anyone car free???

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We have 4 cars ... probably not the thread for me ...
It's good for the environment!

Not sure why the Greens don't see it. If you wasn't pumping out all that co2, what would the plants live off? ;)
 
The issue with cities is that their infrastructure is only good if you're inside the city centre. I live in Warrington and work in Manchester, I often work beyond 11pm, and there's no public transport out, so I have to use a car. Now, if I am not scheduled on for a late finish, I simply buy a weekly train ticket, as it is both quicker and cheaper than driving.

One of my young lads who does 3 to 4 shifts per week ending at midnight, there's no transport for him running out to the edge of Manchester, leaving him with a lot of taxi fares (for some bizarre reason he sold his push bike).

The solution is to move closer to work where I won't have this issue, but then my job is extremely specialised and there is no other work similar in Manchester. So if anything happened, I'm stuck in an expensive city, where my main skills aren't useful, and be stuck needing a car to get OUT of the city.

I also then ask myself, do I want to spend £800 per month on renting an apartment, giving my dog up to a home, having to sell car because of no parking, stop being able to watch rugby, unable to play the sport I've played for a long time due to no transport. And, no offence intended to anybody who made that choice, it would be pure madness to give up your whole life for a job.

I would happily give up my car tomorrow, but the public transport system is far from adequate. A poor public transport system leaves many people struggling to find work, and ring fences many people in to poverty if they live in a poor town.

My Mrs mother is struggling for work, due to public transport links being non-existent into any major town. There's no work in the local village, she doesn't drive, the nearest town is a 1 hour cycle away, which isn't so bad if you're fit and healthy. However, 4 decades of working in factories has taken its toll. She would get a job in a shop, but can't work past 6pm on a Saturday, and couldn't work Sundays due to no buses. For her, and many others, a cheap car opens up massive opportunities for a better life and this will be the case until serious investment is made on public transport.
 
I thought that rural life in the UK was generally the more expensive option, and that if someone wishes, and chooses, to have peace and quiet and no near neighbours they pay a premium for that choice and need a car.

For the rental cost of a 1bed flat in the centre. I can buy a 3bed 20 miles out with a drive, front and rear gardens. And still have £200 per month left over.
 

donnydave

Über Member
Location
Cambridge
I'm surprised at this (although the first comment is from the US where things are different). I thought that rural life in the UK was generally the more expensive option, and that if someone wishes, and chooses, to have peace and quiet and no near neighbours they pay a premium for that choice and need a car. I downsized into town three years ago, lost the mortgage, reduced all my bills, and got rid of the car which I didn't need any more. There were areas in the city that I couldn't afford, but I didn't mind living in a cheaper area with good public transport links.

Going slightly OT but around here, and its probably true elsewhere, if your prepared to live somewhere with next to no public transport and a good 15-20 miles from any major town/city then you can have a nice house, big garden and lots of room to park all the cars that you are inevitably going to need unless you want to spend every minute either cycling (I appreciate for some people this is fine if cycling is your main interest) or planning overly complicated combinations of once-a-week buses, taxis and lifts from friends/colleagues. Also, because the houses are cheap you should have lots of money left over to buy a car and run/maintain it :okay:
 
Mmmm interesting point to get the old noodle boiling. When I moved to Cambridge I wanted to live in the city and I could have lived without a car, however I couldn't afford anywhere so had to look further afield and ended up so far afield I was in... a field. In the middle of nowhere in a place where you could easily become a slave to the car so I can sort of agree with the above that from some view points being car free is a luxury.
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I looked at this and thought no but then I saw where you lived and thought well maybe its different for you over there. Here in the U.K in the major cities,( not the sticks) I've found that the bus and train service is good-adequate. I'm 46 and I've never had a car and have always either used my bike or the buses and walked.

Oh Houston sucks when it comes to any form of public transportation and when we moved here (from UK) my wife laughed at my suggestion we could get by with just one car. Everything in Houston revolves around the car and without one life is really tough.

I was really only trying to highlight that from some points of view car freedom could be seen as a luxury and I was stretching things a bit by claiming it as a privilege.
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
Luckily I got the thing back today and as it is forecast to lash down in Bristol tomorrow, I shall treat myself to the trade-off of sitting in traffic vs getting soaked with no drying facilities at work.
Have you considered wearing a nice raincoat? ;)

Two of my kids dont own cars, both live in cities with decent transport links and can cycle / walk to work . However seeing them is down to us going to them.
Or they could use combine those decent transport links with cycling/walking to you, or hire cars... but it's easier to make you do all the work :ohmy:

Which is a valid perspective for some. Homes within walking, cycling or tube distance of a good job, shops, bars, restaurants, theatre, sports and music venues, where a car is superfluous, are generally well out of my price range and I see that lifestyle choice as luxurious.

In fact the more I think about it, choosing to be car free is a classic example of able bodied white middle class male privilege.
It must be very different where you live. I live in what some regard as the back of beyond (a fen village) and I'm still within 25 minutes easy cycling of a town containing jobs, shops, bars, restaurants, theatre, sports and music venues... not a massive choice of some of them, but there are two train stations within 25 minutes too, to head off to one city, or a bus station for long-distance buses to two others. Some places are more remote, but I'd say maybe half of the rural population is probably in a similar position. Cars are kept mainly as a luxury item, making it quicker to get places "just in case".
 
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