Roody

No, it just proves that for one person, on one snowy day, it was possible to ride a bike with a child. This can serve as inspiration for those who want or need some inspiration in the middle of a particularly ugly thread. My gratitude to @denis123!

That's what the OP was asking about, if anybody can remember that poor fellow who came here for some ideas and somehow started a flame war.

tandempower

What does the majority matter in a free society where individuals are supposed to be able to choose for themselves without social pressures? When you start calling it propaganda to display examples of successful free choices that differ from majoritarian conformity, it calls into question whether you respect freedom or whether you're on the side of censorship for the sake of suppressing freedom from conformity.

Rob_E

You won't believe what just happened. A thread in the Living Car Free section devolved into name calling, and the entire point of the thread was lost.

Again.

Anyhow, as you (OP) point out, moving around a youngster can complicate things immensely. It doesn't necessarily mean that you'll have to get a 2nd car, but it certainly sounds like getting a 2nd car might have some benefits that might outweigh the benefits of being car-free/lite. But there are a lot of variables that we don't have and options that I haven't seen explored.

And then you also have to define your goals. Is the goal not to drive? Or is the goal not to own a car? If the goal is not to drive, then it really becomes a question of arranging your life so that your destinations are reachable without a car, because any other solution just means passing any extra driving duties off on your wife. If the goal is not to have an extra car, then that seems more attainable, but it also may mean more driving.

Public transportation? You mention that by the time you get off of work, the buses aren't running, but what about the time period you're worried about: Getting the child to the sitter's in the middle of the day?

My wife and I have one car and no children, so we don't face this exact issue, but we do face the rare situation when I have need of the car while she is at work. The solution is: Drive my wife to work. When I'm done with the car, return it to her work. Can you get to work from your wife's work? It would mean interrupted sleep, but that's what having a baby means, for you to drive her to work so that you could have the car to take the youngster to the sitter.
Of course it's one thing for me and my wife to do this occasionally. It'd be something else if it was 5 times a week. I do have friends who make do with one car and have a child, but he has a company van that's useless for carrying people or going anywhere but to and from work, and she stays home, so these solutions don't really apply. It's just one more example of ways people manage with one car.

Is it five times a week? You're working a late shift. It also seems possible that you're not working Monday through Friday. This could be an issue that comes up as few as 3 times a week. Also, you're concerned about transporting the baby by bike during the winter. That would concern me, too, although there are cargo/electric bikes that might help with some of that depending on your situation. But also, winter is only 3 months. Maybe more than that where you are. You still need a plan to deal with weather issues and a variety of temperatures, but if you can find a solution that works for 3 of the 4 seasons, then it becomes more feasible to find a way to "make do" in the winter.

With the sitter being the main issue, it might be possible to have proximity to your house be a criteria in choosing a sitter.

Are taxis or Uber an option? Zip Car? It would expensive for that to be your primary transport, 5 days a week, all year long, but if we're talking 3 days a week, 3 months a year, then there's the possibility that it works out financially to spend the extra money to not need a car.

Just some thoughts.

You ask if you can be considered car-free if your wife has a car. If you want. I consider myself to be car-lite. I don't use a car to get around, but when my wife and I go somewhere together, it's often in the car. I don't do the grocery shopping or take the dogs to the vet, but those things get done thanks to the car. So it's a matter of perspective.

And if you get too injured to ride to work, then you're in the boat you're in now, right? You have to find a way. It might be getting a car. It might be a short-term rental. Or could there be car pooling? Your hours make this more problematic because there's no way the bus will work, but, depending on your situation, it might work one way.

Good luck. And also, remember that a lot of the reasons you might need a car seem to involve transporting a baby. Those things grow up. If the thing you can't get around is that 2pm sitter run, then eventually the child will be in school at that time. Sooner than you think. So being car-free again might be something you can revisit "down the road" if it doesn't work out now.

Stuart K

We ride in the same city you do, obviously we see things differently.

Seattle Forrest

In all seriousness, kids themselves are something that won't work for many people.

I-Like-To-Bike

Caring for kids (or other dependents with various requirements to be transported to locations outside the home) and voluntarily living car free are something that won't work for many if not most people in the U.S.

In all seriousness, note how few LCF proselytizers on this list fit the profile of voluntarily living in a car free household while raising children. I can think of only one regular poster who fits that profile.

wolfchild

Looks like a Sunday walk in the park and not daily transportational cycling...The picture you posted is irrelevant and proves nothing, because you are riding on a nice safe recreational path in the downtown core of Toronto on a nice day. Have you ever transported your child on a bicycle out in the suburbs along a high speed busy arterial road during an ice storm or a snowstorm ??...There is a huge big difference between downtown Toronto and the suburb of Mississauga where I live.