I've lived a car-free life for a while
now. Actually I've never had a car (though at times I have had
pretty much free access to them). It's not so bad for the most part.
I bike or walk pretty much everywhere which is great in town. Out
of town it's not so great. Within about 15 miles it's no big deal,
but if I want to go further I pretty much have to plan my day around
it.
The past couple of months though it's
been a little more inconvenient. In October there was a bike race
and a run I had planned on going to but couldn't because of
transportation. This weekend I had considered going north to find
snow, but didn't in part because no one else seemed to want to play
my game (ie. give me a ride).
Granted, here are ways of getting
around without owning a car and I've used most of them, but most are
beyond inconvenient. Anyone who has tried to use the intercity bus
system here in the US knows that. Car rental is okay, but expensive,
especially when you don't have auto insurance and have to purchase
that as well. Finding someone who is going the same place as you
works pretty well, but can be a hassle to arrange and sometimes feels
a little cheap or “dirtbag,” plus you're at the mercy of their
schedule.
So lately I've been thinking about
whether or not it makes sense for me to buy a car. The initial cost
doesn't bother me. I can drop the cash on a reliable vehicle. The
things that get me are the costs associated with car ownership:
insurance, gas, maintenance, parking that quickly add up to more than
the cost of the car itself. And then there are the costs that might
not be so obvious, but come along (at least for me) with car
ownership: race entry fees, fast food, hotel/campground fees.
I worry as well that if I were to get a
car it would be too easy for me to drive where I once biked or
walked. I don't care to be car dependent (though it might be said
that I already am).
Then there's the identity problem. Who
am I if I have a car? I already went through that when I got a
phone. It gets tiring quickly when everyone seems to comment, “whoa,
you got an X.” Yes, I did. Like everyone else.
Right now circumstances are still in
favor of no car for me. I just don't have the desire to put that
much money towards something I'll use once or twice a month. So I
doubt I'll be getting a car any time soon, but the day may (and
probably will) come.
3 comments:
Maybe there are enough like-minded folks in the area to start some sort of car cooperative/car share?
Something similar to this perhaps: http://www.igocars.org/
Finding a line between owning things and our things "owning us" is interesting.
Iowa City recently got zipcar service, which appears similar to the igocars service. For my purposes traditional car rental makes more sense though. Usually when I need a car I need it for at least three days and 300+ miles. Of course having access to a car for short trips might get me to the local mountain bike trails and state parks more often.
There is that (needing a car for long distance/longer-term travel). The funny thing is, often the car will sit, unused, for a significant portion of the time anyway on those trips.
But yes, getting to local trails that are just out of easy reach via bike/foot is a bonus of having a motorized vehicle (or vehicles in my case) at your disposal.
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