How many DU'ers here are like me, you don't own a car?

[Archae]

I ride my bicycle, take the bus, and have helpful neighbors on the rare occasion I need to be driven anywhere.

I haven't drove a car in almost 20 years now.

[MrsBrady]

1. can't get by in the Dallas/Fort Worth area without one n/t

[Archae]

2. That sucks.

Talk about short-sightedness...

[MrsBrady]

5. yea, well...they didn't ask me...lol

Dallas (and some of it's suburbs) has Dart....but it's not convenient. I feel sorry for the population that doesn't have choice BUT to ride it.
They used to have a slogan "We'll get you there."....and I used to say: "Dart: We'll get you there when we want to get you there."
Dart has a lot of funding problems and corruption, too, in my opinion. With as much tax money as they get from Dallas County sales tax, there should be better service than there is, I personally believe. Basic bus service only started in the late 80's.

Fort Worth has the "T", but that's a joke. I live in a Fort Worth Suburb. Public trans is non-existent.

They are trying to focus on getting light rail, but it will be years, if at all before it's ever done.
Personally, I don't really think it will ever happen.

[suninvited]

59. My brother lives in Dallas and doesnt have a car

he cant drive because he is disabled, he has a spine disease and cannot turn his head or twist his back therefore he can only look straight ahead when he is sitting. He takes the bus to work and to everywhere else he needs to go.

[Bennyboy]

3. I don't own one....

Bike and bus or friends. Sometimes for longer trips I borrow a car from my folks......The bus stops right outside my door and runs every hour. I got to the point where I was spending more on my car, gas, insurance maintenance etc than i was on food and rent.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

4. Gave mine away over 6 years ago... I have never felt so rich.

No more insurance payments, no more fill-ups at the gas station, no more lookin' in the rear-view for the cops...
I listen to lefty talk radio or read the most recent copy of Freethought Today while I wait for the bus, all the while feeling smug and self satisfied for not adding to the global warming/whoring for oil issues...


Freedom ROCKS!

[Initech]

6. Cant get by in La La Land without one.

[huskerlaw]

21. You can...

it's just *horribly* inconvenient. But my roomie manages fairly well...she doesn't even have a license (grew up in NYC).

[Initech]

29. If I only lived downtown...

But I dont. I live in Orange County where there is no mass transportation, and the idiots in my town voted against a train station, but voted *TO* widen the freeway. :banghead:

[huskerlaw]

35. yeah, the OC isn't as user drienfly

we live in the valley and I use public transportation to get to work downtown. The roomie takes the bus to west hollywood every day.

[ScreamingMeemie]

42. Mr brother has lived there for 13 years without a car.

It's a pain in the butt sometimes, but do-able.

[Iggo]

48. I've gotten by for 46 years without one.

Bikes, buses, trains, and a lot of shoe leather.

[CBHagman]

7. I have never owned a car.

Shoe leather, shuttles, buses, trains, taxis, and the occasional lift from a friend get me everywhere.

[Kool Kitty]

22. Me, either.

I have never had a driver's license either. (Maybe this doesn't count because my husband drives and owns a car, but I personally do not.)

[ThomCat]

8. Me. Even back when I could have handled a car if I wanted to

I didn't. Never wanted to get a license.

[Silver Swan]

9. I don't drive.

My last driver's license expired in 1971.

I am the queen of public transportation.

However, I do have a kind spouse who drives me places. If I didn't have him, I would have Peapod.com deliver my groceries!

I used to live in a suburban city that was very pedestrian friendly, where I could walk every where. Before I retired, I always used public transportation to get to work. Although I had to move from that place, I still live within walking distance of a train station, a drug store, a hardware store, a grocery store, and a library.

I sometimes think that I should try to get a driver's license, but there are so many bad and stupid drivers out there that: 1. I do not want to become one of them, and 2. It is much too scary for me to attempt to drive.

[ScreamingMeemie]

10. No reliable public transportation anywhere in the metro area

Personal reasons make it not feasible for me to ride a bike and I have children so not an option.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

11. I take the train.

[Lyric]

12. No car, and life is really hard.

We live in a semi-rural area with nasty winter weather and a LOT of steep hills. Without a car, we're screwn when it snows, because the city bus can't make it to where we live, and we're much too far out to walk. I wound up having to drop my 9:30 am French class because we had a two-week span of snow and/or ice, and the roads weren't navigable for the bus until at least noon. *sigh*

We hope to get another car this Fall, because the limitations imposed by the bus schedule are just too difficult to bear long-term. Bicycles are not an option--narrow, steep-hilled roads with deep ditches on either side and my herniated spinal disc combine to make bike-riding on main roads a BAD idea. One fall could land me in the hospital or paralyze me again. :(

[Muttocracy]

19. :hug:

[DainBramaged]

33. If I win the lottery..........

:hug:


I'll look you up.

