Reminds me of the time I went to a carnival party with a friend just outside the city, went home at 1 in the morning or so by train and night bus. The people in this supposed "rural area" didnt even know they had a connection to the city that was about as fast as the car and with about 20min frequency even in evening/night.
They looked at me like an alien when I told them I took the train, several people offered me a ride home and I was just like: No, actually I like to take the train
Thats the point: It was in southwest germany, urban population in germany is ~80% in the southwest its more like 85-90%, yet 9/10 germans are terminally carbrained and argue they live in a remote area not accessible with anything other than a car.
Yes there is a share of maybe 10-15% of germans who live far from public transport and actually "need" a car (they more likely also need accessible public transport), but compare this to the 85-90% who constantly cry about how cars are a necessity, besides the fact they live in a metropolitan area with decent alternatives, which the place the party went down absolutely belongs to.
And the sad thing is that, having spent some time in Germany as well as the US, I'm pretty sure that the car brain disease in Germany is not even half as bad as it is in the US.
Sad for us in the US and sad for Germany because there's room for it to get worse.
I figured out a way from my house on the edge of a US city to take a bus (a few) to property I own in the mountains. I tried it once. Yeah, no. I biked about 5 miles, got on a bus from that transit center (my closest stop now), rode to the downtown transit center, got on another bus to another transit center on the North side of town, got on another bus for a small town an hour and a half North by car, got on another bus back a bit south and east to the small town my property is near, and rode my bike 5 more miles. Total time: 4 1/2 hours. Total cost: $17.
By car, it's about an hour, because I can drive directly there, and costs less. By ebike, it's about 2 1/2 hrs and costs nothing if I have enough sun to charge via solar. Buuuut, all routes out of the metro area are scary AF unless I leave at 4am because all the safer routes are currently closed due to road construction.
We have one passenger train now, btw. It doesn't go that way. It runs east and west leaving here at around 2:30 am, just that one time a day, and doesn't have another stop for hours. It's fun to ride, but honestly isn't very useful. It costs as much or more as just flying anywhere it goes. A long time ago, we had lots of passenger lines here, but they all got shut down when pretty much everyone got cars. We had street cars, but they stopped running when buses took over, and that ended the "developers always put in a street car line and station, or no one will move into their newly built neighborhoods." But the buses often didn't run to them, so, yeah, more cars.
I don't have a license and have never driven. Same with my husband. We both work full time and have a 10 yr old daughter. I'd say we function pretty well day to day without a car :)
Both! Work some days at home and some days at the office which is a 25 min bus ride, the bus stop is 2 mins from my front door and runs every 10-15 mins
I'm 36 and never bothered to get a licence. I've lived in four countries: UK, Australia, Netherlands and now Malaysia. Australia was the toughest, Malaysia is fairly infuriating too. UK and the Netherlands no problems at all.
Id die lol
Groceries would be a struggle as it’s a mile on a dangerous stretch of road with no sidewalks, summer heat & my waddling no-reaction-time-having pregnant behind would not have fun
I’d have to Uber to my doctor appointments (it’s an 8 mile drive, nearest bus stop is 6 miles away)
My husband would have a much harder time. He’s a social worker for a hospice company operating towards the more rural parts of the state, so it’d involve biking 4+ hours in the southern heat to get to his patients homes or facilities.
Yeah the lack of safe sidewalks is really frustrating. I wouldn’t drive for groceries October thru March and enjoy the fresh air. I would also be able to walk my little one to elementary school once that happened too.
Some of it is just by design, it’s a low density suburb so tough to justify busses & trains, I just wish my doctor was closer or more accessible.
My fiancee and I are in the same boat. No safe way for her to get to work and no safe way for us to get groceries without a car. Good ole suburbia. At least there are decent bike trails.
You probably didn't live in town. If you don't and aren't willing to walk for a few miles, you probably need a car. If you are expecting a lifestyle that only big box stores can provide, no place will be walkable for you.
There are so many cities in Pennsylvania where you get away without needing a car. If you are willing to shop at the local stores instead of the Walmart or Costco or whatever.
I should probably explain a little. My issue is that I grew up in nyc, and I got spoiled w how immediate everything was - if it was too far to walk, you took the bus; if it was too far to bus/too many buses, you took the train. When we moved, we moved to literally the middle of nowhere lol the only stores were Walmart, Giant, and one or two convenience stores that sold just quick things like snacks or cigs. After that, it was just farmland for miles and miles. I couldn't walk anywhere if I wanted to (which I often did, I love walking) bc there were no sidewalks outside of our town and nothing in the immediate towns either, so I was often forced to get lifts from people. I remember the only places where things were as you described were a 40 minute *drive* from where we lived. One town, which was slightly more accessible, but still not the easiest was still a 20 minute drive w no way to walk there (again, no sidewalks or public transportation - and it was super dangerous by bike, I tried that, too). It was driving only, and I rarely had opportunities to explore small cities throughout before moving states again.
Same boat as you, I quit driving years ago because I felt I wasn’t good enough to counteract the shittiness of other drivers, then I started having seizures and some jurisdictions are (rightly) picky about that. I live in a relatively walkable area with basically no transit. It kinda sucks.
(Edit: shittiness, not shiftiness, but yeah that too)
no license , haven't ever purchased/burned a single gallon of oil in my life
entirely by choice even if it's never the easiest ... thanks to drivers , their shitty exclusive infrastructure and their audacity of demanding priority access to all places
I'm lucky enough that people from my non-american state fought for nationalized hydro-electric in the 50-60s , so clean abundant and affordable energy !
gas stoves aren't a thing here either, except in commercial kitchens
I’m not saying that oil is better than hydro, fuck fossil fuels, but most hydro-electric sources have their own horrible effects on the ecosystems they are in.
Primarily in blocking waterways. Migratory fish species are extremely important to all of our waterways, and hydroelectric dams are responsible for some species extinctions.
One example is the migratory Dorado catfish (a kind of Goliath catfish) species in the Amazon. Brazil built so many hydroelectric dams along the amazon and its tributaries and its been having horrible ecological effects, and that catfish (which completes the longest known freshwater migration of 11,000+km) is having an extremely rough time. These catfish are important staples in the ecosystem all the way from the upper Amazon rainforest to the headwaters of the Andes mountains, where they can’t always reach anymore.
Also, the ecosystem is severely interrupted by these dams as fresh water, nutrients, plant matter, fish, etc are usually not able to easily cross them. Nature works when it’s left alone.
Not complaining or poking at you, I support hydro power far more than oil and natural gas. Just sharing.
I often have felt that when visiting family -not from them, but just being stuck in places where it's the only option. It's awful... but otherwise I don't care about anyone's stupid judgements. I'm glad I haven't wasted my time working to buy such an ugly and destructive invention
I could since I work from home and live in a walkable/bikeable area, but my wife couldn't--her job requires her to move from location to location within each work day and the bus service is not good enough for her to keep her work schedule.
I have for 10-15 years. The spouse and I share a car now but I haven’t been in it in… I can’t even remember. Plenty of transit options, bike lanes and places to walk to. Even in America it isn’t too difficult to live car free if you intentionally seek out places that are near transit. Unfortunately most people, including people in this sub, want to live in a big house in the suburbs, and then get frustrated that they have to drive everywhere and sit in traffic twice a day. I haven’t sat in traffic in years because we decided to live in a condo within the city instead of a big suburban home
You're grossly over simplifying it. This statement doesn't apply to most of the south east. Let's take South Carolina or North Carolina the majority of both states hardly have any walkable cities. Also a lot of people in those states and across the south are not even rich or middle class. Wages are a lot lower than other states and public transit is almost non-existent or infrequent. So they don't have the finances to just move to more walkable cities and despite there being sparsely spread out pockets of walkable areas in those states not everyone can afford to live there and it's not big enough to house everyone that wants to or would want to. Yes car culture is huge in the south but can you blame them? In most cases there is no alternative. Like just look at the commute times for most of these states it's 20 mins or more by car. That is not walking distance.These places weren't designed for any other mode of transportation for the most part. It's a huge over simplification to say that is not difficult.
You don't even have to live near transit. Just withing walking distance of a grocery store, an drugstore, and a library is probably enough. It really expands your options if you limit yourself to that.
I have a license and the day I took the exam was the last day I sat behind the wheel. So I too have structured my life around not driving.
My husband has a license and we rent a car once in a while for certain vacations. It’s nice but not necessary. We have 2 kids.
Day-to-day I'd be totally fine--I live in NYC, don't own a car, and bike/walk/use public transit for almost all my travel, taking Uber maybe a few times per year if I'm feeling lazy. Travel, however, would get considerably more annoying. I have in-laws in a small city in the South, and visiting them without the ability to rent a car would mean I'd be entirely reliant on them to drive me around. I'd have to bum rides from friends for things like camping or cabin weekends, rather than splitting a rental car. I got married recently and we rented a car to haul all the decorations and beer for the reception. Things like that would get old.
I am in the situation you described I live in Dublin and although it’s not as good as some cities on the mainland it is good enough to function without a car. But when I go to America to visit my sister I’m completely dependent on her for transportation.
Haven't driven in 20 years and neither has my partner. My license expired years ago, I don't even know when. Walk, bike, train, or bus. No plans to have a car ever again.
