Originally Posted by
mrodgers
Owning a car lets me be free. Free to live where I want and have a nice big yard, and a pool in the back yard, and a garden, and a relatively cheap house, neighbors who couldn't tell if I was out in the yard naked or not, a place right outside my back door to fly my RC airplanes, and no one telling me I have to have a certain mailbox or that I have to keep my driveway plowed and my grass no longer than 3 inches or my leaves raked up in the fall, or can't leave my car in the driveway so I can have woodworking tools in the garage, or plant whatever I want in my landscaping, or have the 20 or so apple, peach, plum, cherry, and pear trees that I have. To have what I have where I live for $80k it would cost $300k to live where I wouldn't need a car. In 30 years of mortgage, I wouldn't have close to even 1/4 of $300k in vehicles owning 2 vehicles for myself and my wife to get to work.
I lived in a rural area for the first 45 years of my life. Raised my kids there too. Eventually however, the daily commute just got me down. I often decided to just stay in on evenings and weekends rather than head out again. When my kids got older and needed me less, frankly I found country life as boring as heck.
We've since moved to the city. Not a huge one, but one that still has a lot going on. Even though I can't run naked in my back yard without being spotted, or I have to cut my grass every so often, I do enjoy having a variety of things to do with like minded people, and it's not a great distance to go. I can even get back and forth to do these things on my bike within 10 minutes.
In my case,
not having a long commute sets me free.
