Title. I asked the same question on the car enthusiast community. Please share thoughts here for comparison.
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In a dense city finding parking is a huge pain that can take half the time of the drive lol
More money for other things
Money
It’s much healthier if you live in a walkable city. Walking, cycling, even taking a subway and walking to the station and climbing stairs are all great for you. When I’m in a car-heavy city it starts to feel weird seeing people sitting at home, walking 10 seconds to sit in a car for a half hour, just to sit in a new place when you arrive.
Plus you can save so much money if you don’t need a car. Walking is free.
Another benefit I only realized afterwards is discovering cool stuff around your city that you otherwise mightve never found if you just zip by in a car. I really enjoy finding weird holes in the wall and just popping in to see what’s up.
No one will ask you to help them move.
You are forced to take your bicycle far more often. No excuses. You cannot just take the car whenever you feel lazy, tired or if the weather is mediocre. Your health will benefit from this a lot.
Money - a lot of people are not aware of the money a car costs over a period of time.
Dependency - you are only able to drive a car in a special time of your life. If you are too young or too old you are not allowed - or it is very dangerous - to be the driver of a car. There are places you are just able to go by car. This is a problem: they are just made for car people. For instance: malls outside a city. Nobody is shopping in the inner citys, while everybody have to take the car to the mall. This system needs a lot of good working roads, parking spaces and other infrastructure.
Health - in regards of physical activity or is a lot healthier to live in an area where you are able to take public transport. Due to the last mile, which you are probably going by bike or by feet, you get your daily “workout”. Also you are emitting much less emissions into the air. It seems that particulate matter of the reason for a lot of illnesses of our time.
Public Space - you are consuming much less public space than people who are owning a car. Parking lots are in habitats of humans all around. They cost a lot of money, are sealing good soil and the precious space in city is wasted to it. There are such nice projects all around the world, where former parking spaces or streets where changed to spaces for everyone.
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I need very little infrastructure to get around on my bike. I can ride on dirt tracks or grass, I can carry it up and down steps, I can weave through alleys or traffic jams. It needs no fuel and I mostly maintain it myself. Car centric cities often have no meaningful bike infrastructure and yet cycling is still viable. It is the cheapest, most free, most egalitarian mode of transport.
Is is pleasant without infrastructure? Is it safe? No, dedicated cycle lanes are very important.
Sure thing! But there is not the need for every person to own a 1to steel case to go anywhere. Cars need a lot more infrastructure than an integral system, where you are able to use and change between bus/train/bike/walk/e-scooters - and so on - to reach your target.
jkk
I think money is one.
But let’s turn it around; what’s the benefit of owning one? I guess it kind of depends on where you live and what other modes of transportation are available to you. But in my case, I live in The Netherlands, in a city. I can walk most distances, or use my bike when needed. For longer distances I use public transport.
For a while I did own a car though. My job was in a location not easily accessible using public transport. In that case it absolutely made sense for me to get a car. Saved me a ton of time, which was worth the money to me.
Infinite excuses for not going somewhere
Please elaborate
“I can’t get a ride I’m not coming”
If your going to a friend’s, you can either carpool, bike, get an Uber, walk or host. All of these are way cheaper than owning a car.
I think they mean using it as an excuse to politely decline going to things you don’t want to go to.
“Oh, you know I’d love to help your aunt Carol move her collection of antique furniture to her new fifth floor apartment in the August heat, but oooooh dang wouldn’t you know it, I don’t have a car to get there. Drat, sorry about that! Maybe another time, for sure!”
Ooh. Didn’t see context. My bad.
I’m not in a place with Uber and I’m trying to avoid being compelled to go anywhere. Anyone that expects me to sweat to visit them is smoking crack. That’s why not having a car is great. Nobody can expect me to be anywhere I’m in control
Great move.
- you save a lot of money. People easily forget how it all adds up.
- you save a lot of space. Cars take up a huge amount of space and are just sitting around 90+% of the time. Imagine what you could do with a garage if you didn’t own a car.
- you save a lot of time. A car needs maintenance, it needs to get cleaned, etc. All of that takes up time.
- less worries. About money, about it getting stolen or damaged, etc.
- you don’t need a driver’s license per se if you don’t own a car.
