I've never really gone car free/lite without other major changes (leaving the state/country, change of jobs, leaving behind a social network and building a new one). I've always found car free/lite to be much easier to adjust to than going the other way. I've been living where I am now for almost two years and I'm still not used to driving everywhere. When you're walking/biking you are constantly discovering things that you just pass by when driving. I was always making mental notes to check this or that out when I had a chance. It's very seldom I do that any longer. Part of it does come down to this being the first genuinely boring place I've ever lived. I'm sure there are interesting things out there, but they are so far and few between it isn't worth it. It's also a pain in the butt to go north/south because the thoroughfares are all narrow and full of zombie drivers moving along at 45-55 mph. I can get to the grocery store (2 miles) and the nearest mega strip mall (5 miles). Anywhere else (movie theater, downtown, malls aka Barnes & Nobles, etc) I have to go way out of my way and through crack head central or be run over by zombie drivers. The weather sucks. Six months out of the year its over 90 which relegates you to snail pace if you don't want to show up drenched in sweat. Where you live matters. My hats off to anyone that could pull off car-lite here.
Even in Marysville, WA (suburb 40 miles north of Seattle) where I lived for the first few months it wasn't terribly difficult. Getting around in Marysville was a pain, but I didn't really have errands as I was living with family friends until I got my own apartment. Once I found a job and an apartment in Seattle I really had no need for a car. I barely used the car from the time when I drove it up from California (loaded down with stuff) until I sold it around two months later. Davis, CA, was the same way. Basically I used the car to drive home a few weekends a month and sometimes to get groceries although I usually pick those up on the way home from school. I hated moving the car because it meant losing my parking space which would mean running groceries up while double parking and hoping the University parking zealots didn't ticket you. And then driving around for 15 minutes looking for a parking spot less than a mile away.
Last edited by Malloric; 03-20-11 at 01:41 PM.