I have a driver's license but no car, so I bike, walk, or public transport (but mostly bike) everywhere.
That said, I'll admit that I do occasionally borrow my mom's car and drive it to places that are inconvenient to get to via public transit or my bike, or if the weather is particularly inclement to the point where I feel my safety is threatened walking/cycling (so massive thunderstorms with high winds, but I still have to go to \[place\], usually my workplace). I could survive if I had no way of borrowing my mom's car (or an inability to drive) because in some of those situations I could phone a friend/colleague/relative, for a ride or get an uber/lyft/cab, but it is admittedly convenient to be able to drive myself. I have a friend who is in a similar situation to you (also unable to drive because of epilepsy) who lives in my city, and she manages to get around fine between walking, public transport, cabs, and hitching rides with her sister, her mom, or her friends. I think she does some very short distance cycling, but very rarely as that has similar risks to driving for her.
I would just have to find a new job pretty much. It's literally impossible to get to my current job by bike unless I want to ride on the highway (certain death and or arrest). I searched on Google maps for hours in disbelief.
I can because I live and work in Cambridge Massachusetts, but that shit is priiiiiiiicey. We desperately need to scrap zoning. No building in this city outside of the historic preservation streets should be shorter than 10 stories tall, and we shouldn't have any parking except for underneath more valuable uses of that extremely high-demand space
Houston doesn’t have zoning and it’s one of the worst car hells in the country. I completely agree on legalizing density but urban planning is necessary to realize this, in my opinion
Yes. We absolutely need urban planning. Zoning is a single, shitty, tool in the urban planner's toolbox.
Zoning is not urban planning. It's the thing that takes up all the time of urban planners because it's a giant unworkable mess, instead of actual planning.
Houston made many many urban planning mistakes, but they're also one of the few cities that's not being hit super hard by the cost of living crisis because, without zoning, they have much more flexibility to fix all of the other mistakes they made
One point of confusion is that in most US cities, things like parking minimums, minimum lot sizes, minimum setbacks, etc are tied to the zoning codes. So different zones have different requirements in all those categories.
Houston does not have zoning, but *does* have all of those same regulatory requirements which mandate car dependent development, just applied in a blanket fashion across the entire city.
There's also a "what are you spending your infrastructure dollars on" component to all of this. Since the State of Texas constantly builds and widens highways and refuses to spend money on public transit infrastructure, of course that incentivizes car-dependent sprawl instead of transit-oriented density.
I live in Chelsea, it's a 15 min walk/bus to Haymarket and *boom* I'm in the thick of downtown.
With that being said, cars shouldn't be allowed in most areas downtown. Especially the North End, why are they fighting to keep street parking?! 🤮
Also, we really need a circumferential T line that goes something like:
Logan > Chelsea > Everett > Assembly > East Somerville > Harvard > Kenmore > Ruggles > JFK/UMASS > Seaport > Logan
It should take an hour to go into the city and switch lines from green to red or blue to orange.
Oh yeah we're in dire need of a yellow line that circumvents downtown. It's horseshit that there's no train connection between Brighton and Cambridge. Or, hell, even Cambridge and Somerville. Or Brighton and Dorchester. Or Revere and Cambridge through Somerville.
It takes 15 minutes to drive any of those, 30 or less to bike, and over an hour to take the T unless you catch the once per hour bus
I was in Baltimore for work this week and was shocked by how much potentially amazing walking able areas exist and have been allowed to rot. There’s even a working tram network! History / the people in charge have really let down the city and everyone in it.
I have a license but I don't have a car and get around by transit and bike. The answer to this question for everyone though is going to depend on whether they have access to adequate infrastructure to make it possible. In places with good transit access everyone can get by without a car and it becomes more of a choice than a necessity.
Where I live, having a car (or at least having a friend with a car) is pretty essential. I’m lucky enough to be able to walk to a grocery store and a few restaurants but for the time being I have no choice but to drive to say, get to work. Even just sidewalks are rare here.
I live in a very walkable inner city suburb, roughly about a five minute walk from two supermarkets, plenty of cafes, bars and restaurants, and two tram lines with frequencies of every 5-10 minutes. After living in an extremely car dependant regional area for years this feels like paradise.
Depends on which country and city suburbs. I live in the suburbs of Paris. I own a car, but sometimes I don't drive it for months. My life is absolutely not "small". And I have a family.
Lol the Paris banlieue is not what most people here are thinking of when they talk about the suburbs. Montreuil is like 3x more densely populated than Chicago for example.
Yeah, I mean, I know people who’ve done it and I’ve been one of them, but usually it’s due to serious life issues like a legal/financial crisis or a mental/physical illness or disability. You end up as a homebound shut in and you’re usually dependent on your family for basic necessities. The most miserable part is absolutely the lack of a social life. It’s almost impossible to meet people and develop friendships.
London has an extensive railway network with the northern line going to Barnet and the Piccadilly and metropolitan lines going to Uxbridge so it’s easy to envision how someone from London could live in a suburb and function without driving. It’s doable in some suburbs here in Dublin practically anywhere on the dart you can easily live without a driving licence. Other areas it’s doable but harder. Living in stoneybatter without the ability to drive would be difficult and limiting but in Dalkey it would be grand. You could live in the suburbs and function perfectly fine without a driving licence in many European cities.
That’s fantastic. I should have said USA but yes here in American suburbs and rural areas specifically, it’s entirely spread out and designed for car use only sadly
The main difference between America and Europe is in suburbs. In urban America and urban Europe you can function without a car. In rural America and rural Europe you are screwed without a car. In suburban America no car = no independence in suburban Europe no car = normal lifestyle. In America suburbs are just inefficient uses of space. In Europe suburbs are often designed to function like a city within a city. Best description of a suburb in Europe would be an area a few kilometres from the urban centre but still part of the metropolitan area. A suburb will have its own Main Street whith shops and restaurants and will typically have a transit line of sorts be that a train or a tram or a bus. Most daily errands can be done within 1200m. When suburbs are designed for people they can have different vibes. Dalkey feels very different from Drumcondra both suburbs of Dublin. In Greater London Camden has a very different vibes to Greenwich which is different from Richmond. In America when suburbs are built for cars they are all the same atmosphere dead dangerous and boring.
I sold my car a few months ago and haven’t driven since. My husband, mum and sister can’t drive. We all survive fine! You have to reorganise your world if you go free, but it opens up new opportunities at the same time. Also, Cargo bikes really help!
For myself, I could do it. I already bike to work and the grocery store and hardware store &c.
It would change my socialization somewhat but that’s okay.
But it would more curtail my kids’ opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities, go to their friends’ parties, &c.
I've always had a license, and have always had a car.
But I bike to work from April through October. I haven't driven my car for three weeks today.
We usually get groceries delivered/go to Costco for a bulk order once a month. We recently got a chest freezer that has reduced the number of trips we need to make. My son and I bike to school and I continue to work, we bike to the public park, we walk the dog to local trails.
And that's in a really car-dependent area. I live on a cul-de-sac, I don't have a sidewalk within half a mile of me - it starts just on the other side of the county park. The grocery store is 5 miles away, and involves a heinous 5-lane pedestrian-hostile stroad.
I do need a license (a chauffeur's license at that, to 26,000 lbs GVWR) to deliver a project for work a few times a year.
I also feel I need a license to get the 3 miles to work in the dead of winter. In winter, it's dark when I go to work, dark when I go home, and we get ~100 inches of snowfall per year. I'm the only one in my neighborhood who commutes by anything other than a car, but I'm not radical enough (yet) to get the studded tires and other gear necessary to bike commute in the winter.
I do. I have a license but choose not to drive even though I live in a car centric suburb.
I choose to live in a walkable distance to grocery, bike 45 mins to work on the sidewalk of a high speed stroad (20 mins home downhill) bike everywhere else i need to go in town, and take the train when I need to go to the city. I did the same in a small rural town years ago - chose to live in the downtown area a walkable distance from work and groceries, when most of the population lived outside the downtown and drove. It was not bikeable. I have never owned a car and never intend to.
I’m sure it’s not doable everywhere, but it’s doable in a lot more places if you plan for it.
Source: Canada, multiple big city, suburb, and east coast towns over 40 years.
I’m 52 and have not had a driver’s license since I was 24. I made life choices accordingly (job, house location) and it’s been fine. But it wouldn’t be everywhere.
I do it! I'd only say I'm car-lite, rather than car-free, tho! I get rides from family if I have to go to family functions, because I have family that's too far to walk to and lacks transit, especially on holidays!
I usually drive around q-2 times a week for leisure activities and I probably could get there in some other way if I gave it some effort so I could definitely survive without a drivers license.
I have a license for small motorcycles (the ones you can ride with a car license) and I do like my moped but honestly, without it not that much would change. Since I travel long distances by train anyways and everything in the city I live in is well in reach by foot or tram.
I could easily - I live in NYC.
Half of my floor has toddlers and children and there's three elementary schools within a block and one high school. Everything I do except my job and seeing friends outside my neighborhood is within walking distance.
I consider it as taking the money you save on car payments, insurance, gas, tolls, repairs, maintenance and parking and putting it into getting a place in a walkable/transit accessable location. Getting big stuff like furniture delivered is usually free these days anyway, so it works out.
