Living Car Free - What do you like the best about living car free?

But couldn't people use their passports? Here you can give either your driver's license or your passport as proof of identity.

I don't know. A passport might be proof of identity, but it isn't really proof of residency. In the US, passports are not considered ID because we are opposed to national ID cards. But banks, etc. will often accept a passport for check cashing.

I don't know. A passport might be proof of identity, but it isn't really proof of residency. In the US, passports are not considered ID because we are opposed to national ID cards. But banks, etc. will often accept a passport for check cashing.


For proof of residency all you need is an official bill or document which has been sent to you at your address ... like a telephone bill, for example.

I'm surprised that passports are not considered ID. Here, if you produce a driver's licence that's good, but if you produce a passport that's even better.

passport has worked enough for me to get jobs, cash paychecks, etc.

i think it counts as ID.

Referring to the original question: Money, Money, Money!

I don't know. A passport might be proof of identity, but it isn't really proof of residency. In the US, passports are not considered ID because we are opposed to national ID cards. But banks, etc. will often accept a passport for check cashing.

I'm not sure where this is coming from. Passports are absolutely acceptable as ID. I've never encountered (with the exception of driving itself and those things related) a situation that would not accept a passport instead of a driver's license.

To get my library card, neither one was sufficient. I had to bring an envelope sent to my name and address. (To prove I lived in Sacramento).

I and friends have used passports to get into bars... If thats not a form of ID I do not know what is. Here in CA, when you get hired you need to show them either A) Drivers License AND birth certificate B) Drivers license AND Social security card C) Passport. So here the passport is actually kinda like a trump card! Also, a CA state ID can substitute for a Driver License in A or B. Thats because you need the other two forms of ID to get a passport in the first place!

To get my library card, neither one was sufficient. I had to bring an envelope sent to my name and address. (To prove I lived in Sacramento).

Yeah whats up with that? I just went to get my Library card a few days ago and they made me write out an envelope with my address on it. Then they put my library card in it and mailed it to me. I understand the logic but jezzz...

I'm not sure where this is coming from. Passports are absolutely acceptable as ID. I've never encountered (with the exception of driving itself and those things related) a situation that would not accept a passport instead of a driver's license.

To get my library card, neither one was sufficient. I had to bring an envelope sent to my name and address. (To prove I lived in Sacramento).


I and friends have used passports to get into bars... If thats not a form of ID I do not know what is. Here in CA, when you get hired you need to show them either A) Drivers License AND birth certificate B) Drivers license AND Social security card C) Passport. So here the passport is actually kinda like a trump card! Also, a CA state ID can substitute for a Driver License in A or B. Thats because you need the other two forms of ID to get a passport in the first place!

Public library cards are usually only issued to people who can prove they live or work in, or pay taxes to the government entity supporting the library. Presumably public libraries do not intend to loan material to freeloading moochers with no ties to the area.

A U.S. Passport can confirm age, name, and place of birth. It provides NO indication of current or previous residence, employment, or taxpayer status.

A U.S. Passport can confirm age, name, and place of birth. It provides NO indication of current or previous residence, employment, or taxpayer status.

I'm surprised that the US forms don't require you to provide that information when you apply for them.

Canadian passports provide indication of current residence, and employment/education for the past two years. You fill that stuff onto the form when you apply for them and it goes into a database. While the passport itself will not provide that information ... that information is available.

I'm surprised that the US forms don't require you to provide that information when you apply for them.

Canadian passports provide indication of current residence, and employment/education for the past two years. You fill that stuff onto the form when you apply for them and it goes into a database. While the passport itself will not provide that information ... that information is available.

Like I said, the passport is proof of identity and proof of citizenship. It is not proof of residency. For those who need proof of residency--like the library, bank, voter registration, or DMV--a passport is not sufficient. They're going to want additional proof of residency, like a utility bill or driver's license.

Like I said, the passport is proof of identity and proof of citizenship. It is not proof of residency. For those who need proof of residency--like the library, bank, voter registration, or DMV--a passport is not sufficient. They're going to want additional proof of residency, like a utility bill or driver's license.

But in the case of my library, a driver's license wasn't acceptable for that either.

But in the case of my library, a driver's license wasn't acceptable for that either.

Your library is hard core. I hope you told them about themselves. I got my DL renewed just so I could get a library card, but I don't think I needed additional ID.

Your library is hard core. I hope you told them about themselves. I got my DL renewed just so I could get a library card, but I don't think I needed additional ID.

Yeah. I think it's the thing about some otherwise powerless person having just one tiny bit of power. They can't get you to return their books on time, but by gosh they're going to make sure you really do live where you say you do!

