r8ingbull

Sorry if this has been done. Searching was down so I couldn't look. Basic question- why are you Car Free? I figure most people have multiple reason so feel free to post.

Bizurke

Most of those choices are reasons that I am "car free" so I can't choose just one.

The reason I started being car free was financial in mutliple ways. I couldn't afford a car for a long time. Got a $300 beater and racked up some tickets I couldn't afford to pay. The state yanked my license for not being able to pay and the car broke down. I started riding again shortly before I lost my license and I figured I might as well just ride my bike everywhere. A couple years later and I have no interest in getting a car, paying high insurance rates, and more than likely getting as fat as I used to be. I really LOVE to ride my bike and don't hesititate to take off to just about any destination on my bike. I do enjoy having more money, better health (lost 40lbs since January), having fun when I go places, and not having to worry about how much gas costs.

Soon winter will hit and I know I'll struggle with my decision a lot. I can't take a bus to work at midnight cause they don't run and riding my bike to work and school will leave me with about 3-4hrs of sleep a day because of the long distances between my home, work, and school. However I know I can push myself, wear the right clothing, and make it through the winter. Atleast I keep telling myself that.

tsl

I checked health, fun and financial.

We're talking primarily mental health here. I don't want to work hard at a job I don't like so that I can support a car.

After 20 years I burned-out in the corporate rat race. I dumped the S.O. and the big house in the suburbs so I could afford lower-level jobs. A few years later I got a contract where I had to pay for parking. But both the job and my apartment were on the same bus line, so rode the bus to work. Soon found out I didn't need a car, so I junked it along with that contract.

I've since started my own business and I work part-time at the neighborhood branch of the public library, just in case business gets slow. I have my sanity back, I have enjoy life, and have more money in the bank than ever before. In the past six years, I've rented a car twice and borrowed one twice to move.

This spring, I said goodbye to the bus and bought a bike. It's made me happier still, since I'm more in control of my schedule and transport. (Clients seem to get a kick out of it too, when I show up for meetings on a bike.) I can go more places and do more things than on the bus. And I've discovered I like riding just for the helluvit too.

alwaysmiling

I am car free in no particular order

Live near a bus stop.
Don't want to pay for parking and tolls.
To help the environment.
Don't want to pay for petrol.
To keep healthy.
Don't like driving a car.
To save money.

This is just some of the reasons I am car free.

Roody

I voted for them all, not because I'm a fence-sitter, but because they all apply. I love riding more than just about anything else, I hate cars, I have to exercise or I die, and the amount of money I save is phenomenal. The older I get, the more radical I get politically. The environment has literally become a life or death issue. If we don't cut back drastically on CO2, this planet will be a new planet, and we will all die on it as surely as we would die on Venus or Mars.

nasiralpharia

I voted for financial, fun and ethics. I am not car free yet. But I could easily replace my car with rentals, because I don't use it much. I just have to wait, so that the fiance doesn't think I'm nuts. But she is adapting. (She will still have a car)

With that said, I hate driving, I constantly get tired behind the wheel. I hate traffic and I just get mad when I have to sit in a car like that. On the bike, I have fun. Who would have known you can have fun going to work or paying bills? Ethics wise, roody said it, we do need to conserve. Financially I don't save as much because I still have to pay insurance, but in about a year I will dump the car. Its depreciated to the bone already, don't think it can go much further down... Also, alot of my peers have reduced travelling because of gas prices. I don't want my balls to be in someone elses hands so they can control when i go outside, thats insane. Plus filling up my grand prix car would cost like $40 from empty. Every gas tank I go through is a major purchase... ie, new cyclo-computer, tools, new shoes, etc. I'm supposed to pay that once a week just to get to a job... I don't think so.

bragi

I'm car-free mostly for environmental reasons -I want to live out my stated values- but I also enjoy the idea of working out a little on my way to get pizza and beer, and the amount of money you save by not driving, once you stop and think about it, is pretty significant. All I had was a crappy old beater, and even that was costing me thousands every year. Detroit, Wolfsburg and Saudi Arabia can kiss my ***!

nedgoudy

Personal Health and Earth Ethics!

pedex

all the above plus its also my job essentially

cyclezealot

THis poll requires multiple answers. Guess, biggest motovation is ethics , however. Why. World quest for resources makes the world more violent. Traffic gridlock. Effect of traffic congrestion upon human behavior. And removes Americans from any form of exercise. And I do enjoy my time on the bike. That is a rare experience in a car. Those road ragers make me furious.
But, I am not car free. Just think it has its beneficial aspects and I do believe in minimizing the useage of the car.

jamesdenver

Live in a neighborhood close/convenient to downtown
Easy to get to work via bike/bus
Save tons of money, (which disappears into my house projects and traveling)
Easy to rent a car for road trips or big home depot runs, (plus I get airline miles for renting)
Good bike routes and streets nearby
Overall live in a bike friendly city
I live in a neighborhood with lots of other utility bikers, so overall very supportive environment!