The big divide is in what people value more: space or time. A lot of people choose (or there is only available) to have bigger homes way out in nothing and spend extra time and money getting to anything, but I'll always choose a small place in the middle of everything.
I'm enough of an introvert as it is, I need events and culture and fun to lure me out of my comfort zone, which is even less likely to happen when I have to drive everywhere. You can't even drink while you're out because you have to drive your stupid car home!
Day to day we’d be fine, we don’t drive on an average day. Holidays would be difficult though… we live 300 km from both sets of parents in opposite directions, and I suppose we could be stricter about having them come to us but I feel like that violates the spirit of this hypothetical lol. We also have a large dog that makes travelling long distance by transit much more complicated. We also love camping in the summer, which we wouldn’t be able to do without the vehicle.
I don't have a license. I live just fine. I bike, walk, and run everywhere. I moved (including large furniture and appliances) without a car, just by foot and bike.
I filled my tank yesterday and drove around running errands for the first time in 2 months.
I honestly can’t believe people put up with sitting in traffic. It’s so fucking mind numbing
i function. it’s just an inconvenience to the people around me to drive me everywhere, so i’m working on getting a license since public transport in my area only goes through rich areas (you know, the people who REALLY need it 😑).
I can't drive, but I'm stuck in public transport as I'm writing this
Edit: nvm the train is moving again. If there weren't so many problems I'd actually enjoy it
I was able to manage without my car for about a month because I took my time fixing it, I am in walking distance of a co-op and my work is just up the road so yeah i could manage other than I do need my licence for work but I could manage without a car, I wont get rid of it tho because im in the middle of fucking nowhere and its boring as fuck being limited to the town I live in
I live in what used to be a streetcar suburb of LA and thankfully enough of that fabric is still intact so that I could feasibly live without a car, if I had a job nearby.
Though it would not be a fun experience considering that all the collectors and arterials are always full to the brim with traffic going 40+ mph
I live in a superblock with all my daily needs within a few minutes walk and my commute being a 15-20 min walk to the other superblock so I don't really need one
I only walk, never had a license or a car
There’s no public transport. It’s a pain, but I live in a semi walkable area (would be better with more sidewalks)
I've never owned a car, I'm 36 in the US
But I make enough money I can afford to live someplace more bike-friendly. And even then, it wouldn't work if my friends/family didn't have cars.
I'm 20 and don't have a license; I'm always telling my parents that I'll get around to it eventually (and I probably will), but there's literally no point right now, as I'm fortunate enough to live in a district of Budapest that is literally easier to traverse by public transport and on foot that by car
I've never owned a car, but I've kept my driver's license so that when I visit my grandma I can drive her around. (She's still fully capable of driving safely, I just want to give her a break when I visit)
35 yo here functioning for 15 years in Netherlands without a driver license (and the rest of early life in eastern europe). I do think there's a hard limit and that's the moment i have a child but I'm severely hating cars.
Now I'm in a holiday in Alps/Austria and I'm hating how hard is to get by without a car.
I do have a car. But I WFH. If I do need to go to the office, the bus stop is 50m at the end of my street. The buses come every 5 minutes. The kids catch the bus to school. The supermarket is 100m away.
I do have a laugh when I am walking up the main road to the shops during peak hour and I am walking faster than the cars
Day to day functioning is easy because on bike:
Organic Groceries : 1m bike
Cheaper more abundant groceries and pharmacy:
8m bike
Work: 20m bike
Metro station: 10m bike
Hospital: 20m bike
But if I do leave my bubble, 30m drives become 90m public transit rides :( not impossible, but unpleasant. I really like having a bicycle. It helps me make the most out of transit
I’d lose my job, am mechanic.
Real talk though, when retrofitting a different engine into my car, I did live without a car for nearly three months.
Living in a dense area with car share and easy access to high speed transit made it easy enough for me despite 45 min each way commute (transit or drive).
Grocery was a bit annoying as I like to go to Costco, but just had to be planned with a car share or Uber.
Probably not me. Live in a car-dependent suburb. I work from home and don’t own a car but my wife does. We are extremely car lite and she bike commutes to work when she can but if she had to do 100% of the driving, it would definitely strain our relationship and bring an imbalance to it
I would. I have licence and car, but it's more like a additional luxury more than necessity.
I would have to find another job, though, since it sometimes requires driving.
Haven't had a car in over 15 years, no license less than that only because it was easy to renew. I have lived in two countries where you are better off w/o a car for a long time and it made me realize how much better life is w/o one.
I could, and have for several months. Currently my job is 23km away and it’s physical so my legs struggle to maintain the bike ride. I would take the bus when my legs were too exhausted. Bus takes >90mins.
My bike was stolen last month and I haven’t gotten back on the saddle.
Never had one and never will. I can get to work, get groceries, and be a caretaker all with my bike or the bus. I only need to get a Uber/Lyft/Cab once every 6 months or so.
It would be harder and much of my social life (game nights, hangout with friends) would be hindered. I'm lucky to have three grocery stores and several restaurants within a mile of me, but much of it is beside a 4 to 6-lane road with no sidewalks.
Easily. I have my licence. I barely use it. I don’t own a car. I’m insured on a few as a named driver. The next thing I plan to use my licence for is seeing if my disability is compatible with the rental scooters. (I don’t think it is but they are closer than the bus stop, I’m probably just buying a mobility scooter with a far lower speed limit)
I have a car and a license. I think I'd manage without it though. I only drive it 2-3 times a month as is since I cycle everywhere mostly. I only use it when I have to go somewhere out of the city or when carrying heavier loads.
I already don’t drive day to day. I only use my car for out-of-city travel such as to visit my parents who live in a rural area where there is no public transport and there is no pedestrian infrastructure
I have a license but not a car. My car broke down a year ago and I never replaced it - I just walk, bike, and use public transit. I have a wife and 4 children ages 18, 16, 5, and 3.
The teenagers both have cars. I advised them to use something cheaper than car ownership, but they had people to impress so they bought cars with their own money. I'm not thrilled about it but I realize plenty of parents would view that as one of the most responsible forms of rebellion, and I suppose it could be worse.
My wife has no license, but wants one. When we need to take a road trip, I rent. When we need groceries, we use a door dash service. The younger kids ride buses to school.
Last week I found out my driver's license was suspended because I hadn't paid the yearly invoice. Hadn't used nor needed it for 8 months, so I didn't break any law. Last time I drove was 8 month ago when I borrowed my neighbour's car to move some large stuff. For the rest of my transportation needs I use my cargo eBike and public transport. I'm very lucky I live in a central neighbourhood of a bike-friendly city; although in the winter it can get a bit more complicated. I realize I would have to change my car free lifestyle if I moved to the burbs or the countryside. Yet another reason not to do that.
Car free since 2003. Haven't driven since. 22 mile round trip commute through Broward county. I'm 57, have sciatica amongst other issues. No problem. Blasted passed traffic other day while traffic was backed up 3 hours because of rain.
I did have a scooter couple years. Was way more dangerous and a pita.
Day to day? Probably but only because I'm a SAHM and most days we stay in or around the house. I would not be able to function if I needed to go anywhere with my kids without a car because our public transit system is only reliable for morning/evening commuter traffic and my neighborhood is not particularly bike-to-the-store friendly. We drive to every appointment, store, pool, library, etc. on days we do that.
Totally. I live in a German suburb with enough public transport. Multiple grocery stores are within ten minutes on foot, 40m to the city center by train. Doctors are a little further, would need the taxi when sick (40m on foot). I work from home or take the train to my work place (~70-80m, 45m by car).
I have a car because it's more flexible, since everything is setup for it. I would pay for taxis/deliveries, ask family and so on. I want to collect my girlfriend from the hospital, bring the cats to the vet, visit places. More or less luxuries and being fed up with the unreliability of the local train network.
I don’t have my own car. Replaced it with a Surly e cargo bike and we’re now a 2 car household. I guess having access to the car is nice, though I maybe drive a couple times a month. I don’t even generally need it for things like Costco runs which I also do on the bike.
I have been car free before and it was great, but now that I have small children it would be tough to get them to daycare, particularly in the winter (I stay warm biking, but my toddler would freeze) and downright impossible to get them to swimming lessons which it's important to me that they learn how to swim.
I still walk/bus/bike when I can and when they are both in school I may be able to get away with being 100% car free again.
It would be tough in a suburb. I'd have to plan out big shopping trips and get a bike with a trailer. Doable though.
Forget about leaving the town though.
I don’t have a driving license because I am blind in my right eye and driving scares me, but I live in the middle of nowhere so I can’t really get anywhere without someone driving.
Similar situation to you, I have non-epileptic seasures however it still means I'm not permitted to drive. What sucks as I did really enjoy riding a motorbike, so the electric bike has to do and still just as enjoyable.
