Living Car Free

Since I seem to be doing so well on rants about cars lately, here is another piece of fuel to the fire. Michelle Singletary has a wonderful review of How to Live Well Without Owning a Car (see link below)

I have been living without a car for about eight years now, and I think it is wonderful. My car was great for getting me back and forth from home to college. And in college back and forth to the grocery store in the big city (which would be Waterville, ME). But once I was living within reach of the Metro system, there really wasn't a good justification for owning a car. And now with Flexcar and Zipcar If there really is something that I want to do beyond the reach of mass transit, I have the option (to provide disclosure, I am a member of Flexcar, and have used their services once.)

I have a friend who recently had to deal with the question of investing a lot of money to fix their car or go car free. I have another friend who had their plans for the weekend totally changed because of a broken car (not theirs, but someone who was going to provide transport -- presumably to someplace beyond the reach of mass transit). Their are the direct costs (repairs) and the indirect costs (missed events/opportunities) that need to be calculated into the costs of owning a car.

Contentment Without a Car