Loose Chain

I will retire in a few more years (2) but still plan to work part time because I want to. We are going to move, downsize and get back to one car (maybe). We want to live where we can ride bikes to shop and go to stores etc but I have no intention of getting rid of my truck. What would I tow my boat with, wth? What is the fascination with doing away with all cars? Is this pervasive in this sub-forum also? My three autos are paid for, why would I get rid of them so I can beg rides and figure out ways to make do without when I don't have to be without? Am I missing something, I must be. The only people I know who are car free are car free because they got a DUI.

I love bikes and want to make a dent in my car dependency and simplify my life but doing without a car, no freaking way. That would represent a complication, not a simplification.

Soma Roark

Well depends on the person and location right? People in cities, for example, have the luxury of public transportation or car share services that make living car free darn right common sense. If you have a truck for your boat, it might be simpler to just ride to the docks and rent a boat every now and then depending on how often you use it. Sometimes when you live without something you realize that it was complicating, rather than simplifying your life. On that note, there is no better car than one that's paid for, and if it works for you, then that's all that matters. =) It'd be interesting to see if a cargo bike can take over some of the truck's responsibilities... o and train trips...

BillK

I won't speak for the whole forum, but doing away with all my cars isn't a fascination of mine. If I happened to retire to a sleepy little town wide roads, low traffic, and a central grocery store and pharmacy....I'd likely ride a lot more and would probably downsize to a single car. But I like driving too much to go below that.

DnvrFox

No desire here to go car free. Yes, both my cars are paid for. With a wife almost 74 with some ongoing medical problems, how would we get to the MD's several times a week - or so it seems at times. She also has absoultely no interest in being "car free."

We purposely chose a location for our "retirement home" where we are:

1. Directly on a bicycle trail(s) that happen to go to a lot of places that we frequent, making it easy to get there if we want to ride and if my wife is able to ride.

2. Just 1 mile from several shopping areas with restaurants, super markets, community recreation center, post office etc., to where I often walk or bicycle.

So, I can do a lot without getting the car out of the garage, and, in fact, "my" car is now almost 12 years old with 60,000 miles, almost all of that when my wife was working and used it for business many years ago. I would guess it currently gets about 2-4,000 miles per year, if that much.

wiredfoxterror

You can keep the boat at an in & out marina and ride your folding Dahon Boardwalks there, then fold them and bring them on the boat.

wahoonc

Personal choices. I want to be car free for a variety of reasons; when the time comes I don't have to worry about whether I am competent to drive or not I will have already made the arrangements to stop driving long before that point. Cars are expensive to own, even if they are paid for, repairs even more so. My in-laws are living on SS and occasionally have problems when an expensive repair bill pops up. I don't want that issue. Also gas isn't ever going to get cheaper. Might as well get rid of the dependency as much as possible. Cycling is a great way to stay healthy and mobile. I know of a few 70-80 year old people that still cycle regularly, I want to be in that group.

Aaron

DnvrFox

Are you married? If so, does your wife agree?

TejanoTrackie 

I'm 65 and fully retired. I live on the edge of a major city that has virtually no public transport. My solution is to have a full size pickup truck as my only motor vehicle, and use it when necessary. I use my bicycles whenever possible, and put more miles on the bicycles than the truck. The truck is the most versatile and durable type of motor vehicle IMO, so if you can only keep one vehicle that would be it. One of the bicycles has a large set of panniers so I can do most grocery shopping on it as well as full fenders. As to owning more than one motor vehicle because they are "bought and paid for", they are still a financial drag in terms of insurance, annual registration / inspection and maintainance. Also, you have to deal with parking / garaging and other logistical issues.

BluesDawg

I am not sure where you are getting the idea that there is a fascination with eliminating all cars, but I'm pretty sure it isn't from 50+. I've seen a few posters here who live car-free and a few others who plan to move in that direction, but not that many. I think that many of us, like you, are looking for ways to be less reliant on motorized transportation for several reasons, but not completely live without cars.

I also hope to retire soon to part time work. My wife and I both have cars that are paid for and in pretty good condition. My youngest son will be driving soon. Rather than buy him a car, I plan to let him chauffeur me around like I've done for him the past several years. I plan often to let him drop me and my bike off at work so I can ride it home. Once I retire, I hope I'll be able to have a part time job starting later in the morning so I can commute after the morning rush that makes all my practical commuting routes to town too dangerous for my comfort level. What I hope to do is avoid or at least minimize buying additional cars.

RonH

When my wife and I retired a few years ago we had two cars. After a year we donated the older car to a charity and thought one car would suffice. The remaining car was VERY comfortable for trips and got great gas mileage on the highway, but the in-town mileage sucks. And many times we both needed to use the car. She doesn't ride and I would use it to haul the bike to the Silver Comet Trail (the other side of Atlanta from us). So after two years we threw in the towel and bought a second car. It's smaller and gets very good in-town mileage. We use it for errands and short trips. Either bike easily fits in the back with the rear seat folded down so I use it to haul the bike to a ride that isn't near home.

So much for downsizing when you retire.