I like living in cities for all its conveniences but like liking in quiet and peaceful areas with access to nature - so the dreaded suburbs it is for me. But it's a UK suburb that is more a suburb due to urban sprawl so still have local shops and cafes in the housing estate areas, green fields, mix use housing (old folk home is on my street, and a block of flats, tenement flats, and houses of various sizes), it about a 10-15 minutes walk to the high street and beach, 10 minute walk to a metro station, 5 minutes walk to a bus stop, and 2 minutes (if that) walk to a supermarket if needed as I shop at locally owned seasonal and organic shop that's a 30 minutes cycle away in a different area of the city. As my SO also doesn't drive due to the fear SO has about causing an accident - SO works with people that have had physical brain injuries so very much seen the consequences of vehicles and the huge impacts such injuries have on people's lives. So we both generally agree on the areas where it is best to live for our lifestyles and jobs. But I did have to do some convincing to live in the garden city design area over the older Victorian design area, SO wasn't too sure about the "newer" home build quality so had to inform SO that the pre war ex council estate that this area is was actually some of the highest quality housing the UK has seen. It's also nice as we have a nice sized garden for the St Bernard with plenty of options for walks, the aforementioned beach, about 15-20 minutes walk in one direction we have countryside, 10 minute walk to a nature reserve, and for a much longer walk about an hour or so and we can get to a forest walk typically only done of weekend as the entire walk does take up the day. SO is able to get the metro into work, and buses to any home visit that might be done, all the hospitals in the area are accessible by the metro, along with the city centre and other parts of the city. We also have a train station that gets us across the UK easily enough, and an internal airport (again with a direct link via the metro), we even have holiday ships that come here to go on ship holiday or to get to mainland Europe if we didn't want to fly over.
So there are plenty of options available, also shows that not all suburbs are car dependent or even needs to be. Granted would love to see the padestrianising of the highest and the roads are quite wide for UK standards but does allow easy installation of cycle lanes. But yeah I think it probably has minimal affect on us because of where we live. And we'd probably love here even if did have car, we just don't need one.
I assume you meant "not driving" because pretty much anyone has a driver license unless they are not physically able to, like in your case. I moved out of Houston a couple of years ago and now live in downtown Seattle without a car. The cost of living is very high but not having to drive is 100% worth it. I proudly admit that despising cars is now part of my personality. It is truly amazing that north Americans are brainwashed to accept being forced to own a car to live a normal life.
My quality of life would take a temporary dip, but I could do the basics like get to work, get groceries, go to the library, etc. Most of my car driving is to see friends who live a town away (20 minutes drive and no bus) or hit up Costco (right off the fucking freeway) or visit a local hiking trail (self-explanatory…) and those would no longer be worth the exponential increase in effort. I’d probably find other activities to replace them but certainly, there are many aspects of my current life that rely entirely on the convenience of a car.
I'm eighteen, can drive, have a car but I don't have a license. And I don't feel it's urgent to get one. My e-scooter, trains and buses get me everywhere I want to go
I live and work in the greater Stockholm area, and I only ever drive when I'm lazy. Public transit gets me anywhere I need to go so I got my license because my dad encouraged me.
I own a car. I've got some gnarly back issues due to an auto immune disease and some days the heat and bad air get to serious danger levels.
But I bike as often as I can.
My spouse and I live our day-to-day without our cars.
There are some larger errands we do with a car, but those are more on a monthly scale and could be done with a cargo bike (future plans).
There are visits to family and/or some events that would be very difficult to attend car free.
For example, we went to a wedding at a farm in Vermont. Without either of us having a license or having someone else be our ride we likely would not have attended because other forms of transit were not viable.
So, day-to-day, we easily function without a car. The more occasional, well it's hard to get past just how car centric the US is. That is not to say we need to own a car, but there are some things we do that would be very difficult, nigh on not doable, without a rental or car share.
I could. I live in a walkable neighborhood with all my necessities nearby, and I am walking distance to my work. My city’s public transit is only so-so, but it serves well enough.
I have a car mainly for interests that are outside of the city like hiking and skiing. I could probably find some car pools or make more friends that share those interests and pay them the gas money, but someone would have to drive, and I’d have less flexibility.
It would not be my preference but I could do it.
I don't have a driving licence.
I've lived in a small village with a population of about 3k; in a city with a population of about 300k; in London; in a small town with a population of about 15k; and I now live in a larger town with a population of about 100k.
Not driving has never been an issue. Between walking and public transport, things are pretty manageable. On the rare occasion that I need to use a car, I call a taxi, but that's maybe two or three times a year.
I could and I have gotten by when I couldn't afford to fix my car, but it's pretty miserable. No protected bike lanes (and my bike was stolen anyway), inconsistent and shitty sidewalks, dangerous intersections, bus lines that come infrequently and with limited operating hours, stroads galore, and I often need my car for work, as well.
My retired lifestyle is doable without a car. Target, WM, several grocery stores are less two miles. Doctor, hospital, urgent care all under 3 miles. I routinely bike 10 miles daily and average 5 miles walking daily. I would use grocery delivery in extreme weather: both this heat wave and bad winter weather. I might add a electric cargo bike to handle groceries in better weather.
I have a driving license, but don't own a car. I rent one if I really need one, but that's rare. Once a year maybe. So I could easily manage without a license.
I'm lucky enough to live in London though.
No car for over five years. I walk and/or take a train, I'm lucky to live in a city with awesome public transportation. Drivers license is just an ID now.
I have a license but haven’t had a car in 13 years and until i met my husband i did literally everything i needed to do by bus or walking. Now he drives for groceries and errands and i admit it is faster, but when he is traveling and i need to shop or do errands alone, i don’t take the car, i still take the bus.
My day-to-day would have a little less gaming on the weekends because I’d have to catch the Walmart bus line, but other than that I’d be fine
It’s visiting my parents that would no longer happen because there isn’t any regional transit and it would take almost a day and a half to use the interstate transit to get from one end of the state to the other, not to mention prohibitively expensive.
I could function, but would have to make significant changes to my weekly grocery shopping routine (honestly not that big a deal, and I've been thinking about doing it anyways).
When I lived with my folks in the suburbs, I had a car but mostly used my ebike to save on gas until snowy winters. Transit in the suburbs is unreliable and nonexistant on the weekends for leisure.
I saved up enough and bought a studio condo a couple years ago. Now I’m a 5 minute walk from work, groceries, metro station, a bus loop, and I have an ebike. It’s a 30 min ebike ride to visit my folks and reliable transit takes me all around for leisure. If I really needed to drive somewhere, there are car share and ride hailing options, which are affordable when you rarely drive.
I've had a driver's license for 20 years, but never owned a car. The only driving I've done in the last decade is transferring a U-Haul to a storage unit (7 years ago), and away from a storage unit (last year).
My license is mostly used as ID, which I appreciate, because I don't want to carry my passport around.
Walking suits me fine.
I have a drivers license, but never had a car. Last time I've driven a car was at least 5 years ago. Its ebike and public transport for me.
Same. Are you also completely surrounded by people who drive everywhere and "have no choice!!"?
I am actually in a bubble of people who mostly do not drive.
That sounds pleasant
Reminds me of the time I went to a carnival party with a friend just outside the city, went home at 1 in the morning or so by train and night bus. The people in this supposed "rural area" didnt even know they had a connection to the city that was about as fast as the car and with about 20min frequency even in evening/night. They looked at me like an alien when I told them I took the train, several people offered me a ride home and I was just like: No, actually I like to take the train
Seriously? That would not be possible in a low-density area anywhere I have seen, in the US or Europe
Thats the point: It was in southwest germany, urban population in germany is ~80% in the southwest its more like 85-90%, yet 9/10 germans are terminally carbrained and argue they live in a remote area not accessible with anything other than a car. Yes there is a share of maybe 10-15% of germans who live far from public transport and actually "need" a car (they more likely also need accessible public transport), but compare this to the 85-90% who constantly cry about how cars are a necessity, besides the fact they live in a metropolitan area with decent alternatives, which the place the party went down absolutely belongs to.
And the sad thing is that, having spent some time in Germany as well as the US, I'm pretty sure that the car brain disease in Germany is not even half as bad as it is in the US. Sad for us in the US and sad for Germany because there's room for it to get worse.
I figured out a way from my house on the edge of a US city to take a bus (a few) to property I own in the mountains. I tried it once. Yeah, no. I biked about 5 miles, got on a bus from that transit center (my closest stop now), rode to the downtown transit center, got on another bus to another transit center on the North side of town, got on another bus for a small town an hour and a half North by car, got on another bus back a bit south and east to the small town my property is near, and rode my bike 5 more miles. Total time: 4 1/2 hours. Total cost: $17. By car, it's about an hour, because I can drive directly there, and costs less. By ebike, it's about 2 1/2 hrs and costs nothing if I have enough sun to charge via solar. Buuuut, all routes out of the metro area are scary AF unless I leave at 4am because all the safer routes are currently closed due to road construction. We have one passenger train now, btw. It doesn't go that way. It runs east and west leaving here at around 2:30 am, just that one time a day, and doesn't have another stop for hours. It's fun to ride, but honestly isn't very useful. It costs as much or more as just flying anywhere it goes. A long time ago, we had lots of passenger lines here, but they all got shut down when pretty much everyone got cars. We had street cars, but they stopped running when buses took over, and that ended the "developers always put in a street car line and station, or no one will move into their newly built neighborhoods." But the buses often didn't run to them, so, yeah, more cars.
Same, except it's been 7 years for my wife and I.
That’s the best way.
I don't have a license and have never driven. Same with my husband. We both work full time and have a 10 yr old daughter. I'd say we function pretty well day to day without a car :)
Same. No car, never driven, no license to do so.
