Who is really CarFree?

[JAM]

Lots of folks love the idea, curious who really is CarFree around here? I mean, zero car to park. Not that you typically leave it at home, but you actually don't have a car? The recent Avenue development comes to mind.......

If you truly are CarFree, where do you live? Lets hear from ya!

[urbancore]

Originally Posted by JAM

Lots of folks love the idea, curious who really is CarFree around here? I mean, zero car to park. Not that you typically leave it at home, but you actually don't have a car? The recent Avenue development comes to mind.......

If you truly are CarFree, where do you live? Lets hear from ya!

Not car free, but I've sold a few condos downtown at he Shore and 360 to clients who did not own, and had no plans to purchase a car. They rented out their parking spots, and worked downtown. One used Car2Go.

[paul78701]

Originally Posted by JAM

Lots of folks love the idea, curious who really is CarFree around here? I mean, zero car to park. Not that you typically leave it at home, but you actually don't have a car? The recent Avenue development comes to mind.......

If you truly are CarFree, where do you live? Lets hear from ya!

I've been car free for almost a year and a half. I live downtown and work from home. This is my second car free stint. I was car free several years ago also and took the bus to work...but the company closed their Austin office and I had to switch to a job out by the 360 Bridge.

I mostly use ride sharing if I need to get somewhere and sometimes use Car2Go. I typically take the Cap Metro airport flyer to the airport.

I absolutely do not miss having a car to gas up, pay insurance on, maintain, or just worry about in general. I will not get another car unless I absolutely have to.

[LoneStarMike]

I'm car free and have been so since 1998. I'm near Ben White and S. Lamar so I have lots of retail that I can easily walk to. Sprouts, Cost Cutters, Target, Twin Liquors, In-N-Out Burger etc. Both the 803 and the 338 are about a 5-minute walk for me, so Walgreen's, 7-11, Maria's Taco Express, etc. are a short bus ride away. And actually Walgreen's delivers prescriptions so I really don't even have to go there much.

The 803 gets me downtown if I want to go out or if I need to go to the bank (on Congress Ave.) The 338 gets me to Amtrak, the 331/350 or the 803/100 Airport Flyer gets me to the airport, and the 803/10 gets me to the Greyhound station if I travel somewhere. I early-vote at the Randall's on Ben White & Manchaca, and that's about a 15-20 minute walk.

If I did have a car, I'd either have to live in it, or have a roommate.

Places that I can't get to or can't easily get to on the bus, I can usually get a ride with a friend. Not having a car saves an awful lot of money and it's the only way I can still afford to live in Austin without having a roommate.

[AusTxDevelopment]

I was car free for a couple of years back in the late 90's, before there was ridesharing or Cars2Go. My old car that I'd had since college finally died and I didn't have the money to fix it or replace it.

I didn't even own a working bicycle at the time - I either walked or rode the bus everywhere. I was working downtown but lived off of South Lamar. The CapMetro bus stop was right in front of my apartment complex, and dropped me off right in front of my office building with no transfers. And buses were air conditioned, which is more than I could say about my old car! That same bus route also ran past a couple of different grocery stores (including the sad, old Safeway on SoLa and Oltorf) so I could stop and pick up groceries on my way home from work.

On the very few occasions I truly needed a car, I would either borrow a friend's or rent the cheapest car that Enterprise leased - some little compact piece of crap - for $14 per day. They would come pick you up and bring you to the car rental place so I didn't even have to find a ride to get the car.

I lived this way because I was dead broke, in debt and living paycheck to paycheck, but to be honest not having a car didn't negatively impact my lifestyle as much as I thought it did at the time. As soon as I got my debt under control and saved a little money I rushed out and bought a cheap car because nobody in their right mind lived car free in the 90s except college students. Looking back, however, my life was great and even though I didn't have money I was generally happy and having fun. Hindsight is everything.

[wwmiv]

I am not car free, as I own one that sits idle for weeks to months long stretches in a parking garage in downtown Columbia near the apartment I live in on Main Street a few blocks north of the State Capitol. I walk to everywhere I need, including the hospital (there are two in downtown Columbia, including a block from me) and to my doctor's office, my salon, my grocery store, the first local Smoothie King, Starbucks, work/school, clothing, everything.

[Novacek]

Not car free. I blame my job in a suburban-ish tech company campus and federal tax policy that significantly incentivizes home ownership.

It's a short commute (4.5 miles), reverse commute, and I drive a smart car so I don't feel too guilty.


