promotes such a disconnect. So many desert residents are immigrants and they just don't have a clue about the reality of the land before their McMansion was put on it.

I haven't lived in Phoenix, but the times I have visited relatives there, I was impressed at how much time they spent driving to get between activities. And that's from a former Angeleno. It seemed like it would be hard to keep up with your friends on bike if everyone else was living such a sprawling lifestyle.


I think that just trying to live a "normal lifestyle" in a desert promotes such a disconnect. So many desert residents are immigrants and they just don't have a clue about the reality of the land before their McMansion was put on it.

Golf courses use waste water so that's not a problem.

Disconnect is is key here. Lots of disconnect here. Might be why they move here. The desert does funny things to people.
I am one of the disconnects. I love the remoteness of Arizona. In 40 miles I can be in a wilderness completely removed from society.

I always thought it would be harder to ride in 110F summers than in the rust belt winters. But I don't really know, having never tried it.

Here in Tennessee the hottest I've ridden in was 111F with 30% humidity, and the coldest was 10F (though I should break that tomorrow). I'll wholeheartedly take 10F. Heck, I'll take 10F over 90F.