- you don’t have the sunk cost forcing you to use it. Say you buy a car and then you end up barely using it. You might feel obliged to use the car to go shopping or to go on vacation, because it would be ‘wasted’ otherwise.
The first obvious one is you’ll have more money to spend on other things (you’ll need to spend a part of it for a car alternative, but any sane option will always be way cheaper than owning a car). You will also be healthier and naturally get in shape as you walk a little everyday.
But as the other comment said, the pros will outweigh the cons only if you live somewhere where living car-free is a viable option.
Using a bike in urban area instead: Cheaper, no dealing with traffic, no dealing with parking, healthier, better for the environment.
No dealing with traffic? I used to get run off the road by lorries and taxis. Now I’m in Germany that’s Not Done, although I did nearly get run off the road by a Porche the other day (the difference being that people saw it and stopped the guy to give him an earful instead of pretending they didn’t see anything).
He probably meant not dealing with traffic congestion as of course, when there’s a queue of cars you can go past them just like that. Other than that, of course, you have to deal with traffic big time. If, for one second, you don’t pay attention in all the directions, you risk being hit.
Try biking here in Bucharest for the ultimate experience. I recommend you Mihai Bravu Boulevard.
No garage or parking space needed. No maintenance or renew license (car and driving) One thing less to purchase the accessories for. No gas and associated costs (toll, parking, etc)
If you are in not pedestrian friendly, bike friendly or good public transport, those benefits outweight the time necessary to go from one place to another.
Edit: add gas and car associated costs.
You never have to leave home.
I save a huge amount of money compared to somebody with a car. HUGE.
- I don’t have to pay off the car,
- I don’t need to buy a driver’s licence,
- I don’t need to pay road tax,
- I don’t need to pay for an annual MOT,
- I don’t need to pay for service checkups,
- I don’t need to pay for fuel/oil/fluids/parts that wear out or break,
- I don’t need to pay for insurance,
- I don’t need to pay for parking spaces, etc etc.
All I need to pay for is a bus, tram, or train ticket, and I can easily get anywhere in the city with minimal walking time.
And heck, that’s cheap. All the buses are capped at £2.00 regardless of the journey length, for example! Two quid!
There are a lot of other benefits too. For example, I don’t have to worry that someone will nick my car, and I don’t have to make sure I live somewhere with parking available.
Owning a car just seems like such a ball and chain, especially considering how fragile that relationship can be. One day everything’s great, the next day boom, you need to fork out 2 grand for repairs, or maybe the car’s just… gone.
I agree with all of this and will add that personally it helps keep me even fitter as I cycle to work everyday and will cycle or skate depending on the distance to anywhere feasible.
The only downside is the adhorrent prices on the trains over here. The amount they charge is quite frankly disgusting!
Sounds like you’re lucky where you live. Where I lived in the UK there was no way you’d be able to get around with just public transport.
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2 quid buses is amazing. Shitey First Bus doesn’t even get me out of the first zone for 2 quid.
Move to Vienna, 365 euros for all year day and night (weekends and public holidays) public transport. Half of it if your company pays the other half. And if you use Wien Energie you’ll get some free days electricity on top.
Only issue I have is folks should have a driver’s licence, to be able to safely operate a car in an emergency or unexpected situation. Just to give you the option.
I understand it would be rare to need to step in as driver if you committed to this lifestyle, but it would be better to be safer than sorry
Do you mean safely operate a car, or legally operate a car? Learning the basics to safely operate a car is fairly straightforward and good fun, at least to a level that’s on par with a typical licensed driver. However going through the whole process to get a formal drivers license is a different matter and is often quite expensive.
In many states you can train with a family member, and the application is 30-50 bucks. Not free, but you shouldn’t operate a car without a license.
Colorado for example,
Complete a written test, complete several hours supervised driving, eye test, driving test, pay.
Could probably be done in a week then you’re legal
I wasn’t specifically talking about the US. The US has unusually low requirements, because when it’s basically required to drive to participate in society, you have to set the bar low enough that the dumbest, poorest, most disabled, reckless idiots that definitely shouldn’t be driving still do.
And yeah, obviously you shouldn’t operate a car without a license except in emergencies, it’s illegal. Is enforcement really that bad in the US that this needed to be said?