ModeratedUser150120149

For me and mine carfree isn't a goal. What makes sense considering climate, living environment, community, etc. is. I think you'll find that those who tout "Being Carfree" generally fall into two categories: Those for whom those words are akin to a religion and they are evangelists. Second, those whose lives have led them that way; living in a compact or retirement community, economics make a car too expensive, lost drivers license for one reason or another.

jtaylor2

On days like this I think it would be nice to be car free......but I don't think riding a bike would be the answer.

Barrettscv 

My wife and I are car light. She walks to work and I have reduced my commuting by half. I also can walk or take the hybrid to several food markets, two drug stores and a Home Depot. Panera Bread, Starbucks and several family owned restaurants are close by.

Sometimes it's two weeks or more before the car gets used. It can almost feel odd to drive.

wahoonc

Yes, because she sees the same things I do. Having to line up someone to drive you to and from the hospitals and doctors because you can't drive, and there is little or no mass transit available. Unfortunately a sizable portion of the US population has no choice but to drive, as the population ages this is going to be a sizable problem. We are planning to do what we can to mitigate it on our end.

Aaron

Dan Burkhart 

Living in the burbs as we do, carfree is just not an option, although I could be quite happy never having to drive again. I've been driving professionaly for almost all of the last 40 years, with a few years off for good behavior when I took a crack at store ownership, and I've watched about 4 million miles slip by through various windshields.
I would love to be car free, not as a political statement or anything like that, but as a lifestyle choice.
We are down to one car, and I don't envision that changing.

stapfam

I retire in 5 months or so and when I do-I will stop driving. In fact for private use I already have. Have to drive in my job but once home I walk or cycle wherever I want to go. Took my car off the road last year as it wasn't doing much milage and just sitting there costing me money in Insurance and Road Tax just to be able to use it sometime.

Of course the wife has a car so if I really wanted to drive- the chance is there of driving her car. But I don't need to.

Looigi

We only use our bikes for recreation and exercise. We often use a car to carry our bikes to rides or to visit a bike shop. Heck, we'd probably drive less if we didn't ride bikes.

Loose Chain

I was not thinking the carfree thing was big here, just asking.

As to my boat, keeping boats at a marina vs your home, holy cow, very expensive. Renting a boat, fine a few times a year but we fish, scuba and explore from our boat many times a year and that will only increase when I no longer work. We tow it many thousands of miles from the Gulf, to the Keys, to the Pacific. Owning a boat is an expensive thing, even a paid for Boston Whaler but I cannot do without it, it has produced many fond memories and will make more. I guess I simply have no interest in being hydrocarbon free, internal combustion has had a positive effect on my life and vastly increased it's quality. I do have two kayaks.

Yes, I want to downsize and reduce but I don't plan to do without. But I do want to make cycling more a central part of our life and downgrade the automobile driving to those things that can only be done that way. I will get a bike trailer or build one myself for carrying things, that will be fun.

Best to all.

robtown

A dozen or so years from now we might limit ourselves to one car. A couple years ago I had the fantasy of doing so. Instead, the kids entered college and we went to a four car family. At least they were all bought used. Since then we gave the kids each one car and one has moved out. We also bought a 98 pickup truck that is used once a week.
I have to be satisfied with cycle commuting several days a week. It does reduce the number of times I have to fill the gas tank.

John_V 

Speaking for myself and not others, I have a truck and a show car (PT Cruiser) and my wife has her car. I was retired and then went back to work but when I was home, I hardly ever used the car. I got the truck after I went back to work to keep milage down on the PT. She will be retiring in June of 2012 at which time I will retire again and for the last time. Currently, our plans are to sell her car and the truck and get a new truck with a nicer interior and an automatic transmission. Our plans are to travel the US and ride different places. We need a truck to carry her recumbent trike. If we are at home and she is gone with the truck, I can always take the PT to where I need to go or I can go with her and we can kill two birds with one stone.

Wogster

When we lived in the big city, where there was great transit our only car quit in 2007 and it was 2010 before we replaced it. It costs about $10,000 a year, on average to own and operate a car. When we were car free, we had a bus pass ($110/month or $1320 a year) and about $200 in bus fare, and maybe another $250 for taxis(total of $1770 a year). If you really NEED a car for a trip or something, you can always rent one. Now, we live in a small village, and a car is a necessity, might need to get a second one for work soon, but that's just part of the job.

tsl

Oh, I don't know. It works for me.

wahoonc

^^^^

I was waiting for that picture

You can ride in any weather if you chose...

Aaron

Loose Chain

Looking at your helmet, off subject, but shouldn't a helmet used for winter riding not be vented? In general I don't think I have come across anything recently more stupid than the design of bike helmets. They are not designed for function, they are designed for looks and strange looks at that.

I think car light with that car being one day a diesel Toyota Hilux instead of my current Tacoma 4dr TRD OR gaser. Course, love my Jeep too and my wife is a nurse, she works different hours, on call, has to have a car that can go anytime, snow or not. I guess if we did not work, we would not need cars, maybe unemployement will force me out of a car, hey, boss, can you fire me! So far not.

LC

wahoonc

I wear helmets...occasionally . If I wear one in the winter I just wear some sort of head gear underneath, FWIW I also wear a neoprene face mask. But then again I don't like cold weather and 40*F is freakin' cold!

Aaron