When COVID hit, grocery delivery sounded so appealing, and after a problem with my car, I just order… I haven’t driven in 2 yrs, and don’t miss it one bit. Even worse is being a passenger, where I can see all the drivers on their phone. No thanks, I’ll let others risk losing their arm so that someone can play with fakebook.
I’ve never paid more than $900 for a car, but that’s out of the question. $7.95 for shipping covers gas, but I also don’t have to pay for insurance, oil changes, endless car problems, registration, tags… headaches from the police… bad drivers… Too much anxiety. And for me, it’s not like there’s anything to do.
I think this is the key. If you choose not to live, you won’t miss driving. Or said a bit more charitably, if you choose to live at home or within walking distance thereof, you won’t miss driving.
I live in a metro area of 6 million people. Last night I drove 22 miles to go out to dinner w my wife. And 22 miles back. OTOH, the night before for dinner we walked to the restaurant 200 feet from our front door. We deliberately live in a very, very walkable area. But I’d no more limit myself to that ~2 mile radius than I’d jump off a bridge.
There are tens of thousands of different and interesting experiences to be had in a city of 6 million people. I want to have almost all of them, not almost none of them.
We tried ordering groceries online (and picking them up at the store, not delivered) a couple times during COVID and it was a horrible experience. Especially when it comes to produce and having no control over what your getting.
Plus a million other reasons not to give up driving. Sure, I could take a bus, if I wanted to take 3x as long to run my errands. No thanks. I’ll continue to make car payments, pay for insurance, gas, maintenance, etc. It’s worth it.
I gave up driving when I lived in Europe for a number of years, as the cities were very much set up that living without a car was easy. Actually, preferable. I bought a car when I got there and sold it six months later realizing I had pretty much never used it.
But back in Chicago, while it is possible to get by without a car, it would be way too much of a pain in the ass (though I have done it for short stints) for my liking, especially with a couple of kids in tow. I like the freedom the car and driving affords me. Even in the midst of 2020 COVID, I would drive to the grocery to do my shopping. Not even curbside. I like going out. I like taking a drive – especially during that time. It was a surreal mental break from being cooped up inside.
We started using public transportation more, since the beginning of COVID. Commuting to work can be 20 minutes, or (all too often, due to frequent accidents) 60 minutes. The train is more reliable and I can read, plus it’s already paid for, since I have a yearly pass. The car is for going places where we need to bring a lot of stuff with us.
As we are just two people, public transportation can be the cheaper option, especially if you include fuel and parking. But we won’t be getting rid of the car any time soon. Especially as it’s already paid for.
Like every other lifestyle choice we make decisions are based on the compromises we are willing to make. Things we are willing to do without vs. things we are willing to put up with.
I’m glad going carless works for you in your situation. It would never work for me. Sure, I could probably make it work somehow but I’d be giving up way too much freedom and convenience. I’m willing to make the sacrifice.
Doing without a vehicle really depends on where you live, and how good the transit is. When I bought my first condo in 1997, I went without a vehicle for about 3-4 years. I was in a downtown location, with lots of good placed within a 15 minute walk, and good enough transit to get almost anywhere in downtown I wanted to go with one relatively short bus ride, as well as easy busses to work.
But there was one weekly trip to my martial arts school that annoyed me to no end. It was a Sunday morning trip, with one connection, but the connection schedule really sucked. And it wasn’t even that much farther to go from my usual destinations; it was just a quirk of the bus routes on Sundays that made it so much worse.
Were I willing to give up that martial arts class, I could see going back to a no-vehicle lifestyle quite easily, but until then, probably not, unless I develop major enough health problems. If I physically can’t drive, then the class is probably a bad idea as well.
The car of today is the horse of the 19th century. I need my horse and rely on it. I also like my horse for just getting away and seeing some sights. I’ll always have a horse, until they have to tear the keys away from my tightened hands and fingers.
Living in a walkable city or locale where nearly everything one needs is within a 30-60 minute walk from home is very nice. The OP’s points are well taken.
But it’s not for me. I’ll keep my horse.
ETA — oh, and my horse takes diesel fuel, and I get it from Union 76 where it is 95% renewable biodiesel and only 5% petroleum product, so I feel really good about that.
Excuse me! Aren’t you recovering from a major health episode? You should be dancing resting! Get off the computer! No stress!! Do you hear me?? NO STRESS!!