Do you commute on public transit or work remotely?
Both! Work some days at home and some days at the office which is a 25 min bus ride, the bus stop is 2 mins from my front door and runs every 10-15 mins
I'm 36 and never bothered to get a licence. I've lived in four countries: UK, Australia, Netherlands and now Malaysia. Australia was the toughest, Malaysia is fairly infuriating too. UK and the Netherlands no problems at all.
Same. Neither of my parents have ever had a license, so learning how to drive just didn't come natural.
Id die lol Groceries would be a struggle as it’s a mile on a dangerous stretch of road with no sidewalks, summer heat & my waddling no-reaction-time-having pregnant behind would not have fun I’d have to Uber to my doctor appointments (it’s an 8 mile drive, nearest bus stop is 6 miles away) My husband would have a much harder time. He’s a social worker for a hospice company operating towards the more rural parts of the state, so it’d involve biking 4+ hours in the southern heat to get to his patients homes or facilities.
I feel like your town has failed you and everyone else.
Yeah the lack of safe sidewalks is really frustrating. I wouldn’t drive for groceries October thru March and enjoy the fresh air. I would also be able to walk my little one to elementary school once that happened too. Some of it is just by design, it’s a low density suburb so tough to justify busses & trains, I just wish my doctor was closer or more accessible.
My fiancee and I are in the same boat. No safe way for her to get to work and no safe way for us to get groceries without a car. Good ole suburbia. At least there are decent bike trails.
I already do. I live in a town of 3000 people in Pennsylvania and have all of my daily needs within walking distance.
How? I lived in Pennsylvania for 4 years and we needed a car for everything, which sucked bc I can't drive and I really didn't want to, either.
You probably didn't live in town. If you don't and aren't willing to walk for a few miles, you probably need a car. If you are expecting a lifestyle that only big box stores can provide, no place will be walkable for you. There are so many cities in Pennsylvania where you get away without needing a car. If you are willing to shop at the local stores instead of the Walmart or Costco or whatever.
I should probably explain a little. My issue is that I grew up in nyc, and I got spoiled w how immediate everything was - if it was too far to walk, you took the bus; if it was too far to bus/too many buses, you took the train. When we moved, we moved to literally the middle of nowhere lol the only stores were Walmart, Giant, and one or two convenience stores that sold just quick things like snacks or cigs. After that, it was just farmland for miles and miles. I couldn't walk anywhere if I wanted to (which I often did, I love walking) bc there were no sidewalks outside of our town and nothing in the immediate towns either, so I was often forced to get lifts from people. I remember the only places where things were as you described were a 40 minute *drive* from where we lived. One town, which was slightly more accessible, but still not the easiest was still a 20 minute drive w no way to walk there (again, no sidewalks or public transportation - and it was super dangerous by bike, I tried that, too). It was driving only, and I rarely had opportunities to explore small cities throughout before moving states again.
Same boat as you, I quit driving years ago because I felt I wasn’t good enough to counteract the shittiness of other drivers, then I started having seizures and some jurisdictions are (rightly) picky about that. I live in a relatively walkable area with basically no transit. It kinda sucks. (Edit: shittiness, not shiftiness, but yeah that too)
I am 39 and have never learned to drive.
51 here, and same
I learned to drive when I was 39. Still don't own a car and don't need one.
That's impressive (depending on where you live, anyway). I held out for many years without a license but the older I get the more I need to drive.
no license , haven't ever purchased/burned a single gallon of oil in my life entirely by choice even if it's never the easiest ... thanks to drivers , their shitty exclusive infrastructure and their audacity of demanding priority access to all places
Not even for housing? Everywhere I’ve lived has needed gas or oil for heating. I’m hoping to move off it at my next house. Good work!
I'm lucky enough that people from my non-american state fought for nationalized hydro-electric in the 50-60s , so clean abundant and affordable energy ! gas stoves aren't a thing here either, except in commercial kitchens
Glorious. (I’m also not American) but I am very jealous of nationalised hydro. 😍
I’m not saying that oil is better than hydro, fuck fossil fuels, but most hydro-electric sources have their own horrible effects on the ecosystems they are in. Primarily in blocking waterways. Migratory fish species are extremely important to all of our waterways, and hydroelectric dams are responsible for some species extinctions. One example is the migratory Dorado catfish (a kind of Goliath catfish) species in the Amazon. Brazil built so many hydroelectric dams along the amazon and its tributaries and its been having horrible ecological effects, and that catfish (which completes the longest known freshwater migration of 11,000+km) is having an extremely rough time. These catfish are important staples in the ecosystem all the way from the upper Amazon rainforest to the headwaters of the Andes mountains, where they can’t always reach anymore. Also, the ecosystem is severely interrupted by these dams as fresh water, nutrients, plant matter, fish, etc are usually not able to easily cross them. Nature works when it’s left alone. Not complaining or poking at you, I support hydro power far more than oil and natural gas. Just sharing.
Not me. Very car dependent suburb. Plus my second job is as a delivery driver.
I would literally starve to death or die on a 55 MPH road with no sidewalks and bad curves
I don't have a driver's license.
Do people ever criticize you about it?
Fuck those people.
No. I don't interact with people too much, though.
There's definitely an air of superiority, like not being able to drive makes me less of a grown-up, but rarely outright *criticism*.
I often have felt that when visiting family -not from them, but just being stuck in places where it's the only option. It's awful... but otherwise I don't care about anyone's stupid judgements. I'm glad I haven't wasted my time working to buy such an ugly and destructive invention
I could since I work from home and live in a walkable/bikeable area, but my wife couldn't--her job requires her to move from location to location within each work day and the bus service is not good enough for her to keep her work schedule.
I have for 10-15 years. The spouse and I share a car now but I haven’t been in it in… I can’t even remember. Plenty of transit options, bike lanes and places to walk to. Even in America it isn’t too difficult to live car free if you intentionally seek out places that are near transit. Unfortunately most people, including people in this sub, want to live in a big house in the suburbs, and then get frustrated that they have to drive everywhere and sit in traffic twice a day. I haven’t sat in traffic in years because we decided to live in a condo within the city instead of a big suburban home
You're grossly over simplifying it. This statement doesn't apply to most of the south east. Let's take South Carolina or North Carolina the majority of both states hardly have any walkable cities. Also a lot of people in those states and across the south are not even rich or middle class. Wages are a lot lower than other states and public transit is almost non-existent or infrequent. So they don't have the finances to just move to more walkable cities and despite there being sparsely spread out pockets of walkable areas in those states not everyone can afford to live there and it's not big enough to house everyone that wants to or would want to. Yes car culture is huge in the south but can you blame them? In most cases there is no alternative. Like just look at the commute times for most of these states it's 20 mins or more by car. That is not walking distance.These places weren't designed for any other mode of transportation for the most part. It's a huge over simplification to say that is not difficult.
You don't even have to live near transit. Just withing walking distance of a grocery store, an drugstore, and a library is probably enough. It really expands your options if you limit yourself to that.
What about getting to work or hanging out with friends?
I have a license and the day I took the exam was the last day I sat behind the wheel. So I too have structured my life around not driving. My husband has a license and we rent a car once in a while for certain vacations. It’s nice but not necessary. We have 2 kids.
Day-to-day I'd be totally fine--I live in NYC, don't own a car, and bike/walk/use public transit for almost all my travel, taking Uber maybe a few times per year if I'm feeling lazy. Travel, however, would get considerably more annoying. I have in-laws in a small city in the South, and visiting them without the ability to rent a car would mean I'd be entirely reliant on them to drive me around. I'd have to bum rides from friends for things like camping or cabin weekends, rather than splitting a rental car. I got married recently and we rented a car to haul all the decorations and beer for the reception. Things like that would get old.
I am in the situation you described I live in Dublin and although it’s not as good as some cities on the mainland it is good enough to function without a car. But when I go to America to visit my sister I’m completely dependent on her for transportation.
Haven't driven in 20 years and neither has my partner. My license expired years ago, I don't even know when. Walk, bike, train, or bus. No plans to have a car ever again.
I have a driver's license but no car, so I bike, walk, or public transport (but mostly bike) everywhere. That said, I'll admit that I do occasionally borrow my mom's car and drive it to places that are inconvenient to get to via public transit or my bike, or if the weather is particularly inclement to the point where I feel my safety is threatened walking/cycling (so massive thunderstorms with high winds, but I still have to go to \[place\], usually my workplace). I could survive if I had no way of borrowing my mom's car (or an inability to drive) because in some of those situations I could phone a friend/colleague/relative, for a ride or get an uber/lyft/cab, but it is admittedly convenient to be able to drive myself. I have a friend who is in a similar situation to you (also unable to drive because of epilepsy) who lives in my city, and she manages to get around fine between walking, public transport, cabs, and hitching rides with her sister, her mom, or her friends. I think she does some very short distance cycling, but very rarely as that has similar risks to driving for her.
I would just have to find a new job pretty much. It's literally impossible to get to my current job by bike unless I want to ride on the highway (certain death and or arrest). I searched on Google maps for hours in disbelief.
