My next car is... no car??
 

Ok. Deceptive title. 'Cause I'm one of those:
But some have suggested me moving to improve my economic situation. One of those suggestions was (or seemed to be) to move to a city where I'd need to commute in terrible traffic so I could have a job that could afford me a car so I could have the privilege to commute in the terrible traffic. But why not move where I don't need a car instead?

P.S. I'm not opening this up for a political discussion on whether we all need to vote for or against this idea or stuff like that. Just, what if a person chooses to not to own a car and maybe even move to where there's little to no need for one? Then what? Pros, cons? What if you have a wife and kids?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCSkNiyYv8g

During the latter half of the 20th Century, maybe around 1980 or so, I built houses for the Cerro Gordo community.

Think of them as a consortium of equestrians and railroad enthusiasts. They wanted a town without cars. When an island in Alsea Bay fell through they settled on land that had a BLM access road through it. That doomed the project even though a steam excursion train ran along the shore of Dorena Reservoir. Today the train is gone, and the track is now a biike path.

Cottage Grove is quaint? This tells you it's a bunch of transpanted Californians.

Anyway, I divided my needs between a car, a bike and the city bus [seniors ride for free] more or less equally prior to Corona-chan, but between the masking required and the Schwinn Collegiate rear axle being Unobtainium I am walking more. Good thing my knees are getting better (with age :)).

The author of this excellent blog post agrees with you. As do I.

https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011...-four-or-more/

Maybe it's time to put flashing lights on the bikes and bike as much as possible. Maybe I'll get an e-bike for the wifey.

Still about a year away. I'm thinking of the Arcimoto micromobility solution.

It might be easier to get a hub motor than a stock axle for my bike.

Anyways, a town without cars is as elusive as ever. Paolo Solaeri tried it with Arcosanti. https://www.arcosanti.org/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_car-free_places

Rate your home town: https://www.walkscore.com/ Springtucky rates as 60 Walk Score (somewhat walkable), 40 Transit Score (some transit) and Bike Score 92 (Biker's paradise)

For me, biker's paradise means paved alleys.

I've suggested you move to a place with low housing costs where you could afford to own a house instead of renting and being pushed farther and farther out of town. Those are not places with terrible traffic because they have low housing costs as a result of large population declines.


On the other hand I do live in a metro with 2.5 million people and moderately bad traffic and we had one of the highest percentages of bike commuters despite 7 months of rain. What if you have a wife and kids? Once a kid is about 5 they can peddle their own bike (I was riding a bike without adult supervision a mile to 1st grade). Until then there are these (which I see on my commute as well) Handy for carrying groceries home too.

https://tinybeans.com/wp-content/upl...4357.png?w=640

Isaac, you're very intelligent and can solve your problems should you address them honestly, sans victimhood mentality (even if you're legitimately a victim of circumstance, as we all are).

My friend in Eugene often bikes his 3 kids to daycare down crazy steep hills and long distances. He does this because he likes biking, not because of necessity. He owns crappy old vehicles because he's frugal, not because of necessity.

The only advice I have is copied / pasted from Scott Adams. Decide what you want from life, and then pay the price to obtain it. There's no free solution, only trade-offs.

As an aside and huge assumptions on my part, you appear to be way too smart to be relegated to lower wages.

That Mister Money Mustache reference is gold for those not familiar with the concepts. It reminds me of Robert Kiyosaki's main principle that there are 2 kinds of people; those that work for money, and those who make their money work for them. Diligent attention to the small gains will seed the larger gains.

I prefer to estimate the cost beforehand, but this. Everything else is lying to oneself.

"No sympathy for the devil; keep that in mind. Buy the ticket, take the ride...and if it occasionally gets a little heavier than what you had in mind, well...maybe chalk it up to forced consciousness expansion"

Instead of endorsing any further restrictions against car ownership, I'm more favorable to incentives for compact and more efficient cars.
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