[Lyric]

39. If you win the lottery

I'll look YOU up! :rofl:

Thank you dear heart :hug:

[DainBramaged]

47. There would be a LOTof folks on DU I'd look up and help

What a fitting way to share the wealth!

:party:

[Pied Piper]

13. 12 years without a car

I live in Boston. Having a car here is more of a liability than an advantage. I walk to work, and all of the necessary amenities are within walking distance. The public transportation here is pretty good, if not always the most effective. My transportation costs are less than $50 per month. I save literally THOUSANDS of dollars per year by not owning a car. I can always rent one if I need to make a trip, or I can splurge on a cab.

[Gormy Cuss]

17. So true.

Never had the least desire to own a car when I lived in Boston. Between the T and shoe leather it's pretty easy to do without one. There's never a parking crisis either/ You're also right that one saves a bundle not having a car. Even after factoring in all of the occasional car trips, cab rides, etc it was much cheaper.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

14. I lived without one for ten years, and I consider those the good old days

After I started driving again (after moving to Minneapolis), my disposable income went DOWN $3,000, due entirely to the car.

Unfortunately, the Twin Cities, unlike Portland, have mediocre public transit, so I have to use a car for some things, like visiting all my relatives and going to events in the many places that are difficult to get to by bus.

However, after my elders are gone, I hope to move downtown and be car-free once again.

[Roon]

15. Denver has the best mass transit system in the country

I can get anywhere by bus or light rail. Including the airport.

On edit:I get either get a ride from my Grandfather or borrow his car to get cat food and kitty litter.

[Cant trust em]

16. I don't have a car either. Where do you live? NT

[Archae]

20. Sheboygan, WI

[LeftyMom]

18. I only learned to drive two years ago.

Unfortunately my classes let out long after the last bus runs, so I have to have a car to get back and forth to school. Otherwise, I would really rather not.

[enigmatic]

23. I don't

I've either ridden bikes, rode the bus, or rode in somebody else's car just about all my life. No reason really, just never had the desire to drive.

[Omphaloskepsis]

24. 30 years without a car...

And I am 30 years old. And I don't really plan on ever driving.

[ikojo]

25. I've owned one car in my life. I currently own two scooters,

a Vespa GT 200L and a Piaggio Typhoon. I LOVE them!!!

I went 15.5 years without private transportation. It's not easy, even in St Louis. When I can't ride my scooter to work I spend approximately 4 hours a day on the bus (1.5 to get to work and 2.5 hours to get home).

[taterguy]

26. I was car-free for about 10 years

I was broke when my car died and couldn't afford to replace it.

I managed to get along so well without it that I never bothered replacing it when my financial status improved.

Now I share one with my wife but it rarely gets used.

When I had no car the only thing that was a real pain in the ass was buying dog food.

Otherwise I could manage just fine on a bicycle.

I lived within a couple miles of my job, a grocery store and most of the bars I wanted to go to.

If I needed to go out of town I'd rent a car or take AMTRAK.

I admit that now that there's a car in my driveway I do take some trips in it that earlier I would have used a bike for.

[applegrove]

27. I've never owned a car though I did have access to family cars for a long time.

Now I take the bus/taxis/walk.

[Rhythm]

28. Haven't had one of our own since Halloween

Transmission died, and wasn't worth the repair costs.

We'll likely get another one of our own at the beginning of the fall. In the meanwhile, our city has somewhat-adequate bus service, the PRT, and we have a friend who takes us places when the buses don't run

[La Lioness Priyanka]

30. i dont either

[harmonicon]

31. me

For a year now. In most ways it's really great not having a car. What I don't like is the feeling of being cooped up that I sometimes get. With a car, I could drive to another city just because I wanted to.
I am thinking about getting a scooter, because if I lived further out of town, I could get a bigger/nicer apartment for the money. To afford a car the apartment would have to be a castle and rent for $1/month, but I think I could live 4 or 5 miles from town with a scooter. About a mile would be the limit walking. Now that I don't have a car, I like it. It's nice to walk to get groceries, etc.