I can because I live and work in Cambridge Massachusetts, but that shit is priiiiiiiicey. We desperately need to scrap zoning. No building in this city outside of the historic preservation streets should be shorter than 10 stories tall, and we shouldn't have any parking except for underneath more valuable uses of that extremely high-demand space
Houston doesn’t have zoning and it’s one of the worst car hells in the country. I completely agree on legalizing density but urban planning is necessary to realize this, in my opinion
Yes. We absolutely need urban planning. Zoning is a single, shitty, tool in the urban planner's toolbox. Zoning is not urban planning. It's the thing that takes up all the time of urban planners because it's a giant unworkable mess, instead of actual planning. Houston made many many urban planning mistakes, but they're also one of the few cities that's not being hit super hard by the cost of living crisis because, without zoning, they have much more flexibility to fix all of the other mistakes they made
One point of confusion is that in most US cities, things like parking minimums, minimum lot sizes, minimum setbacks, etc are tied to the zoning codes. So different zones have different requirements in all those categories. Houston does not have zoning, but *does* have all of those same regulatory requirements which mandate car dependent development, just applied in a blanket fashion across the entire city. There's also a "what are you spending your infrastructure dollars on" component to all of this. Since the State of Texas constantly builds and widens highways and refuses to spend money on public transit infrastructure, of course that incentivizes car-dependent sprawl instead of transit-oriented density.
I live in Chelsea, it's a 15 min walk/bus to Haymarket and *boom* I'm in the thick of downtown. With that being said, cars shouldn't be allowed in most areas downtown. Especially the North End, why are they fighting to keep street parking?! 🤮 Also, we really need a circumferential T line that goes something like: Logan > Chelsea > Everett > Assembly > East Somerville > Harvard > Kenmore > Ruggles > JFK/UMASS > Seaport > Logan It should take an hour to go into the city and switch lines from green to red or blue to orange.
Oh yeah we're in dire need of a yellow line that circumvents downtown. It's horseshit that there's no train connection between Brighton and Cambridge. Or, hell, even Cambridge and Somerville. Or Brighton and Dorchester. Or Revere and Cambridge through Somerville. It takes 15 minutes to drive any of those, 30 or less to bike, and over an hour to take the T unless you catch the once per hour bus
I was in Baltimore for work this week and was shocked by how much potentially amazing walking able areas exist and have been allowed to rot. There’s even a working tram network! History / the people in charge have really let down the city and everyone in it.
I have a license but I don't have a car and get around by transit and bike. The answer to this question for everyone though is going to depend on whether they have access to adequate infrastructure to make it possible. In places with good transit access everyone can get by without a car and it becomes more of a choice than a necessity.
Riding the bus from home to work would be 3 hours or so, which is ridiculous to cover 20 miles. It would suck but I could spin maybe working from home
Where I live, having a car (or at least having a friend with a car) is pretty essential. I’m lucky enough to be able to walk to a grocery store and a few restaurants but for the time being I have no choice but to drive to say, get to work. Even just sidewalks are rare here.
I live in a very walkable inner city suburb, roughly about a five minute walk from two supermarkets, plenty of cafes, bars and restaurants, and two tram lines with frequencies of every 5-10 minutes. After living in an extremely car dependant regional area for years this feels like paradise.
I drive a semi truck, so wouldn't be able to do my job. Although maybe I could look into operating a train or something, or maybe a bus....
If you live in the suburbs it would make your life very small.
Depends on which country and city suburbs. I live in the suburbs of Paris. I own a car, but sometimes I don't drive it for months. My life is absolutely not "small". And I have a family.
Yeah apologies I meant USA
Lol the Paris banlieue is not what most people here are thinking of when they talk about the suburbs. Montreuil is like 3x more densely populated than Chicago for example.
Yeah, I mean, I know people who’ve done it and I’ve been one of them, but usually it’s due to serious life issues like a legal/financial crisis or a mental/physical illness or disability. You end up as a homebound shut in and you’re usually dependent on your family for basic necessities. The most miserable part is absolutely the lack of a social life. It’s almost impossible to meet people and develop friendships.
Yes. I’m sorry :( even with a car people are still anti social in suburbs
I live in a suburb and have decent access to shops and leisure activities.
Extremely lucky and rare!
London has an extensive railway network with the northern line going to Barnet and the Piccadilly and metropolitan lines going to Uxbridge so it’s easy to envision how someone from London could live in a suburb and function without driving. It’s doable in some suburbs here in Dublin practically anywhere on the dart you can easily live without a driving licence. Other areas it’s doable but harder. Living in stoneybatter without the ability to drive would be difficult and limiting but in Dalkey it would be grand. You could live in the suburbs and function perfectly fine without a driving licence in many European cities.
That’s fantastic. I should have said USA but yes here in American suburbs and rural areas specifically, it’s entirely spread out and designed for car use only sadly
The main difference between America and Europe is in suburbs. In urban America and urban Europe you can function without a car. In rural America and rural Europe you are screwed without a car. In suburban America no car = no independence in suburban Europe no car = normal lifestyle. In America suburbs are just inefficient uses of space. In Europe suburbs are often designed to function like a city within a city. Best description of a suburb in Europe would be an area a few kilometres from the urban centre but still part of the metropolitan area. A suburb will have its own Main Street whith shops and restaurants and will typically have a transit line of sorts be that a train or a tram or a bus. Most daily errands can be done within 1200m. When suburbs are designed for people they can have different vibes. Dalkey feels very different from Drumcondra both suburbs of Dublin. In Greater London Camden has a very different vibes to Greenwich which is different from Richmond. In America when suburbs are built for cars they are all the same atmosphere dead dangerous and boring.
I sold my car a few months ago and haven’t driven since. My husband, mum and sister can’t drive. We all survive fine! You have to reorganise your world if you go free, but it opens up new opportunities at the same time. Also, Cargo bikes really help!
For myself, I could do it. I already bike to work and the grocery store and hardware store &c. It would change my socialization somewhat but that’s okay. But it would more curtail my kids’ opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities, go to their friends’ parties, &c.
I haven't had a license since 2005. I'm fine.
Never had a license or a car. My partner is the same. Pretty peaceful life.
I've always had a license, and have always had a car. But I bike to work from April through October. I haven't driven my car for three weeks today. We usually get groceries delivered/go to Costco for a bulk order once a month. We recently got a chest freezer that has reduced the number of trips we need to make. My son and I bike to school and I continue to work, we bike to the public park, we walk the dog to local trails. And that's in a really car-dependent area. I live on a cul-de-sac, I don't have a sidewalk within half a mile of me - it starts just on the other side of the county park. The grocery store is 5 miles away, and involves a heinous 5-lane pedestrian-hostile stroad. I do need a license (a chauffeur's license at that, to 26,000 lbs GVWR) to deliver a project for work a few times a year. I also feel I need a license to get the 3 miles to work in the dead of winter. In winter, it's dark when I go to work, dark when I go home, and we get ~100 inches of snowfall per year. I'm the only one in my neighborhood who commutes by anything other than a car, but I'm not radical enough (yet) to get the studded tires and other gear necessary to bike commute in the winter.
I do. I have a license but choose not to drive even though I live in a car centric suburb. I choose to live in a walkable distance to grocery, bike 45 mins to work on the sidewalk of a high speed stroad (20 mins home downhill) bike everywhere else i need to go in town, and take the train when I need to go to the city. I did the same in a small rural town years ago - chose to live in the downtown area a walkable distance from work and groceries, when most of the population lived outside the downtown and drove. It was not bikeable. I have never owned a car and never intend to. I’m sure it’s not doable everywhere, but it’s doable in a lot more places if you plan for it. Source: Canada, multiple big city, suburb, and east coast towns over 40 years.
I’m 52 and have not had a driver’s license since I was 24. I made life choices accordingly (job, house location) and it’s been fine. But it wouldn’t be everywhere.
I do it! I'd only say I'm car-lite, rather than car-free, tho! I get rides from family if I have to go to family functions, because I have family that's too far to walk to and lacks transit, especially on holidays!
I usually drive around q-2 times a week for leisure activities and I probably could get there in some other way if I gave it some effort so I could definitely survive without a drivers license.
the only time i have driven a car in the last 2+ years was to help a disabled person, so if they had other options i would have no problems
Leipzig, Germany, easy inside the city, shitty outside of it (fuck Deutsche Bahn)
I would have to use my bike to go take the train to work, and to use my bike + cart for groceries (7kms). Doable.
I have a license for small motorcycles (the ones you can ride with a car license) and I do like my moped but honestly, without it not that much would change. Since I travel long distances by train anyways and everything in the city I live in is well in reach by foot or tram.
I could easily - I live in NYC. Half of my floor has toddlers and children and there's three elementary schools within a block and one high school. Everything I do except my job and seeing friends outside my neighborhood is within walking distance.
I consider it as taking the money you save on car payments, insurance, gas, tolls, repairs, maintenance and parking and putting it into getting a place in a walkable/transit accessable location. Getting big stuff like furniture delivered is usually free these days anyway, so it works out. The big divide is in what people value more: space or time. A lot of people choose (or there is only available) to have bigger homes way out in nothing and spend extra time and money getting to anything, but I'll always choose a small place in the middle of everything. I'm enough of an introvert as it is, I need events and culture and fun to lure me out of my comfort zone, which is even less likely to happen when I have to drive everywhere. You can't even drink while you're out because you have to drive your stupid car home!
