As If I Didn't Have a Car

I've had a change of lifestyle lately. Not the sort of "oh my gods what's happened to me" change; that was last year. This is more of "this is what I'm doing for myself" change. I'm living (for the most part) as if I didn't have a car.

This isn't a complete departure from how I used to live. I've been walking and biking here and there for a few years. But a convergence of factors has tipped the balance from usually driving to usually not.

One motivating factor is my health. I spent nearly a year enduring either an injured knee or recovering from surgery to (partly) fix it, which was a huge demotivator for getting enough exercise. Even in the past several months when I've supposedly been healed, I've been reluctant to work that knee too hard. So I just sit. I'm heavier than I've ever been (well into the 200+ range), and I've had to start buying new fatter clothes to replace the pants I can't button, and the shirts that now hug instead of draping. This isn't just a vanity thing (though that's certainly part of it). It's about money and it's about quality of life. I need to get more exercise, and since the knee doesn't hold up well to jogging anymore, biking and walking places instead of driving is my best bet.

Probably the biggest factor contributing to the decline of my driving is a change of employment. Several months ago I took a job downtown, a couple miles away, and as the weather got warmer I started biking to work. The fact that my work shift ended at 9pm made he ride home in the dark less than pleasant, though. My new job is just a block down the street from the previous one, but it's all daytime hours, so it'll be a daylight ride even into November.

But another factor that encourages me to ride my bike is time: it's faster for me to ride my bike to work than to drive. That's because I can't park the car next to the building where I work. Which brings up the point that it's also less expensive to ride the bike, because I don't have to pay to park it anywhere. (My previous job downtown included free parking; this one doesn't.)

I'm not going to be able to ride the bike year-round, though. Sure, there are a few hearty souls who manage it, mostly (my boyfriend Andy tried it one winter). But we get at least one day every winter (and sometimes several) in which automobiles have trouble getting through the streets. Which is to say nothing of the windchill that a 10-15mph "breeze" adds to sub-zero air.

That's where the bus comes in. One of the 20 routes run by the Interurban Transit Partnership here (the same route I used to take home from my school downtown, as a teenager) stops a couple doors down from where I now live, and stops again a block from where I work. The speed of the bus compensates for the frequent stopping, so it takes about as long for the trip as it takes me to ride my bike. It costs a bit more than it did when I was in high school ($1.30, or 10 rides for $10, or a one-month pass for $35), and that's dramatically more than it costs to drive. But it's still cheaper than paying to park.

I do still use the car, pretty often. After all, I live in a medium-sized Midwestern American city, which has spent the last century (especially the last half) evolving in ways that assume everyone has a car. Even grocery shopping for just myself, it'd be a bit tricky getting the goods home without a car (or a tow-your-tot trailer for the bike, and I have neither tot nor trailer). And there are occasional errands where I have to go all the way out to the suburbs (where the bus routes get pretty spread out) or out of town (where the intercity busses go once a day, for a small fortune, if you're very lucky). Sometimes there's simply not enough time to get where I need to go, except by car. And if I'm going somewhere with a friend, it only makes sense - and is more sociable - if we share a car ride.

But I'm consiously trying to cut down on using the car. So I find myself doing more planning of my car trips. For example, if I know I'm going to a movie on the Northeast side on Friday, I'll plan on a stopping at the grocery store a few miles north of here on the way home. Or if I simply have to go to Batteries R Us out in the Southwest 'burbs, I'll try to figure out if there's anything else I'm going to need or want from out there, and get it now.

One thing that makes this a lot easier is the location of my home. I'd like to say that I planned it this way, but... wait a minute. I did plan it this way. A big factor in why I chose to live in this neighborhood is the fact that it's near the middle of town. There are also party stores, a few pizza places, a couple parks, a few bars and restaurants, and (there used to be) a hardware store, all within easy walking distance. A grocery store is a short bike ride/long walk home. And the bus route. Etc.

Getting by without having a car (or as if) may sound limiting, and if I didn't have the trusty Chevy Metro sitting in the carport waiting for me whenever I want/need it, it might be. But living as if actually feels liberating. I know that if the Metro turns out not to be so trusty and I need to actually get by without it for a while, I can do it. Because on a day-to-day basis, I already do.