Originally Posted by
JamesRL
I didn't get my license until I was married and had a kid on the way. I lived in Toronto, and cars there are expensive to maintain, insure and park. You can bike in the summer, and take transit in bad weather.
I have a former co-worker who hasn't owned a car in Toronto for the past ten years, he has two kids. His house is walking distance to the subway. He works from home. When they have relatives visit from outside the country, they rent a car to get around and see the sites outside of Toronto. They can afford a house in part because they don't spend the big bucks on a car. In Toronto, my insurance (no recent claims or tickets) is over $2000 a year, and gas is expensive compared to smaller towns (and much more expensive than in the US).
Sadly today I can't commute to work by bike. I wish I could, even if it were just for a few months a year.
The hidden gem in this thread is here. What more of a lure could a girl need than for a person who doesn't own a car to say: "I don't waste money on cars, I'd rather waste it on girls like you"... well, not really, but it sure helps to say that you have more money to spend on making your experiences together a lot more enjoyable (if not meaningful)... upgrades to the penthouse suite when you really get to know each other, limousine transport to and from the restaurant, bouquets of flowers bigger than she has seen before, surprise trip to Vegas...
And it doesn't matter whether you are wealthy or poor or in between... the savings on the non-car ownership means more to lavish on her.
I dated several time between my last big relationship and Machka, all free of car ownership. It was OK. They had cars so could be at venues under their own steam. Interestingly, I was always there before or on time, and they were invariably late. Goes to show that not relying on a motor vehicle results in better transportational planning skills (I might have used a bus, taxi or walked if not cycled).