I lived in Botswana for a couple of years. I called it the tyranny of the stamp. You weren't nobody in Botswana if you didn't have a stamp. If they had ten or twenty stamps then the bureaucrat was usually pretty easy to deal with, but if they only had the one, you'd better be nice to them!

I'm surprised that the US forms don't require you to provide that information when you apply for them.

Canadian passports provide indication of current residence, and employment/education for the past two years. You fill that stuff onto the form when you apply for them and it goes into a database. While the passport itself will not provide that information ... that information is available.

And do you really believe the local library has access to that Passport database? Or should have access to it?

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you mean you weren't curious of the ins-and-outs of ID in the US?! c'mon... =]

you mean you weren't curious of the ins-and-outs of ID in the US?! c'mon... =]

Heck, Machka's posts have raised my curiosity about the status of Canadian civil liberties. I thought they were at least as good as the U.S. Maybe not, since she thinks personal data in Canada is an open book to anybody who wants to know.

I'm surprised that the US forms don't require you to provide that information when you apply for them.

Canadian passports provide indication of current residence, and employment/education for the past two years. You fill that stuff onto the form when you apply for them and it goes into a database. While the passport itself will not provide that information ... that information is available.

They do, but it is "supposedly" not available to the general public or local law enforcement.

Aaron:)

Public library cards are usually only issued to people who can prove they live or work in, or pay taxes to the government entity supporting the library. Presumably public libraries do not intend to loan material to freeloading moochers with no ties to the area.

A U.S. Passport can confirm age, name, and place of birth. It provides NO indication of current or previous residence, employment, or taxpayer status.

Very true, but I have found that especially in smaller towns I can get a temporary library card by having a local resident vouch for me. I am doing that in Ohio at the moment. The day manager at the motel vouched for me as being a long term guest, so they issued me a 6 month card.:thumb:

FWIW I have libarary cards for the county I live in as well as the adjacent county. The adjacent county requires me to pay an annual fee of $20 to keep the card current. I do, because the libraries are larger and I am usually in the city down there more often than I am in the county seat where my library is located. I lived in that city/county for over 20 years prior to moving to the county I now reside in.

Aaron:)

For me, riding my bike was just so sweet. As time wore on, it just didn't make sense to insure and maintain a car that was almost always stuck in the driveway. It's been about 5 years now. I love the slower pace of my life. I ride in cars so rarely that 40-45 mph makes me white-knuckle the seat or dash. On the residential roads that make up most of my rides I get to think -much more clearly, deeply, peacefully than I ever did in a car surrounded by other cars going 55 plus or minus 15.

But couldn't people use their passports? Here you can give either your driver's license or your passport as proof of identity.

Yes, you CAN give your passport. Typically, here at least, employers will then ask "Do you have a legal drivers license?" If they do not receive the answer they want to hear, the next word they will say is "Goodbye."

Living without a car is a delightful thing, and I miss it dearly.

I suppose it's kind of philosophical thing; I am, in retrospect, utterly amazed at how people will fight like wild dogs to keep their cars on the road. Thanks to hundreds of dollars worth of parking tickets, my car got towed no fewer than four times in one calendar year - notably, on one occasion, I got my car towed the day after I'd just gotten it out of the tow lot. Admittedly, this had a lot to do with my head being in the clouds (used to have a bit of a drug problem, to be honest), but it doesn't help that Capone himself couldn't have dreamt up a racket like Milwaukee parking enforcement.

For those not familiar, let me explain how the Milwaukee tow lot works. First, you go to an ATM and take out the cash to pay all your parking tickets, plus the tow fee - they don't take checks, and my credit cards haven't been valid since God was a boy. Then, with anywhere from three to seven hundred dollars in twenties in your pocket, you go to a thoroughly crummy part of town, and wait for several hours to be served. During your wait period, you get glared at by every thug in town, all of whom are there to bail their car out. It's borderline terrifying.

So, once the car gets out, you're driving again. Great, right? Nope. Now you feel a need to go check on the thing every forty five minutes. Has it been ticketed? Towed? Broken into? Dinged by some drunken sod in a Benz? You spend all your time worrying about the wellbeing of something that only exists to provide an easy solution to the issue of transportation - your solution becomes a new problem.

I think most people are aware of Nietszche's concept of the Ubermensch, or superman. Contrary to popular belief, though, the converse of this concept is not the Untermensch (an entirely foreign concept the Nazis dreamed up) - it's what Nietszche called "The Last Man." The Last Man is so comfortable, so delighted by his luxuries, that he would never risk endangering that comfort, and so becomes soft, weak, and unwilling to risk anything. I think many people, without ever admitting it, even to themselves, are afraid that they're turning into just such a creature.

Eventually, I just kinda said "screw it," gave the car to my mom, and got a bike. It's just a better way to live - I'm healthier, I've got more energy, and ever single day starts with one of my favorite things in the world, riding my bike.