Comments on: Reducing Our Dependence On Cars

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:50:41 +0000

I am carless. I live and work near the subway and groceries are within walking distance. Once I have a family though this may have to change (per sq footage cost in the city I live in are getting insane).

By: Victoria

Victoria — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 23:01:06 +0000

I am very car-minimal. Working from home makes all the difference. I prefer to shop online too. So I only go out for groceries. With my old Chevy pick-up truck having a huge gas tank, I can fill it up once a year! I bet you don’t hear that very often. Certainly beats the days of driving every single day to and from work.

By: Andy Hough

Andy Hough — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 21:17:41 +0000

Your mileage is impressive. I’ve driven way more than that this year and I had my car parked for three weeks. At least some of my driving was reimbursable.

I went carless from November 2008 to November 2009. It wasn’t too bad since there was still a car in the household. My fiancee and I share a car now but I need to reduce my driving.

By: Tiffany

Tiffany — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 18:20:07 +0000

I LOVE this post! I used to ride my bike everywhere. I live in Boston…and now that I think back on that, I think it was incredibly dangerous. It is NOT a bike friendly city.

I’m actually moving to the burbs in two days and am psyched about being able to ride my bike around our little town. The grocery store is about 1.5 miles away…and easy ride! Main street is half a mile away. I’m so psyched that our date nights can be walking/riding to the historic theatre.

I LOVE riding my bike more than anything…and stopped over the past year because it just felt so dangerous around the city…I will definitely walk or bike places around town..

I’m also job hunting, and I apply for jobs only in locales that I can bike to. I will wait to switch until I find that job!

By: Everyday Tips

Everyday Tips — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 16:30:45 +0000

Unfortunately, I am incredibly car-dependent. I put about 27,000 miles on my car per year, and I don’t work outside the home. Driving to all my kid’s activities is what puts the miles on. When they play school sports, they play teams that are quite often 40-50 miles away. We also usually drive to a distant destination for vacation each year.

I envy your situation immensely. Where I live, it isn’t super-safe to ride your bike around either.

By: Trina

Trina — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 14:20:13 +0000

I’ve always thought it’s ironic that moving to the “country” for the purpose of raising our children in natural surroundings (gardening, watching wildlife, feeding birds, woods walks, etc.) also has meant driving longer distances for other activities in our lives. We work at home, homeschool, and enjoy home-based leisure. We combine errands, buy food in major bulk to limit shopping, and our kids’ activities have been close to home for years.

However, our best efforts couldn’t change the demands of raising teens and college students. Once our kids could drive (and so could all their friends), their world changed (and so did ours). We’re still an environmentally friendly family, but saving gas and CO2 pales in comparison to our emphasis on their driving responsibly, not drinking or using a cell phone while driving, etc. Commuting to college classes puts many miles on the cars and uses a lot of gas, but living on campus is much more expensive. Everything is a matter of balance and compromise.

Someday, when our kids are grown, we’ll be down to one practical car, but we’ll probably still drive a lot to visit our kids. What our society needs is greener cars and fuel. Many of us just can’t move to a city or give up the freedom that driving provides.

By: Bankruptcy Ben

Bankruptcy Ben — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 03:53:35 +0000

I’m cycling more, and contrary to what you might think it’s pretty safe. I’ve riden along highways and main roads. Just put on your refective vest and ride as far to the left as possible. This being said I have a car.

Has anyone read Tammy’s book, i’m intrigued?

By: Karen

Karen — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 03:05:12 +0000

I have been thinking more and more about going carless or at least going down to one car. Up until the middle of January my husband and I had carpooled for almost four years as we both worked near each other. That was imensly helpful. My office moved further away and in order for me to take a bus my communte would double each way.

My husband does carpool most weekdays so that does help. I have no one to carpool with.

We are not in a position to move until after his kids graduate from HS (one in two years and the other in four). Once they have graduated we do plan on moving and the car situation will definately be at the forefront of my mind.

By: Erin

Erin — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 01:22:24 +0000

I love the idea of setting goals for walking or biking vs. driving. Going to have to try that. We have a decent grocery store within a couple miles. I try to combine trips with other things – so it’s not just a one-task affair. On my way back from a doctor’s appointment or the post office. But once every couple of weeks a craving for something will hit and we’re down there in the car. The walk would be far better for us, our finances, and the environment!

We are essentially a one car family. And luckily it’s very fuel efficient. My partner uses it for work daily. For the rest of the year I will be working from home. On occasion I need to borrow a family member’s car to get to a doctors appointment, etc. But otherwise we stick to the one car.

Thanks again for the good ideas.

By: FrugalBabe

FrugalBabe — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 21:28:08 +0000

AD, I know what you meant. I’ve often thought about biking into town, but the only road to get there is a fast, curvy highway and I just don’t think I’d feel safe. I definitely wouldn’t want to put my son in the bike trailer on that road. I feel like the compromise of biking/walking around our little town and driving when I need to go to the big town is ok for now. Hopefully someday our little town will grow enough to have more of the stuff we need right here, and we’ll be able to drive even less.