wolfchild

....and there are some LCF'ers who refuse to have a drivers license in order so that they can maintain their purity... some of these purists also believe that it's perfectly acceptable to occasionally borrow a car form somebody else and drive without having a valid DL.

kickstart

"commuting"= Fitting cycling as transportation to your life, and lifestyle. The practical application of using a bicycle for transportation on your own terms.

"LCF"= Fitting your life, and lifestyle to alternative transportation. Your priority is structuring your life around not having a car with everything else being secondary.

Naturally, you're free to participate in both. If you filter out a few of the strange birds, there is some interesting and insightful things to be found there despite their distractions.

tjspiel

I think many (most?) of those that identify themselves as "LCF" fit that description. But lots of people live car free because owning a car doesn't fit their lifestyle rather than because they've made a decision not to own a car and modified their lifestyle accordingly.

My first year of college I'd drive home on weekends so that I could work (job paid pretty well), but keeping a car on campus was a pain. I had to move it constantly and otherwise didn't need it. I was adapting my lifestyle to having a car, though I would not have seen it that way.

To a certain extent all car owners modify their lifestyles to make car ownership possible. In most households in the US, transportation is the 2nd largest expense, between 15 and 20 percent. That's a good junk of peoples' income that could be used for something else. About 1.5 hours out of an 8 hour work day is spent paying for transportation. Of course transportation costs don't disappear if you don't own a car but I think in most cases they would be significantly less.

JoeyBike

^^These are all lifestyle choices that many people CONSCIOUSLY make. They have what is called a PLAN to live the life they want to live. Living in a mild climate with a grocery store walking distance away and a job with flexible hours does not just HAPPEN. People MAKE it happen. And many of those people do not feel like they are missing out on something the rest of the world has.

tjspiel

I think a lot of peoples' "plan" is to do what their parents, siblings, and peers have done. That's not necessarily bad. For example, there is value in living in the same area as your extended family (depending on your extended family). But I do think it leaves folks somewhat ignorant or blind to other possibilities.

My brother moved to the tropics decades ago and never had kids. There are things he misses about not being home but he's car lite and could probably retire any time he felt like it. But not having kids means that he's got a substantial amount of free time anyway, so why not earn an income?

JoeyBike

I agree. Also, a lot of people go through their entire life just reacting to external stimuli and not giving their life or future much thought at all. I have been questioned about my lifestyle many times (usually next to my loaded touring bike at a grocery store) and the most common response I get from the people who asked the question "How do you get so much time off" is "Well, I never even THOUGHT about not having kids". Too many people go through life not thinking about much of anything other than just slogging along behind the cow in the herd in front to them. I find it more rewarding to fail at some of my plans than to just fall in a hole from not paying attention.

My life probably sounds pretty empty when I tell that person asking me questions about time off that "I don't smoke, drink, own a car, a house, no kids, no wife, no drugs, no TV, no entertainment system, and no pets. That would be a living Hell for most Americans. But my evil plan was to bank all of the money I could as fast as I could so I could take large amounts of time off from the Rat Race.

Now I have a wife, a house, a TV, and even had 2 cats for 18 years. Somehow I still manage to play a lot more than my peers. What has really killed me this year is the Unaffordable Care Act. How could I have planned for my health insurance to go from $225/month to $547/month? I could be leasing a Lexus! So even the best planner finds themselves at the bottom of a hole now and then. That's life.

I-Like-To-Bike

An unplanned $3,864/year is killing you financially? Even after banking all the money that you could while living like a monk?

JoeyBike

Well, when you consider that my Hurricane Katrina flooded house caused a bunch of lost income, then the Chinese sold drywall in the great ol' USofA contaminated with formaldehyde and sulfur that was installed in the flooded house that later had to be removed, remediated, and replaced on MY dime - a whole lot of dimes in fact totaling $110,000. Just before that I had to take care of my Mom who was dying of breast cancer complications which created another bunch of lost income and drained savings for six months, add in about $6,000 of unexpected dental work while I was out of work helping replace the tainted drywall PLUS the $3,864 you mentioned....

Hey...you asked.

whosmatt

I own a pickup. Need it for homeowner duties plus to pull the boat. Plus I live in Southern California. Commute is to throw the bike in the bed of the truck, drive to the train station, take the train to the closest station to work. Ride 4 miles in street clothes. Ride back in bike shorts, ~12 miles to another train station 2 stops south. Do this for time purposes. My ride to the train station from home in the city is a gauntlet of 4 way stops. Takes forever. The rides near work give me long stretches where I don't have to stop.

I-Like-To-Bike

Sorry for your various misfortunes, you've had more than your share. Just noting that the Affordable Care Act hardly deserves all the blame for your current financial status.

JoeyBike

Icing on the cake man.

kickstart

My oldest brother and his wife, my son, and late brother in law all don't own cars, yet they don't identify themselves as being "car free", its just what fits their needs. I didn't get a drivers licence until I was nearly 22, and there's been few times in my life where I used a car as my primary transportation, yet the concept of "car free" was unknown to me until I joined BF.

Its hard for me to quantify the true cost of transportation in any form as many of the associated coasts include recreational use, and the trappings of being an enthusiast. I do have a motorcycle, but I spend more on cycling, my wife's car costs more than both of them combined, but its also her work vehicle.

the sci guy 

And that's great. We chose to buy a house in a specific neighborhood that is close to the parks where we can ride from the front door and do over 50 miles, near a couple grocery stores and restaurants we love, and can easily bike to work, etc. These are all choices. But we, like many others, can't go car free because the area just doesn't lend itself to that.
Just today we drove probably 50 miles round trip to run errands that included stopping at two bike shops, four grocery stores, an outdoor store, a garden store, and Lowes. Houston is large geographically, like many other cities. I'm not going to take an Uber to and from all those places, nor are they even remotely feasible to bike to.
Point is you can make choices as long as all those other pieces fit into place. We made choices too and only some of the pieces work. To disparage folks like us for the necessity of a car is ridiculous. (Not saying you are, I just mean in general)

mr geeker

Personally I have nothing against owning a vehicle (though I don't) and in some circumstances I realize that it can ALMOST be a necessity. I know there's been instances where my life would have been much much easier by owning a vehicle of some sort, and I've even gave it passing thought on finally purchasing one.

