Roody

I agree, but if I lived where wahoonc lives, I would probably use a car some of the time. I'm very fortunate to live where I don't need a car.

Ekdog

I didn't mean to make any kind of judgement about Wahoonc's attitude toward cars. I apologise to him if it came off that way. I just wanted to share why I feel the way I do about them.

wahoonc

Do you use electricity? How is it generated? In the US that is the single largest producer of greenhouse gases, followed by transportation, then very closely by industrial sites. It isn't the car that kills people it is the unrestrained and improper use by humans.

Aaron

Ekdog

Yes, of course I do. A lot of it is produced by wind and solar, thank God, in spite of our right-wing government's push to move back to more dependence on fossil fuels, and my family is doing a lot to use as little electricity as possible, things like: turning off lights when we leave a room; switching over to LEDs; reducing, reusing and recycling, etc. I wanted to put up a solar panel, but the neighbors said I couldn't because it would be an eyesore. By the way, going off grid and generating your own electricity is now risky business in this country. Fortunately, they haven't gone so far as to start knocking down your door if they suspect you of living car-free, at least not yet.

What do you consider "restrained and proper" use of the automobile? Is there any way such adjectives can be used if a large percentage of the people in China, in India and in Africa buy cars?

I-Like-To-Bike

I was going to ask the same question. Who gets to decide what is "proper use," and by what means would such use be "restrained" in the U.S. or elsewhere?

cooker

The "properness" (or is it propriety?) of anything, or what kinds of behaviours should be restrained, is defined by societal norms which are ultimately derived from the opinions of individuals. I restrain myself from a lot of things, partly because I expect it of myself and partly because society expects it. If enough people in society begins to accept things like someone gnawng the pulp off an orange peel in a restaurant or women showing armpit hair, those things or behaviours will be considered proper. So wahoonc has an idea of what the proper use of a car is and if enough people come to agree with him, then he is correct.

I-Like-To-Bike

Wonder what wahoonc's idea about "restrained and proper" use of the automobile might be.

Roody

That's a very good question. What would your own answer be?

enigmaT120

Can I guess that your location is not just due to fortune, but to smart choices that you've made? I don't claim to be unlucky for living out in the woods with a stupidly long commute. I'm just too stubborn to move closer to work.

Roody

Mostly good fortune. I originally came to this metro area for an education. I didn't ask how good are the buses or is there a cool bike trail. However, I have made mostly good choices about where to live within the metro area.

cooker

this could be a thread too. In my case I chose where I live based on easy access to public transit. It turned out to be good for biking to work too. A couple of years ago my office moved to a somewhat less convenient site for taking public transit from my house, but biking still works reasonably well.

oronzous

I agree that not USING a car in many instances is liberating. When given the choice i d rather use public transportation.

Having said that, i wonder how those of you that went car free because of the stress and burden of owning a car (opposite to just not needing one), did manage to raise kids.

kookaburra1701

I don't have kids, but there's always lots of people traveling with children on the buses I take. I should take a spin around the local elementary school in the morning with my helmet cam sometime. Lots of kids walking/cycling to school and then to their activities when school is let out. The family in the apartment building across from mine has 4 children, I think all under 10, and they don't have a car either. The kids seem to be growing steadily despite not having motorized transportation.

Jiggle

Hauling heavy loads, for one. Making those drives to meet for family engagements. Going to an event where you don't want to arrive sweaty, like church, funerals, weddings, client meetings.

I don't understand the cost complaints on here. You can buy a 5-speed manual Saturn SL1 for about $2000. 95% of the parts on that car aren't over $100 to replace. A new engine is $400. It has plastic body panels that resist dents. It gets 35mpg. In Texas, registration, liability insurance, and inspection is about $500 a year.

Small price to pay for car power. I understand if you want the stress free lifestyle of being car free, but making up reasons makes you look silly.

edit - not you Roody; the royal you. Ya know.

gerv 

Or get a cab. The last time I bought an el cheapo car, the repairs didn't make it look very cheap.

Jiggle

Cab is certainly an option.

Around here they are $2.50 plus $2.50/mile. For twenty miles round trip, that's $55. So if you need two or more cab rides per month, the cheap car makes sense. But if you want to get drunk at the wedding or funeral then you still go with the cab.

Roody

But keep in mind that this is a carfree forum. We don't need to make up silly (or serious) reasons to use a car. We need to think up solutions that do not involve a car. Those solutions won't be attractive to most people in our society. But they will be interesting or useful to the minority who participate in a carfree forum.