I lived in Boulder for 10+ years, and I can tell you that you cannot live easily without a car in that town. Boulder likes to project the image that cars are optional, but the horrific traffic in the town demostrates that it’s just not so.
If you’re young and fit, Boulder is small enough that you could potentially bike anywhere you needed to go, but still, biking to get groceries, buy furniture, etc. is difficult. So that takes us to public transportation. Bus coverage is spotty. Some areas of town are covered nicely; others aren’t covered at all. If you live and work on a bus line, that’s great, that will work. However, the buses don’t serve the entire city, and they go on a very sparse schedule fairly early (say, 8pm) at night.
Also, let’s say you don’t actually live in Boulder proper, which many people who work in Boulder don’t (housing prices in Boulder are quite high). I lived in a town ten miles away for a while, and attempted to take the bus to work. First off, there was no bus stop within walking distance of my house, so I’d have to drive to the nearest park-n-ride. The busses that served that park-n-ride didn’t go near where I worked, so I’d have to take a bus to the terminal in downtown Boulder, then transfer and take another bus halfway back the way I came to get to where I worked. Altogether, we’re talking a minimum of 90 minutes, to get to my workplace 10 miles from where I lived.
Despite the “young hip active” image that Boulder likes to promote, it’s much more of a Yuppie “I-use-the-Hummer-to-drive-my-kids-to-soccer-practice-a-block-away” town than it likes to admit.
I’ve been without a car for about 4 years. The last car I owned was a 91 Olds Cutlass Supreme (all black circles in Consumer Reports if ya know what I mean). Well, in the year and a half I had it, I spent about $12K in repairs. (Seriously.) I literally drove about 20 miles a week so I was barely using it anyways. When the head gasket blew, so did I.
I live downtown, I work downtown, I shop downtown. The commute from my front door to my desk is 8 minutes. Longer if there’s escalator traffic. I’ve got a grocery store, drug store, doctor, dentist, Marshall Field’s, mag shop, and some of the finest eateries in the city all within blocks of me. Access to the internet is also wonderful when it comes to shopping. Not much that can’t be ordered for mostly better prices there.
I’m also at a hub of some really good biking trails that can take me most anywhere in the metro area and I do love to bike. Our transit system could be better and as such, I don’t rely on it heavily.
My BF drives as well as do my friends but I’ve been happy without one and when one becomes eco-friendly, I’ll think about buying one again. Every once in a while (maybe once or twice a year) I’ve rented a car for the weekend just to tool about and make sure I can still drive.
Since I’ve been without a car, I’ve had a lot more play money. I’ve seen more concerts, more trips, more instruments, and more money into savings.
mini-hijack, doesn’t Bill’s Bus still take the college kids home after closing time?
I didn’t have a car in college (in the already mentioned Madison, WI). Student fees covered something like two free cab rides home a month, and there was a “drunk bus” that would take you back to the dorms (which isn’t nearly as convinient when you don’t live in the dorms), but mostly I just biked around and walked.
DC’s not great without a car if you like to go out at night. I agree with NY and SF, though. I don’t drive and I never felt I needed to when I lived there.
In Albany, NY, the public transport isn’t very good but once I got a bike I had no problem getting around.
Here in Dublin it’s a bit more of a hassle because it isn’t safe, due to the traffic, to cycle in the city centre. And the public transport - although there’s a lot of it - suffers from being almost entirely centred on buses, which also get stuck in traffic. Fortunately I can walk pretty much anywhere I need to go (apart from the airport), and frankly I wouldn’t want to drive in this congestion anyway.
I’m 30 and have never driven. Chalk it up to phobia, rebellion, economy, whatever. When I moved to Nashville, I was fortunate enough to find an apartment on the same bus route as work, but also is 10 minutes by foot from the grocery, drug stores and a bank, 5 minutes from the post office, and 20 minutes from a mall with a movie theater. In a pinch it’s also 40 minutes from work, but it’s not a route I like after dark.
The buses generally get me where I need to go, but not so much where I want to go, especially on weekends or after work. It’s not so much getting there, as it is getting back home afterwards, since my particular route stops running about 5:30. The bus system has been getting better over the past few years, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement.
I’m 22 and I don’t know how to drive. One doesn’t need a car in this city; according to the transit company, 33% of Montreal households don’t have one.
One of these days I may get a driver’s licence for emergencies, but I have other priorities at the moment.
I live in a central location and I can walk to my jobs, entertainment, shops, restraunts…everything I could ever want. When I don’t feel like walking, my city boasts an awesome transportation system. There are routes that go all over the city, and a well planned transportation hub makes transfering to other busses or to Amtrak/Greyhound really easy. On most major streets you never wait more than ten or so minutes for the bus. I feel truely blessed.
I can’t drive, and I’m twenty-five years old. I have learned some of the basics and should be getting my license fairly soon. A car is almost essential where I live now. The public transit is not great. I walk almost everywhere I need to go; I rarely even get into a car. I manage fairly well, but it’s a pain when I need to go shopping. I was used to public transit because of where I used to live, and moving back to Louisiana was rather a shock, even though I knew how it would be.
Actually not long ago, Nashville got listed in a transit industry magazine’s list of top 10 improved bus systems. I’ve been able to tell the difference over the past few years. They’re finally replacing all the old rickety buses, and they’re much better about being on time. (The only thing worse than a bus 10 minutes late is one that’s 10 minutes early.)