I can bike to work, but it takes about 45 minutes and there's some gaps in biking infrastructure (some of the stuff in the works should help). No good transit access to the corporate campus (45 minutes and that includes 2 bike segments, compared to 15 minutes driving).

Even if I went car-free (and I've toyed with it) we wouldn't have a car-free household (GF runs her own business and needs to meet with people across town throughout the day).


I did however live car-free in Austin for the summer, back when i interned here in 2000 before moving here full time.

[jg6544]

Originally Posted by JAM

Lots of folks love the idea, curious who really is CarFree around here? I mean, zero car to park. Not that you typically leave it at home, but you actually don't have a car? The recent Avenue development comes to mind.......

If you truly are CarFree, where do you live? Lets hear from ya!

Sold my car a year and a half ago and haven't driven since. Lyft and Uber suit me just fine. I live in Los Angeles.

[drummer]

I was car free for a number of years here in China when I lived on the East Coast. Obviously a different ball game here. I had access to numerous buses, subway lines, taxis, "black" taxis (unregistered), mianbaoche (van), etc., and I had a bike as well. I walked a LOT back in those days...at least 15k steps per day, I'm guessing. Sometimes I really miss that, but now that we have a young son, maybe not so much, haha.

Now we live in a "smaller" city (by China standards...though still 600,000 or so). Still several bus options, taxis, "black" taxis, mianbaoche, etc. No subway in this city. I had a bike as my primary mode of transportation for about two years until my job required me to get a car to go to a few nearby towns more often than before...so now I have a car that I use once a week maybe. Still bike a lot more.

China does have their own version of Uber now called DiDiChe. It works largely the same way, but it's taking China by storm! Uber and others are available in larger cities like Shanghai and Chengdu.

[H2O]

I was car free for most of my early adulthood, and the first couple years after I moved to Austin. Then I married a truck. Today we are a two plug-in family.

[lzppjb]

lol I thought that said carefree.

I'll never be car free. I love cars/trucks too much.

[drummer]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

lol I thought that said carefree.

I'll never be car free. I love cars/trucks too much.

When I lived in Texas I had a truck...and boy do I miss it. A big truck would be so out of place on the streets in my city. It probably wouldn't even fit down some of the smaller roads!

[lzppjb]

Originally Posted by drummer

When I lived in Texas I had a truck...and boy do I miss it. A big truck would be so out of place on the streets in my city. It probably wouldn't even fit down some of the smaller roads!

I try to ride with my friend when we go downtown because he drives a Corolla. Much easier to park. I love trucks, but I understand their drawbacks.

[The ATX]

As much as I am all for unlimited height and density downtown, I prefer life in the suburbs and even exurbs. Therefore I need to commute. My main vehicle will always be a pickup truck, and my secondary vehicle is typically a "performance" car. I'm currently looking at getting a Challenger Hellcat. But now that Dodge is coming out with a Demon Challenger in 2018 with even more than the Hellcat's 707 HP, I might wait a year.

[lzppjb]

Originally Posted by The ATX

As much as I am all for unlimited height and density downtown, I prefer life in the suburbs and even exurbs. Therefore I need to commute. My main vehicle will always be a pickup truck, and my secondary vehicle is typically a "performance" car. I'm currently looking at getting a Challenger Hellcat. But now that Dodge is coming out with a Demon Challenger in 2018 with even more than the Hellcat's 707 HP, I might wait a year.

I'm not a Dodge guy, nor do I have the money to afford one of those cars, but they look amazing.

I wish GM would re-release a retro GTO, and not that Holden Monaro garbage.

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

I'm not a Dodge guy, nor do I have the money to afford one of those cars, but they look amazing.

I wish GM would re-release a retro GTO, and not that Holden Monaro garbage.

It would be freaking awesome if GM would go retro with some of their classic muscle cars. The current Camaro is not retro. I was never a Dodge guy either until the 2008 Challenger re-introduction followed by the 2011 Charger redesign. But the Challenger is the only retro muscle car, and the Hellcat is an "affordable" supercar.

[drummer]

I'm torn on the modern/retro remakes across the brands. A handful of them have been done well, but some of them are just ugly...

[Flatiron]

I'm car free. If I can't walk, bike, or bus myself there, then I don't go. I live central. Services like Amazon and Instacart are useful for deliveries.

[JoninATX]

Another car free person. Had a sporty Fiat 500 coupe for a while, which was alot of fun.

[the Genral]

I own 4 cars, no payments except maintenance, gas, insurance. How do you carless people keep your driving skills honed, just in case the need or situation to drive rears its ugly head at you?