jcwitte

I am curious to see if there are any correlations in this area.

For definitions/rules about what applies to you...

1. Car-free means absolutely car-free (not car-lite) with no plans to purchase a car.

2. A situation that prevents you from being car-free could be anything... kids, spouse, too far from work, etc. Anything that you feel stands in the way of your desire to be totally car-free including any internal hesitations or fears.

3. If you are unsure of what I mean by introvert/extrovert, here is a link to a pretty good definition...
https://www.myersbriggs.org/my_mbti_p...troversion.asp

attercoppe

I didn't answer the poll, here's why: by your definition, I can't choose car-free, yet my situation does not prevent it - I just have not yet sold my car (which I don't use). You may need to define "absolutely car-free" more clearly. Do you mean not ever using a car in any way? Simply not owning one? Not owning, renting, or borrowing, but riding in one is ok?

jcwitte

Well, then your situation does prevent it.... ie, you have not sold your car yet.

edited to add.... you could pick.... I wish to be car-free but my situation prevents it and I am ....

I consider you to be car-free if you do not own a car and do not plan to purchase or lease one and you never rent a car for work, play, vacation, etc. Also, if you use a car at work, then you are not car-free. If you borrow a friends car, then you are not car-free.

attercoppe

That's a good point, I thought of that after I posted but I thought I'd see what you said. I will vote - would you like some explanations of people's choices as they vote?

jcwitte

If you want to explain your reasons for voting the way you did that'd be great. I am definitely an introverted person. I have been car-free for about three months now.

attercoppe

I've been essentially car-free (disclaimed as before) for about five months now, and car-lite for around a month prior to that, right after I moved. I am certainly more outgoing than I was as a kid, but overall I'd say I'm an introvert - sometimes to the point of borderline misanthropy. "People" can really piss me off sometimes.

JohnBrooking

Only 8 responses so far is not enough to for any apparent trend to be meaningful, so I'll refrain to comment, except to note that perhaps the majority of people posting to an Internet discussion group are introverts to begin with. This might skew your results even beyond the normal skew of having a self-selecting group of respondents.

jcwitte

Well, I know which one you are I made a similar comment about a poll regarding marriage and kids and the ability to be car-free with such responsibilities and my opinion that most people who have kids don't have time to post in message boards. Anyways, I'm not running for the All Powerful Poll Genius of the Universe or planning to publish my findings in some sociology journal.

SteveFox

im not sure if im an introvert or an extrovert...maybe both? i enjoy being with lots of people, but i also enjoy being a lone...who knows

steve

Mtn Mike

Ahm I didn't know how to answer this one...I'm definitely car free... but introverted vs. extroverted? I'm in the middle I guess, not one extreme or the other. I'd be interested to know why you are aking the question.

JohnBrooking

Yes, I just answered one of your other posts, and I definitely should be going to sleep, like the rest of my family, rather than sitting up typing!

jcwitte

Well, it's not a huge deal really. In sort of stemmed from another topic of mine,
https://www.bikeforums.net/living-car-free/169847-will-i-treated-any-differently.html

demo9orgon

I voted "I am car-free by choice and I am an extrovert." because I don't have a car by choice, and despite looking suitable for a bad-guy role I've been enjoying the BAW 64" trailer which is about the best conversation-piece/ice-breaker on conversation I've ever owned. Every time I'm buying groceries (4 bins and well over 130lbs) or hauling about 50 litres (combination of water jugs and soda and a bag of ice) on a soda/water/ice run, I'm always answering questions and offering solutions. Although I don't put myself out there by hauling a soap box and a PA system, if I was an introvert I'd simply sniffle and excuse myself with a handful of monosyllables. I've even started getting names and shaking hands with anyone I meet twice; patrons at the markets or convience stores, security guards, and people in the neighborhood.

