Where in the US can you live where you can get around without a car?

Other than New York City. Anywhere else?

Just depends on how far you're going, and how much time you have.

Most rural areas have NO public transportation. I know folks that live in such areas. I am thinking of one family that travel about 30 miles to the nearest grocery. It is twice as far to the nearest doctor, dentist or hospital.

It doesn't make much sense on any human scale to have the closest place for food 30 miles away, twice that for any health needs. But then this world isn't built for people.

have chosen a different lifestyle. They work for themselves not some corporation or business owned by somebody else. They grow much of their own food - much of which they can and freeze or dry. They keep their pantry and freezer and root cellar stocked. They probably could not live or work successfully or happily in a city or small town. They probably don't find it necessary to drive that 30 miles to the grocery store but maybe once every two weeks or so. Most days they probably drive only a few miles around their home and property where they earn their income. They would probably like better and more conventient access to health care. But they prefer their rural environment and would resist it being commercialized. There are still lots of places like that scattered around and largely populated by folks like them. In their eyes it is us city folks that have given our lives over to corporations and governments.

Still, anybody that lives in a rural area has almost no access to public transportation....

I took your post as saying that those folks were the ones that needed to be able to get around by some automated transportation. But they're living on a human scale and making it work. I'm trying to get there myself.

So I guess we were reading the same book, just on a different page. Nothing wrong with that.

Southern California is no mecca for public transit.

There is no public transportation, only taxi cabs.

We try to regulate our trips to town, but that's not always possible. Guess if it came down to it we could get a horse and learn to ride but, like *, I'm scared of horses. They're so big. At my age and with my knees and this terrain, bicycles are out.

Our daughter, who spent 40 years driving/riding in cars now lives in Halifax, West Yorkshire, without one. (For starters, she's intimidated by the round-abouts and her husband, who grew up in London, never learned to drive.) She has a two and a half hour commute each way, walk, bus, train, bus, walk, if she misses the first bus, the commute gets a lot longer. Relies on taxis when she has to, but they mostly walk and take the bus and/or train.

without a car is Steamboat Springs, Colorado. There is free bus service.

At least my son seems to survive without one.

DC if you live downtown.

It needs help with bicycle-friendliness but otherwise it's an easy car-free city.

if you can otherwise stomach it.....

I mean, yes, if you carefully select a living spot in relationship to public transport, sure. If you go for the burbs, not so much.

And, yeah, it does take some stomaching -- but my standing invite to anyone in Dallas -- PM me, I'll hook you up with the Dallas Underground. There really is a lot of good stuff here, you just need to know how to find it.

Philly, Boston, Chicago, Miami. All larger cities have buses, most have subways or elevated trains, and there are always cabs in case of emergency.

it IS possible to live in LA without a car. Not the most desirable situation, to be sure, but as long as you plan your location such that you're surrounded by what little public transportation we have, it is do-able.

I live in the Valley and my roomie doesn't have a car (she's from NYC), she commutes into West Hollywood daily with public transportation, and we live within walking distance of most of life's essentials (including a Trader Joe's and a Pinkberry). ;)

Very anti-public transportation there, unfortunately. But the metro area has the country's second largest freeway system.

I was 2 blocks from the grocery store, and school was a short bus ride down the street. :shrug:

I spent several days there a couple of years ago and took the train and bus everywhere. It may not be the most convenient way to get around, but it was dependable and relatively inexpensive. Not to mention that most of the buses were totally electric. Besides, with cost of living being what it is there and with parking being such a bear, who would want a car anyway? :)

Buses going everywhere, some light rail beginning to be built. And it was actually SAFE for people to ride bikes there. That's the part that really shocked me.

I went to the grocery store on my bike and took the bus/light rail to work and school. I never had any problem getting around.

I live in Eugene now and never drive. I can bike anywhere I need to go. But we do have really good bus service here too if I'm feeling lazy.

Only visited Portland once (have a half-sister out there), and I just about fell in love with the place. The climate was such that you can actually go outside without sweating to death or getting a sunburn in minutes. It's a REAL city, with culture and all that nice stuff. You can get around without a car. It's got beautiful countryside all around. The beaches are amazing. There are hills and mountains and trees that aren't just straight stalks with little poofs on top. And best of all, it's a fairly blue area. :)

And not a single one of those statements applies to where I'm living now.

They not only have light rail and a streetcar, both of which have been extended since I left :cry: four years ago, but a remarkably dependable bus system where the routes and transfers work out for the convenience of the rider.

In addition, the city has a Bicycle Advisory Commitee and a Pedestrian Advisory Committee.

When I first moved there in 1993, I was considered a bit weird for giving up my car, but by the time I left, five of my friends had done the same.

If all cities were this forward-looking in transportation and urban planning, I bet U.S. oil consumption would be noticeably lower.

because it was the only one I could afford that was within walking distance of school and a job.

Thank the gods I managed to find a car RIGHT when they raised the rent enough that I wouldn't have been able to stay. Otherwise I'd have been screwed.

Granted, I DID get screwed right after that, but that was completely unrelated.

Thing is most people (except poor folks and center city residents) drive anyway.

Decent bus system, but routes/schedule do put limits on where one can work. And, yes, it is rather miserable in summer, waiting on busy streets for transfers, but is is do-able.

And on Earth Day, rides are free.

We have buses in my city... but you can't use them to get around worth a damn. They come once an hour, don't go anywhere you need them to, and get stuck in the horrific urban-sprawl induced traffic.

boston has a great system, regardLess of the grumps who say otherwise. for $59/month i can ride as many trains and buses as i care too.

I've only been there a few times, but none of those times did I need a car to get around. Unfortunately my city does not. Anyone who can't afford a car here is SCREWED. And not in the good way. I know. I've been there. I was right on one of the major bus hubs, and I still had to find a job within walking distance because the buses weren't reliable enough.

You can get anywhere in the city and the suburbs by bus or light rail.

I got along without a car for many years in the Chicago area. I also worked with several people who were car-less.

The secret is to realize that if you can't get there by walking, or by public transportation, you really don't need to go there.

I took a cab only once in thirty years.

Covers a lot of area too.

:hi:

They have a great transit system there.

State College PA, among them.

Sure, it's not always easy or convenient, but it's possible.

I lived in Newton, did field ed in Malden, chaplaincy internship in Stoneham and worked in Chelsea. All without a car.

DC, Seattle and Miami. But I bike, so I can't speak abour public tranportation. Except when the few times I used it in Seattle, it sucked. DC is fine if you don't have to rely on the bus - I've had buses zoom right past me at the stop so the drivers could have a longer break at the end of the line.

...and managed to get around Pittsburgh quite well, via buses and cabs (as well as via her husband and children, who did drive).

My wife does not drive either, but we live in NYC, so 'nuff said.

Hmm... Do you think it's odd that I married a woman who doesn't drive, JUST LIKE MY MOTHER?

I have issues, obviously. This thread has been most helpful.

The public transit is pretty mediocre, but there are plenty of neighborhoods that are self-contained enough that you can do just fine as long as you have a reasonable way to get to work.

Light rail, trolleys, excellent bus system, lots of cabs, and FLEXCAR just in case you need a car for a day. Also, borrowable public bikes on the streets. You just get on and start peddling.

Fucking love it