10 Wheels

Three Cars

TenSpeedV2

Single, apartment dweller and I do have a car. I do commute to work via bike as much as possible. The climate here, along with public transportation really dictates what I can and can't do. Bike commute is only about 7.5 miles at the shortest route possible and takes just a little time more than driving. Second shift hospital worker and my shift ends at 11:30 PM. Public transportation stops at 11. I would either need to depend on something like Uber, a taxi, or a co-worker for a ride home on days that riding was not possible. Really do not want to do that, as taxi rides are really expensive here and would add up quickly.

I seriously considered going car free this winter but the weather plays the biggest part of it. Like right now, it is hovering right around freezing, currently snowing that will turn into sleet and possibly rain later on. I work at 3 PM. Riding to work in that hot mess just doesn't sound appealing to me at all. There comes a mental limit for me as to what I will subject myself to while riding. Rode in snow, sleet, rain, ice, etc through most of the winter when possible. It just won't work right now where I live and where I work.

Kindaslow

Me too, with the wife.

i commute by bike as much as I can. However, sometimes my job requires multiple sites per day and my employer would not ok me going between sites by bike. Also, I am a mountain biker. The MTB rides are about 25 minutes by car. So, not only would it suck, it would destroy my MTB tires getting to and from. Last, I love lightweight sports cars. So, I have a little orange FRS in the garage.

To each their own.

dedhed

I suspect my PPC (personal piston count) is much higher than average for a bicycle commuter.

TenSpeedV2

1 car, 8 pistons.

JoeyBike

Many of the folks in LCF make every choice based on remaining/becoming car free. Some even manage to do this with children. In the USofA, this is a pretty impressive feat. Considering that millions of small towns across the USA could have been great places to live car free until they got WalMarted. Main streets are ghost towns, or antique villages, and the Super WalMart is 30 miles away. Managing a life is based on an almost infinite number of choices and trade-offs. If you want to be car free in the USA, this had better be way up at the top of the list of wants/needs. Even then you better be ready to do without some things you wish you had.

I mean, rule number ONE and TWO for remaining car free would be to NOT live in Houston or Los Angeles. I can't even think of the number of $$$ it would take for me to live in Houston AND have to drive in that Hell hole every day. I LOVE the Los Angeles area. I would happily live there if it were a little bit friendly to a car free life. I am sure it is possible, just too difficult for me. I had a million choices to make leaving college. My choices were all based on 1. Living Car Free and 2. Not getting a job where I am the "celebrity" so to speak that MUST be there for the business to work. Most people strive for jobs with security, I strove for jobs that wouldn't miss me if I took off for 6 months. I passed up many opportunities to make more money in different cities in order to chase the life I really wanted.

I do not feel the need to disparage anybody, but if a car is a necessity (and you are of able mind and body to do otherwise) then it is nobodies fault but yours. America is still "free" enough to make all the choices you need regarding this. And if for some reason you should motor into the car-free forum I think you should show some respect for those people because what they are doing is not taking the easy path.

A dependable car is not cheap. If you own one, I believe you WANT one. I hope this is not considered a disparaging comment.

noglider 

I'm seeing a pretty respectful discussion, not a pissing match. Thank you, folks. Lots of information and insight and perspective.

tjspiel

I think it's been a pretty respectful discussion. I do agree it's ultimately about choices and I'll suggest that maybe some things that we'd normally think require vehicle ownership may not. For example, the need to tow a boat (mentioned in an earlier post).

Do you really need to own a boat to enjoy the benefits of having one? What if you could belong to a club that let you use a boat at any of 6 area lakes whenever you wanted? Maintenance, storage, insurance, etc. is all taken care of. They are gassed up and ready to go when you arrive. That's not an option everywhere but it is here and I imagine it will become more common in the future.

I belong to sailing club that's a similar concept except all the boats are at the same lake. It costs me less to belong to the club than it would to have a buoy for my own boat on the same lake. There's 17 boats of 3 different types to choose from. Even though sailing as a pastime is in decline, this sailing club has a waiting list.

Would I still like to own a boat? At times. There is a saying though. The two happiest days in a sailor's life are the day he buys his boat... and the day he sells it.

We are a 3 driver, 2 car family but over the last several years I've started to realize that car ownership is often about convenience more than necessity. A lot of times there are other options, and the options are growing. However, if we didn't have any cars, it would mean that some of the things we'd want to do (and consider important) would become significantly more inconvenient, - to the point where we may just not do them.

kickstart

The other thing to consider is that the places, and the associated lifestyle conducive to not having a car is undesirable to many people.

Steely Dan

The other thing to consider is that the places, and the associated lifestyle conducive to requiring a car is undesirable to many people.

RubeRad

I think the better question, to avoid LCF angst, is how many miles/year do you drive (compared to before you started bike-commuting). For me, moving close to work and (private) school dropped the minivan like maybe from 20K to 15K, and dropped the second car ("my" car) from 15-20K to near nothing, about 5K in the last THREE years, less than the miles I put on the bike.

Or maybe simpler, how many people bike more miles than they drive?