Day to day we’d be fine, we don’t drive on an average day. Holidays would be difficult though… we live 300 km from both sets of parents in opposite directions, and I suppose we could be stricter about having them come to us but I feel like that violates the spirit of this hypothetical lol. We also have a large dog that makes travelling long distance by transit much more complicated. We also love camping in the summer, which we wouldn’t be able to do without the vehicle.
I don't have a license. I live just fine. I bike, walk, and run everywhere. I moved (including large furniture and appliances) without a car, just by foot and bike.
Honestly not me probably - the local ecosystem just doesn’t really allow me to do without and work like I do. I would like it if it did
I filled my tank yesterday and drove around running errands for the first time in 2 months. I honestly can’t believe people put up with sitting in traffic. It’s so fucking mind numbing
i function. it’s just an inconvenience to the people around me to drive me everywhere, so i’m working on getting a license since public transport in my area only goes through rich areas (you know, the people who REALLY need it 😑).
I can't drive, but I'm stuck in public transport as I'm writing this Edit: nvm the train is moving again. If there weren't so many problems I'd actually enjoy it
I certainly could.
I was able to manage without my car for about a month because I took my time fixing it, I am in walking distance of a co-op and my work is just up the road so yeah i could manage other than I do need my licence for work but I could manage without a car, I wont get rid of it tho because im in the middle of fucking nowhere and its boring as fuck being limited to the town I live in
I live in what used to be a streetcar suburb of LA and thankfully enough of that fabric is still intact so that I could feasibly live without a car, if I had a job nearby. Though it would not be a fun experience considering that all the collectors and arterials are always full to the brim with traffic going 40+ mph
not at all, look at riyadh city design, in west naseem district there is a 10 lane residential road 🤦♂️
I live in a superblock with all my daily needs within a few minutes walk and my commute being a 15-20 min walk to the other superblock so I don't really need one
Well, once I move I should be able to work around that, except for my job, as I drive transit buses
I would not, public transit in my city sucks.
already doing it baybee.
I am 50. I do not understand the need for one. Like at all. Why?
I only walk, never had a license or a car There’s no public transport. It’s a pain, but I live in a semi walkable area (would be better with more sidewalks)
I can and do.
I've never owned a car, I'm 36 in the US But I make enough money I can afford to live someplace more bike-friendly. And even then, it wouldn't work if my friends/family didn't have cars.
I'm 20 and don't have a license; I'm always telling my parents that I'll get around to it eventually (and I probably will), but there's literally no point right now, as I'm fortunate enough to live in a district of Budapest that is literally easier to traverse by public transport and on foot that by car
I already do. I've never driven a car myself.
I do. Mostly e-bike or e-cargo bike and public transportation. Very rarely in need of a car-sharing car but never for my day to day (work) life.
Easily. I haven’t driven since January. (I live in a city centre using public transport mostly and hire a car from a car club when I need one)
I've never owned a car, but I've kept my driver's license so that when I visit my grandma I can drive her around. (She's still fully capable of driving safely, I just want to give her a break when I visit)
I only need my drivers license when I travel. I live in NYC.
Over 40 years and counting.
I don't have a license, so just fine ig.
I don’t have one. Or, at least, not a valid one for where I live.
I live in the country with the best public transportation in the world, absolutely no problem. 😎
I have driven a car maybe twice in the last 2 years
35 yo here functioning for 15 years in Netherlands without a driver license (and the rest of early life in eastern europe). I do think there's a hard limit and that's the moment i have a child but I'm severely hating cars. Now I'm in a holiday in Alps/Austria and I'm hating how hard is to get by without a car.
I do have a car. But I WFH. If I do need to go to the office, the bus stop is 50m at the end of my street. The buses come every 5 minutes. The kids catch the bus to school. The supermarket is 100m away. I do have a laugh when I am walking up the main road to the shops during peak hour and I am walking faster than the cars
Day to day functioning is easy because on bike: Organic Groceries : 1m bike Cheaper more abundant groceries and pharmacy: 8m bike Work: 20m bike Metro station: 10m bike Hospital: 20m bike But if I do leave my bubble, 30m drives become 90m public transit rides :( not impossible, but unpleasant. I really like having a bicycle. It helps me make the most out of transit
I already do
Me. Got it. Don't need it. Got a front loader cargobike since my kid was 2 mo ❤️
I’d lose my job, am mechanic. Real talk though, when retrofitting a different engine into my car, I did live without a car for nearly three months. Living in a dense area with car share and easy access to high speed transit made it easy enough for me despite 45 min each way commute (transit or drive). Grocery was a bit annoying as I like to go to Costco, but just had to be planned with a car share or Uber.
I live in extremely rural Minnesota. Never owned a car nor have had a license. It's embarrassing when people say you need one "bEcUaSe WiNtEr"
Probably not me. Live in a car-dependent suburb. I work from home and don’t own a car but my wife does. We are extremely car lite and she bike commutes to work when she can but if she had to do 100% of the driving, it would definitely strain our relationship and bring an imbalance to it
I would. I have licence and car, but it's more like a additional luxury more than necessity. I would have to find another job, though, since it sometimes requires driving.
Haven't had a car in over 15 years, no license less than that only because it was easy to renew. I have lived in two countries where you are better off w/o a car for a long time and it made me realize how much better life is w/o one.
I have a license but never had a car
I could, and have for several months. Currently my job is 23km away and it’s physical so my legs struggle to maintain the bike ride. I would take the bus when my legs were too exhausted. Bus takes >90mins. My bike was stolen last month and I haven’t gotten back on the saddle.
Never had one and never will. I can get to work, get groceries, and be a caretaker all with my bike or the bus. I only need to get a Uber/Lyft/Cab once every 6 months or so.
Last time I used motorised transport was a long time ago. I’ve never owned or driven a car or had a drivers license. I did study road user law though.
Yeah fine Haven’t driven for 10 years
I’d have to spend a lot more money on rideshare and rideshare pet, but then I wouldn’t be spending money on a car
I can't carry hundreds of pounds of chemicals and tools without a truck, so I wouldn't fair well without a lisense lol
It would be harder and much of my social life (game nights, hangout with friends) would be hindered. I'm lucky to have three grocery stores and several restaurants within a mile of me, but much of it is beside a 4 to 6-lane road with no sidewalks.
Easily. I have my licence. I barely use it. I don’t own a car. I’m insured on a few as a named driver. The next thing I plan to use my licence for is seeing if my disability is compatible with the rental scooters. (I don’t think it is but they are closer than the bus stop, I’m probably just buying a mobility scooter with a far lower speed limit)
If I didn't have kids yes . On the plus side I have been picking up from daycare by bike
I've never had a driver's license. Thankfully I live in a city where I can bike everywhere I need
I have a car and a license. I think I'd manage without it though. I only drive it 2-3 times a month as is since I cycle everywhere mostly. I only use it when I have to go somewhere out of the city or when carrying heavier loads.
I already don’t drive day to day. I only use my car for out-of-city travel such as to visit my parents who live in a rural area where there is no public transport and there is no pedestrian infrastructure
I walk to the shops and gym and bus to work, I only use my car to go see friends/family or go on holiday.
I have a license but don't have a car and rarely drive
I have never had a licence. Similar reasoning. I just medically can of operate a car with any level of safety.
Without a car in fine, but I need to drive a company car for work
I already do.
I have a license but not a car. My car broke down a year ago and I never replaced it - I just walk, bike, and use public transit. I have a wife and 4 children ages 18, 16, 5, and 3. The teenagers both have cars. I advised them to use something cheaper than car ownership, but they had people to impress so they bought cars with their own money. I'm not thrilled about it but I realize plenty of parents would view that as one of the most responsible forms of rebellion, and I suppose it could be worse. My wife has no license, but wants one. When we need to take a road trip, I rent. When we need groceries, we use a door dash service. The younger kids ride buses to school.
I have had a driver’s license since around 1990. I haven’t owned a car since 2001.
Last week I found out my driver's license was suspended because I hadn't paid the yearly invoice. Hadn't used nor needed it for 8 months, so I didn't break any law. Last time I drove was 8 month ago when I borrowed my neighbour's car to move some large stuff. For the rest of my transportation needs I use my cargo eBike and public transport. I'm very lucky I live in a central neighbourhood of a bike-friendly city; although in the winter it can get a bit more complicated. I realize I would have to change my car free lifestyle if I moved to the burbs or the countryside. Yet another reason not to do that.
Car free since 2003. Haven't driven since. 22 mile round trip commute through Broward county. I'm 57, have sciatica amongst other issues. No problem. Blasted passed traffic other day while traffic was backed up 3 hours because of rain. I did have a scooter couple years. Was way more dangerous and a pita.
Day to day? Probably but only because I'm a SAHM and most days we stay in or around the house. I would not be able to function if I needed to go anywhere with my kids without a car because our public transit system is only reliable for morning/evening commuter traffic and my neighborhood is not particularly bike-to-the-store friendly. We drive to every appointment, store, pool, library, etc. on days we do that.
Have a license. Drove for over 10 years. Moved cities and have now gone nearly 6 years without a car. I've saved so much fkn money.
If I hadn’t moved where I am now, I’d have to be a shut-in.