[myrna minx]

32. I haven't owned a car since 1991.

:hi:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

56. Hey, Myrna

In that case, our new Saturday meetings on Eat Street should be accessible to you.

See the Minnesota Forum for details. The next one will be in April.

:hi:

[myrna minx]

58. Hi Lydia!

Good to see you. :hi: I'll check it out.

[LuckyTheDog]

34. I live in Detroit

If you can afford a car, you buy one. It's a rule.

[taterguy]

36. I remember asking about bus routes from the Detroit train station to the airport

All I got was laughs and instructions to take a cab

[terrya]

37. I don't. Thank goodness for the CTA.

[Lavender Brown]

38. I went without for a while

It was awful in a lot of ways (public transportation is not great here), but I survived.

[DarkTirade]

40. I didn't for the first five years of my adult life

and between the urban sprawl and crappy public transit in Orlando it made my life pretty much impossible.

I finally got one at the age of 23. But unfortunately it went kaboom back in July.

Right now I drive my grandparents' cars, since my grandpa can't drive anymore and I moved up here to drive him to and from dialysis 3 times a week. So I still drive. I just don't have my own car.

[grace0418]

41. I didn't have one until I was 27. But now I work in a place without reliable public

transportation and biking along that particular road would be suicide.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

43. I don't, but my family does.

I will soon. It's impossible to do without a car here. :D

[stuntcat]

44. I can't drive

so that's why I don't have one. I walk everywhere and take the bus and metro sometimes. I have a scooter that I'm scared to use and I know if I tried a bike I'd just break my neck lol

I used to drive though, drive and drive and drive. Now I'm kinda wonky so it's not safe, but I don't mind it, I'm so freaked out and scared about the environment.

[BreweryYardRat]

45. Tampa/St. Pete is borderline impossible to live in without a car.

Did it for the first two years of college. Gave up when a bus trip to visit my then-girlfriend took three hours in the pouring rain. (Florida public transit is a JOKE -- buses come by once an hour, and not necessarily when the schedule says they will.) I could have driven to her place in about 30 minutes.

Now I drive a crappy Volvo that gets 10 mpg, but dammit, at least I can do stuff now.

And if you try biking in Florida...hoo boy. Be prepared to cook and/or get drenched most of the year, have to worry about crazy-ass drivers, and take forever to get where you're going. Shame, really. I've got a good bike -- I just can't use it.

I never used bike lanes down here -- I'd rather take chances on the sidewalk than risk some damn fool plowing into me.

[Dave_Fl_50]

50. I hear they're planning a subway

There's a sarcasm icon around here somewhere

[Manifestor_of_Light]

51. This sounds just like Houston.

Horrible heat and humidity, crazy drivers, totally inadequate buses. If it's hot you risk getting heat exhaustion waiting for the bus.

We have a toy train downtown that they're really proud of. It's on the surface road grade so lots of wrecks happen from drivers making illegal left turns in front of it.

And there's a park and ride lot at one end that they CHARGE you money to park in!!!
And METRO can't understand why that makes people mad. :banghead:

If you work in the Medical Center (which employs 75,000 people) it costs $10 a day to park, and they don't add that to your salary. :banghead:

And to go from one side of town to the other can be about 40 miles or more.

[dropkickpa]

46. Me!

I bus or hoof it, and sometimes get a ride to the grocery store with my brother and his wife and my mom.

I like to drive, I just can't justify the cost when I really DON'T have that great a need to do it.

[texas1928]

49. I don't own one, but I am making payments on it...

So, soon it will be mine.

[RebelOne]

52. Being without a car is not an option where I live

in North Georgia just northwest of Atlanta. No public transportation at all. And I work too far away from home to ride a bike.

[geardaddy]

53. Cool.

There are a lot of people in Minneapolis that bike everywhere (even in subzero cold).

[sakabatou]

54. Nope

[Withywindle]

55. 16 years without one, doing fine!

Yay, Chicago! :hi:

I live close enough to the Loop that it's only about 20 minutes to work on the bus. And if I'm running late, cab fare is only about 7 bucks with tip.

I don't even know very many people who have cars. And on the rare occasions we need one, we've got the I-Go car sharing service. (A friend of mine is a member and she helped me out this weekend when I needed to get my new kitty from Anti-Cruelty Society and buy her supplies. :D)

[MrSlayer]

57. I don't own one because I don't need one.

I live in South Philadelphia. Everything is in walking distance and if it's not I live a block from the subway.