Living car free in America is doable

I sold my car 3 years ago and never want another. Selling my Toyota matrix was a massive step for me. I grew up in Southern California one of the most car dominant areas in America. Mostly everyone in Southern California gets a drivers license on their 16th birthday, you have to if you want any semblance of freedom. There are select few walkable neighborhoods and to get between neighborhoods you need a car. So if you are in a walkable neighborhood, that’s great, but good luck getting out.

I sold my car and moved to a walkable east coast city 3 years ago. I have no regrets about the situation. Sure, sometimes it can be difficult, for example going to Costco is a thing of the past. My bike gets a lot of miles which sucks during the hottest and rainiest days. Weekend trips are more difficult but by far the worst part is taking my dogs places. That has become exponentially harder. If you do not have dogs then do not worry about that complaint.

Okay, complaints done, here is the financial side. Not having a car has saved on average $12,182 a year according to AAA 2023, which for me takes my total to $36,546 savings over 3 years. Not to get all financial on you but invested that would compound to be $278,197 over 30 years given 7% return. It’s a given my Uber budget has gone up, my public transportation budget has gone up, but so has my steps per a day, my bank account, and my time spent outdoors and interacting with my neighbors and community.

Something taken for granted when you are in a car is just how much you miss of the world when you are driving 45 mph and speeding to each destination.

Everyone is a stupid driver in my opinion after all we kill ~43,000 people a year in these things. That is just the U.S.A, we kill ~1.35 million each year in the whole world. That’s pretty stupid. If anything else killed ~43,000 people a year we would ask for an outright ban on them. I mean sharks kill 5 people a year and I bet you are way more scared of them.

I know some people do not have the means or family situation to just move, I know some cities are impossible without a car, trust me, I’ve lived in Los Angeles. I’m not here to attack those people, I am here to simply say, if you have considered it, if you are one of the Americans whose car sits in their parking spot 99% of the time, if you have more cars than family members, maybe, just maybe reconsider what you are doing. It’s not impossible and it is actually quite enjoyable. I love not having a monthly insurance payment, Amtrak is criminally underrated, and freedom from maintenance gives you the headspace you need to rub your smug outlook on everyone.

Beyond all this removing a car from a household is the single best carbon footprint reduction you can do other than not having a kid. Gas, taking up space, waste, rubber from tires, heavy metals, all that goes into a car is horrible for the environment. 25% of direct emissions comes from transportation, car transportation is one of the worst, if not the worst, emitter in the world. Don’t be part of the problem if you can avoid it somehow.