Poll of the Day > Is there anything wrong with not having a car?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I hope you have a big trunk because I'm putting my bike in it.
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Sexual innuendo aside, if you don't have a car, then you will have a plethora of troubles commuting to work, school, the store to buy life's essentials, or wherever else you need to go.

Then you're going to have to go through the same troubles going back home. I have heard tell that public transportation is unreliable, and that it's better to drive oneself to these places.
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EclairReturns posted...

Sexual innuendo aside, if you don't have a car, then you will have a plethora of troubles commuting to work, school, the store to buy life's essentials, or wherever else you need to go.

Then you're going to have to go through the same troubles going back home. I have heard tell that public transportation is unreliable, and that it's better to drive oneself to these places.

Depends where you live.
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Having no male status symbol.
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EclairReturns posted...

Sexual innuendo aside, if you don't have a car, then you will have a plethora of troubles commuting to work, school, the store to buy life's essentials, or wherever else you need to go.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyBUMntP6DI" data-time="&start=20

on topic: i bet tc is one of those bicyclists that rides their bike across the intersection
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EclairReturns posted...

Sexual innuendo aside, if you don't have a car, then you will have a plethora of troubles commuting to work, school, the store to buy life's essentials, or wherever else you need to go.

I forgot cars are the only way anyone gets about. Plenty forms of transport available for most people and even without then walking isn't hard for most folk.
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Not having a car has never been an issue for me, I'm in my mid 30s now and I don't see any point in wasting my money on a license, driving lessons to get the license, the car itself (and new cars down the line every decade or so), constant fuel refills that constantly go up in price, repairs for everything that gets worn out or breaks for other reasons (vandalism, accidents etc.), new tires and seasonal tire changes (winter/summer tires), insurances and taxes.

I can do everything I could do if I owned a car already, public transportation and walking gets me everywhere I need to go well within reasonable time, I also used to ride my bike to get around a lot faster but I haven't needed to do that in years.

If I lived in a rural area it would've been different since the infrastructure for public transportation wouldn't exist and walking distances would be far too long and impractical, biking would still be sufficient for most needs but a proper vehicle would be a necessity for other bigger specifics.
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If you live in NYC, no, there isn't.

If you can consistently take the sub/bus, no.

If you bike or walk everywhere, but cars are kind of the norm, yeah, to a degree. That can make it hard to meet up with folks or do stuff in group outings unless they all also bike/walk/public transit.

If you rely on other individuals for their own vehicles to get rides and shit, you're a pretty terrible person and need to get a car.
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Depends on where you are, how many obligations you have, etc. In a sprawling city where your destinations may be 20 miles apart, far from bus lines, and keeping a schedule, a car is absolutely required.

Depends on what you are doing, too. Teaching golf, hauling putters and 9-irons for a class of 25 beginners REQUIRES your own vehicle. Ditto for teaching swordcraft or stage combat, public transportation won't allow weapons (even traditional weapons or stage weapons) on a bus. Theater Arts, Circus Skills, I can't imagine hauling flats, props, costumes, etc. on a bus.

In addition, if you are a car person, then owning and driving one or more sports cars, classic cars, etc. is very satisfying. Plus a beater car or truck for utility use.

Since I retired from practice, half of my yearly mileage is work-related, mostly teaching on several campuses. I have a friend who took a professorship in an adjoining state but kept her house here, I offered to take care of her lawn, although we're both on the South Side of the city, it's still an 18 mile round trip hauling a lawn mower, rake, and weedeater. I can't imagine doing any of the things I do without at least one car.
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wwinterj25 posted...

EclairReturns posted...

Sexual innuendo aside, if you don't have a car, then you will have a plethora of troubles commuting to work, school, the store to buy life's essentials, or wherever else you need to go.

I forgot cars are the only way anyone gets about. Plenty forms of transport available for most people and even without then walking isn't hard for most folk.

Walking depends on where you live. If you live to far away from certain things or places you need to go, then it might not work, as well. They did mention public transportation as a way to get around in the other part of their post. But they also mentioned how it can be unreliable. That does depend on where they live, though...

Newave posted...

I don't see any point in wasting my money on a license, driving lessons to get the license

I think having a license is still good. And not that expensive. I dont know about the classes these days, though.
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If you don;t have a car where I live you would be screwed. Most places are too far apart to get to with a bicycle unless you are absolutely crazy and we have barely any public transportation.
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No.
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depends on where you live

duh

Nothing "wrong" with not having a car but it can make life easier depending on your surroundings.
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In America, unless were talking NY City or something, then yes, being a grown adult without a car, or especially without a license, raises some eyebrows.

Always needing to bum rides, be picked up, or not able to contribute at your turn as DD when all your friends go out, those are some examples of things that get really old, really quick.

Sorry but not having at least your drivers license as an adult just screams failure to launch.

If you live in a city with decent public transportation, then no.

If you live 20 miles away from the nearest grocery store and 50 miles away from your workplace, then yes.
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Do you live in a big city? No.
Do you live anywhere else? Yes.
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Monopoman posted...

Depends where you live.

This.

Where I live, if I didn't have access to a car, I'd pretty much be dead in about a week.

My GF used to live in NYC, though, and you could basically live your entire life there and never even ride in a car, let alone own one. And considering the problems with parking in the city, you're almost better off without one.

If you live in more suburban or rural parts of the US, a car is almost a necessity. But if you live in a more urban area or a lot of places in Europe with robust public transit, you can easily get away without owning a car.

Modern delivery services help moderate this to some degree (if you can have food and everything else you'll ever need shipped directly to your house, you don't really need to travel as much), as does the Internet in general (you can get well-paying jobs that involve working out of your own home), but there are still places and situations where you pretty much need to own a car to live a fruitful life.


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If you're able to get around as needed and fulfill your necessary everyday functions, it doesn't really matter what vehicle you use to do so. If you're depending on others to enough of an extent to bug them, though, you might want to consider getting your own license/car.

Krazy_Kirby posted...

on topic: i bet tc is one of those bicyclists that rides their bike across the intersection

I mean, how else is one supposed to get to the other side? Crossing intersections is kind of the point of intersections, regardless of your vehicle of choice.

Depends on whether or not you ever bought one.
If you own a car and don't have a car, then I would say something is amiss.
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but where would it come from?
where would it go?
you'd been to work long time ago.

Not having a car in Canada sucks most of the year, regardless of where you live.
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cars are convenient and useful but we need less of them, not more, and better public transit
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Even in big cities its needed at times. I lived right across the street from a metro station in Alexandria VA. Gives you tons of great access to the city. But theres still so much that metro stops dont go close enough to to make it viable. Some of what youre trying to get to would be a really long walk from a metro stop. And Im certainly not trying to ride a bus in DC.

BeerOnTap posted...

And Im certainly not trying to ride a bus in DC.

Nobody wants to do that. Youd probably die...
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