Alekhine

Car-free. Neither an introvert nor an extrovert.

chipko

I dunno if this was purposefully hyperbolic but it is an untue characterization of introverts. I am an introvert, with a capital INTROVERT, but i find myself getting drawn into bike rack conversations with people about my bike, my lights, problems they are having with their bikes etc. I definitely wouldnt say that it is all the time, and i imagine the conversations lack the enthusiasm and zeal i imagine the PP having, but if someone start talking to my i am happy to carry on the conversation.

patc

I don't really fit in to either, but more introvert I guess. People who only know me from events I have worked at would say "extrovert", however.

cerewa

I picked "I wish I could be car-free but my situation prevents it and I am an introvert."

I'm 'car-lite'-my girlfriend has a car which I use occasionally. I'm mostly introverted. I guess I want to be car-free, although maybe I want to be extremely-car-lite instead. Particularly by a strict definition, because I'd rather rent a car and carpool for some things than take an airplane (or stay here, or take an entire semester off school to bike a thousand-mile round trip).

I don't know that my situation actually prevents my being car-free. But I can't make my girlfriend get rid of her car and since it's driving around anyway occasionally, I'm not going to refuse to ride in it.

attercoppe

Hey, that's awesome, especially considering some of the bad things I've heard in LCF about Texas (or various parts thereof) being bike-unfriendly.

mrkott3r

I live car free, and i should be asking everyone I meet why arent you living car free?

KrisPistofferson

I am car-free and am an introvert, although not a basket case about it. I can be pretty extroverted when in the mood or my job requires it, but I usually choose peace, quiet and my the company of my dog, Melvin.

As far as being car-free, I don't sweat it-As oil becomes more scarce and expensive, folks will come around eventually.

demo9orgon

I've taken enough psychology and sociology classes to know which camp I'm in, and yes I dialed the introvert description a bit toward the extreme, however introverts aren't all dialed to the same setting. I chose one which I recently encounted.

I tend to creep people out unless there's something like the bike-trailer to make up for the fact that I have an aura of evil about me. I guess that's what I get for exceeding my college reading requirements or having that whole goatee and evil-eyebrows thing or something less tangible. :-)

I effortlessly partition personal space in any checkout line without saying a word and unless the car-windows are tinted I'm always making eye-contact with drivers who are entering/exiting traffic as I approach them. They don't like it when you scowl at them, especially when they know they weren't paying attention.

Ms. Tude

I guess I'm sorta the first choice - but I may get a car - and I may not.

Only reason I would get one really is so that I can travel farther out, with my bicycle, so that I could attend and participate in some Club rides that are in the rural areas.

Other than that I live downtown, it takes me a 12 minute bus ride to get to work and have access to shopping, friends, etc via bus/public transportation.

And, of course, my bicycle!

budster

As I said in the thread which inspired this one, I think that, all other things being equal, an introverted person is more likely to be (or desire to be) car-free.

A bicycle is more likely to start a conversation with a stranger, but the greater ability to cover distances quickly, and to carry other people with you while doing so, makes a car a better facilitator of a highly social life. And thus more desirable to an extrovert than to an introvert.

That needs some qualification, too. Both the conversation-starter and social-facilitator effects are more true in sprawling US cities, designed for cars, in which cycling for transportation is unusual.

I'd imagine in a dense urban area with lots of cyclists, someone on a bike isn't enough of a novelty to start a conversation, and I'd also imagine that having an active social life would be just as easy (possibly easier) with a bicycle. So I'd guess carfree would tend to be more appealing to urban extroverts than rural or suburban ones.

Maybe it just depends what's "normal" (no pun intended) where you live? I would imagine introverts would be more likely to choose the "road less taken." Mainly because I am one and I often choose that road.

jcwitte

Well, no one has voted recently i don't think. It looks like the introverts are more prevalent in the car-free world, or at least in our little car-free section of the internet. Of course, as was already pointed out, this is hardly a scientific poll and 60% to 30% is not really an indicator of much given the small number of voters and the fact that the poll was only administered on the chance that the voter happened into this forum. Probably could have used a few more choice options as well. Oh well.

stargazer48

I still own my car, but I am symbolically car free as I have been doing all my local travelling (past commuting, shopping etc.) by bike for the last 5 years so I didn't vote.

I am an introvert/extrovert....... I guess........