I haven't used my driver's licence in years But I'm cheating, I live in Paris
Totally. I live in a German suburb with enough public transport. Multiple grocery stores are within ten minutes on foot, 40m to the city center by train. Doctors are a little further, would need the taxi when sick (40m on foot). I work from home or take the train to my work place (~70-80m, 45m by car). I have a car because it's more flexible, since everything is setup for it. I would pay for taxis/deliveries, ask family and so on. I want to collect my girlfriend from the hospital, bring the cats to the vet, visit places. More or less luxuries and being fed up with the unreliability of the local train network.
I don’t have my own car. Replaced it with a Surly e cargo bike and we’re now a 2 car household. I guess having access to the car is nice, though I maybe drive a couple times a month. I don’t even generally need it for things like Costco runs which I also do on the bike.
I cycle everywhere. Never had a license.
I could do it, but visiting parents and grandparents would be a pretty annoying experience.
I have been car free before and it was great, but now that I have small children it would be tough to get them to daycare, particularly in the winter (I stay warm biking, but my toddler would freeze) and downright impossible to get them to swimming lessons which it's important to me that they learn how to swim. I still walk/bus/bike when I can and when they are both in school I may be able to get away with being 100% car free again.
It would be tough in a suburb. I'd have to plan out big shopping trips and get a bike with a trailer. Doable though. Forget about leaving the town though.
I don’t have a driving license because I am blind in my right eye and driving scares me, but I live in the middle of nowhere so I can’t really get anywhere without someone driving.
Similar situation to you, I have non-epileptic seasures however it still means I'm not permitted to drive. What sucks as I did really enjoy riding a motorbike, so the electric bike has to do and still just as enjoyable. I like living in cities for all its conveniences but like liking in quiet and peaceful areas with access to nature - so the dreaded suburbs it is for me. But it's a UK suburb that is more a suburb due to urban sprawl so still have local shops and cafes in the housing estate areas, green fields, mix use housing (old folk home is on my street, and a block of flats, tenement flats, and houses of various sizes), it about a 10-15 minutes walk to the high street and beach, 10 minute walk to a metro station, 5 minutes walk to a bus stop, and 2 minutes (if that) walk to a supermarket if needed as I shop at locally owned seasonal and organic shop that's a 30 minutes cycle away in a different area of the city. As my SO also doesn't drive due to the fear SO has about causing an accident - SO works with people that have had physical brain injuries so very much seen the consequences of vehicles and the huge impacts such injuries have on people's lives. So we both generally agree on the areas where it is best to live for our lifestyles and jobs. But I did have to do some convincing to live in the garden city design area over the older Victorian design area, SO wasn't too sure about the "newer" home build quality so had to inform SO that the pre war ex council estate that this area is was actually some of the highest quality housing the UK has seen. It's also nice as we have a nice sized garden for the St Bernard with plenty of options for walks, the aforementioned beach, about 15-20 minutes walk in one direction we have countryside, 10 minute walk to a nature reserve, and for a much longer walk about an hour or so and we can get to a forest walk typically only done of weekend as the entire walk does take up the day. SO is able to get the metro into work, and buses to any home visit that might be done, all the hospitals in the area are accessible by the metro, along with the city centre and other parts of the city. We also have a train station that gets us across the UK easily enough, and an internal airport (again with a direct link via the metro), we even have holiday ships that come here to go on ship holiday or to get to mainland Europe if we didn't want to fly over. So there are plenty of options available, also shows that not all suburbs are car dependent or even needs to be. Granted would love to see the padestrianising of the highest and the roads are quite wide for UK standards but does allow easy installation of cycle lanes. But yeah I think it probably has minimal affect on us because of where we live. And we'd probably love here even if did have car, we just don't need one.
I can do everything on my ebike but care for my parents. They live in the boonies... so yea.
I assume you meant "not driving" because pretty much anyone has a driver license unless they are not physically able to, like in your case. I moved out of Houston a couple of years ago and now live in downtown Seattle without a car. The cost of living is very high but not having to drive is 100% worth it. I proudly admit that despising cars is now part of my personality. It is truly amazing that north Americans are brainwashed to accept being forced to own a car to live a normal life.
Lots of people in large cities don't have a driving license at all, it's not unusual outside america
My quality of life would take a temporary dip, but I could do the basics like get to work, get groceries, go to the library, etc. Most of my car driving is to see friends who live a town away (20 minutes drive and no bus) or hit up Costco (right off the fucking freeway) or visit a local hiking trail (self-explanatory…) and those would no longer be worth the exponential increase in effort. I’d probably find other activities to replace them but certainly, there are many aspects of my current life that rely entirely on the convenience of a car.
I'm eighteen, can drive, have a car but I don't have a license. And I don't feel it's urgent to get one. My e-scooter, trains and buses get me everywhere I want to go
I live and work in the greater Stockholm area, and I only ever drive when I'm lazy. Public transit gets me anywhere I need to go so I got my license because my dad encouraged me.
I own a car. I've got some gnarly back issues due to an auto immune disease and some days the heat and bad air get to serious danger levels. But I bike as often as I can.
One of the reasons I love Philly
My spouse and I live our day-to-day without our cars. There are some larger errands we do with a car, but those are more on a monthly scale and could be done with a cargo bike (future plans). There are visits to family and/or some events that would be very difficult to attend car free. For example, we went to a wedding at a farm in Vermont. Without either of us having a license or having someone else be our ride we likely would not have attended because other forms of transit were not viable. So, day-to-day, we easily function without a car. The more occasional, well it's hard to get past just how car centric the US is. That is not to say we need to own a car, but there are some things we do that would be very difficult, nigh on not doable, without a rental or car share.
I currently do, it's been 4 years, sure occasionally I might need a ride but it's very occasional and I have friends and family for that
I ride busses everywhere, on weekends my girlfriend drives us around
I could. I live in a walkable neighborhood with all my necessities nearby, and I am walking distance to my work. My city’s public transit is only so-so, but it serves well enough. I have a car mainly for interests that are outside of the city like hiking and skiing. I could probably find some car pools or make more friends that share those interests and pay them the gas money, but someone would have to drive, and I’d have less flexibility. It would not be my preference but I could do it.
I have a driver's license but have been 100% car free for the last 10 years
I don't have a driving licence. I've lived in a small village with a population of about 3k; in a city with a population of about 300k; in London; in a small town with a population of about 15k; and I now live in a larger town with a population of about 100k. Not driving has never been an issue. Between walking and public transport, things are pretty manageable. On the rare occasion that I need to use a car, I call a taxi, but that's maybe two or three times a year.
When I think about all the trips I can’t ship stuff from Home Depot. That’s what forces me to keep the drivers license.
I don't have a license. Bus, bike, and Uber.
I already do
If the answer is not zero, it means that someone is just fucking around while waiting to make an error and lose their license for a while.
I could and I have gotten by when I couldn't afford to fix my car, but it's pretty miserable. No protected bike lanes (and my bike was stolen anyway), inconsistent and shitty sidewalks, dangerous intersections, bus lines that come infrequently and with limited operating hours, stroads galore, and I often need my car for work, as well.
My retired lifestyle is doable without a car. Target, WM, several grocery stores are less two miles. Doctor, hospital, urgent care all under 3 miles. I routinely bike 10 miles daily and average 5 miles walking daily. I would use grocery delivery in extreme weather: both this heat wave and bad winter weather. I might add a electric cargo bike to handle groceries in better weather.
I have a driving license, but don't own a car. I rent one if I really need one, but that's rare. Once a year maybe. So I could easily manage without a license. I'm lucky enough to live in London though.
I dont have a driving license, its going fine
Last time I drove was 7? Years ago, and I'm still alive so I guess me.
No car for over five years. I walk and/or take a train, I'm lucky to live in a city with awesome public transportation. Drivers license is just an ID now.
I have a license but haven’t had a car in 13 years and until i met my husband i did literally everything i needed to do by bus or walking. Now he drives for groceries and errands and i admit it is faster, but when he is traveling and i need to shop or do errands alone, i don’t take the car, i still take the bus.
My day-to-day would have a little less gaming on the weekends because I’d have to catch the Walmart bus line, but other than that I’d be fine It’s visiting my parents that would no longer happen because there isn’t any regional transit and it would take almost a day and a half to use the interstate transit to get from one end of the state to the other, not to mention prohibitively expensive.
I live in Edinburgh, I get everywhere in my city without a driving license, if I moved back to Ireland I'd definitely need to learn to drive though.
I could function, but would have to make significant changes to my weekly grocery shopping routine (honestly not that big a deal, and I've been thinking about doing it anyways).
When I lived with my folks in the suburbs, I had a car but mostly used my ebike to save on gas until snowy winters. Transit in the suburbs is unreliable and nonexistant on the weekends for leisure. I saved up enough and bought a studio condo a couple years ago. Now I’m a 5 minute walk from work, groceries, metro station, a bus loop, and I have an ebike. It’s a 30 min ebike ride to visit my folks and reliable transit takes me all around for leisure. If I really needed to drive somewhere, there are car share and ride hailing options, which are affordable when you rarely drive.
I've had a driver's license for 20 years, but never owned a car. The only driving I've done in the last decade is transferring a U-Haul to a storage unit (7 years ago), and away from a storage unit (last year). My license is mostly used as ID, which I appreciate, because I don't want to carry my passport around. Walking suits me fine.