Well I just filled my car up a week ago.The last time I bought gas was in August. I drive a hybrid car. Probably not 60 miles in a month.
I am frustrated that I do not get out more. When COVID lockdown was on I took drives around just to go OUT. Still isolated but moving.
I do have cataracts that they keep saying let’s wait and see , why IDNK
I feel I am not at my best driving and making quick decisions. Don’t want to go places I don’t know. I never could drive in DC. Could not find my way out of town, always in wrong lane in a round-about.
I do like having groceries delivered . That is a real bonus. But it bothers me that Instacart sends my grocery order to a store 12 miles away. The pollution cost of the delivery is much higher than if I go and get it myself.
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I live in a predominantly rural county. There are a few circulator bus routes but the closest one to me is about 3 miles away. And I’m almost equidistant from two main towns/shopping areas - pretty much outside of the delivery zones of either. In fact, even Domino’s doesn’t deliver here. I think there are 3, maybe 4, restaurants that will deliver. No clue about Door Dash or similar services.
So, no, I haven’t stopped driving, altho I no longer drive after dark if I can avoid it (eyes, not COVID.) When/if the day comes that neither my husband nor I can drive, we may have to rely on Uber, or maybe our grandkids will be old enough by then to haul our wrinkly butts around.
I live in a rural area of a rural county of a sparsely populated state. I have a ~70 mile round-trip commute to work, driving a very rural mountain highway, and I work a standard M-F schedule.
During the lockdowns in 2020 we made use of grocery pickup and while it was better than nothing – and certainly easier than the usual trip-through-the-store shopping experience – it left much to be desired. Missing items, unauthorized substitutions, and poor choices for produce and meats were all common. I don’t know if grocery delivery is even an option here. It probably is but my experience with grocery pickup has pretty much soured me on the idea of having someone else shop for me.
Because of our above-noted ruralness, its about a 10 mile drive to a decent grocery store. There is no public transport to speak of. That combined with my work commute means that giving up my car, which I put about 400 miles per week on, is simply out of the question.
My parents live in Los Angeles. They gave up driving when they were in their 80s, for safety reasons. Somewhat surprisingly, they are managing fine. They live walking distance from a major shopping center with dozens of restaurants. They’ve become an expert on the public transport system. Usually they aren’t in a hurry to go anywhere. For those times when they do need to get somewhere fast, they take Uber.
I don’t know anyone who stopped driving in the pandemic, but I do know people who stopped going to grocery stores, getting everything delivered from now on. And I know people who go out a lot less now that they (still) work at home.
If you were already someone who didn’t go out much for other things, I could see that happening. Maybe it would even become more economic for you to find other transportation if you go out less.
That said, if you can go out, I do not recommend staying home all the time. It can ultimately make it harder to get out when you do need to. Even if you only go out walking, do get out. And even if only visit one other house or activity place, it’s a good thing to do.
I bought a new car in January 2020, just before Covid. It has 6500 miles on it. (I’m ashamed to take it in for regular service.) A lot of that was a trip from the Bay Area to Anaheim just before Covid hit. I don’t think I’ve taken it on a trip of more than 20 miles one way since then. Grocery store, thrift store, a few performances and doctors, that’s about it.
My wife’s car from two years earlier has even fewer miles during that time.
I drove so little during covid, I kept having to call Auto Club to jump start my battery when I did need to drive. My sister and I share a townhouse and have to park with one car blocking the other (there’s a name for this, but my brain is not coming up with it). Since my sister was driving more than me, when we had to go out she usually drove. My car sat for ages.
No, never gave up driving during the worst of COVID. Hiking was great COVID activity. And later, skiing. Although I work from home my wife is a teacher, so she commutes every day. I prefer shopping in person so I’m at the supermarket twice a week. I’m pretty much back to normal driving amounts except for my work commute.
I didn’t give up driving, but my driving was heavily curtailed. I went from doing a 120 mile round trip commute to working in my dining room and maybe making the occasional trip about 1/4 mile to the convenience store for beer and smokes. As things have started opening up, and they’ve encouraged us to go to the office, I’ve started driving more. It’s still nothing like it was. I had bought a new car in November 2019. I was used to putting 20K a year on a car, this one is just now getting to that.
And yeah, I do kind of miss it. Zoning out in the zen of working yourself through traffic while listening to the radio is a nice pastime, sometimes.