Loading ...Two or three months ago, I sold my car. Going more-or-less car free has been a desire of mine for years, but two key things had to happen to make it more feasible:
- I wanted have occasional access to a car at home, for emergencies, and at work, for transporting goods and equipment; and
- realistically, I needed have a job within transit/bike distance from my house.
The latter was a real challenge, because in the late 90′s in this neighborhood, there weren’t a lot of jobs that paid well enough to, say, buy a home or support a family in the same neighborhood. Before I could walk to work, my neighborhood had to develop its own strong economy!
Thanks to the effort of a lot of people, the neighborhood has developed a more robust local economy, and more and more good jobs are becoming real. And, economics worked out so that we were able to acquire a used car for the Linkery, and I also have access to cars for emergencies and personal hauling.
So, one day this winter, it became clear to me that finally I could take the plunge into (mostly) carlessness. It is awesome. I recommend it for anyone who is in a position to do so. And if you’re not in a position to do so, I recommend making it a project to get in such a position. Your happiness will thank you.
If you’re wondering what it’s like, here’s my thoughts after a couple months:
* Public transit in San Diego is really quite good — there is a meme that it is not usable, but I think that’s more for people who live and work in the ‘burbs (or other areas developed around the automobile). And if you mostly stay, as I do, south of I-8 and north of National City, public transportation is by far preferable to driving — in many cases nearly as quick and with none of the hassle.
* The indispensable tool for getting the most out of public transit is a good phone/Blackberry with Google Maps. Google Maps has transit schedules for all of SDMTS, and if you tell it where you are and where you want to go, it will give you the quickest route, tell you where to meet your driver, and at what time. It makes riding the bus as easy as having a personal chauffeur.
* Life, the world, and the city are more enjoyable when experienced on a human scale. When you leave a place in a car, enter the freeway, and then reappear at a new place, the city is disconnected from itself. The points of contact exist with no context, without sense or meaning. On the other hand, to tour (as an example) Los Angeles by city bus, or on foot, reveals the story of the city, both in time and geographically. There, at least in part, is connection with place and the people who have made it.
* The less I drive, the less I want to (not that I really wanted to drive much before). I thought I might use the work car a lot or borrow other folks’ cars a lot, and it turned out that I’m happier running errands on the bus or a bike.
* Both public transit and biking could be way better in San Diego at little economic cost. The city has made (and continues to make) a lot of decisions — principally in terms of lane allocation and traffic flow — that save individual drivers a tiny bit of time (usually by increasing their speed), at the cost of making transit a lot more unpredicatable, and biking a lot more dangerous. When as a city we decide that driving is the last option rather than the first option — the same decision that on a personal level provides so much joy — this town will, at almost no cost, become incredibly easy to navigate.
* Beautiful are the sounds of quiet. Or, more accurately, the small sounds in the neighborhood one hears when not strapped to an internal combustion engine. In May, a clarinet rehearsing “Pomp and Circumstance”. Similarly, I find that the air of my neighborhood smells wonderful, and feels great against my skin.
* The right bike makes a big difference in getting around San Diego. At this point, I’d say a good San Diego commuter bike requires: strength (the roads are pretty rough around here), lots of low and very low gears for hill climbing, plenty of usable cargo, and a good light. I’m very happy with the bike that Velo Cult put together for me. It’s not cheap by the standards of recreational bikes, but it’s a lot cheaper than a year’s car expenses were, and it is built to last a lot longer than any car I’ve owned. For more information on commuter cycling in San Diego, check out the SD Bike Commuter Forum.
Cool photo of my bike by the famous Doug Gates
marvelous! congrats on being car free, it’s wonderful isn’t it? also, welcome to sdbikecommute!
Great Jay;
When I retired, I decided that I could use public transportation to get wherever I want or need to go.
I also walk 2-3 miles at least 3 or 4 days a week.
Now I need to find a good bike that I can keep in my apartment.
Had the Berkshire pork and Ham Busquit on Sunday afternoon, with a great beer.
Thanks Herb! It was great seeing you this weekend. Also, thanks missler!
Great to hear it! I never really could go car-free in SD, as my North ParkKearny Mesa work commute made no sense on public transportation (google maps estimated 5x the time and like $6 each way, from what I remember) and the Texas St. slope scared me out of the possibility of biking it. But I barely use my car up here in Berkeley now, and I have been loving it too. I love the feeling of being outside, and I definitely pick up on more than I do when I’m driving — cool houses along my route, a shooting star the other night, etc. And since I’m usually sitting for most of the day at my job or school, it’s great to get a bit of exercise on the way, too.
See you guys next time I’m in town!
Hi Will,
I know what you mean about commuting from NP to Kearny Mesa. A decade ago I rode sometimes from Golden Hill to my job in Sorrento Valley and while it was fun, it was just too much to be a daily thing. The train was nice, but again when all was said and done it was often an 1 hr+ commute.
That’s why I eventually came to feel that in order to really work car-free, a city has to have good jobs in nodes where are lot of people live, not in remote office campuses (which are generally placed to be close to CEO’s homes, as William Whyte found).
As we as a culture get a little more conscious, and as the price of petroleum rises, the economic infrastructure should become a little more friendly. Plus a lot of people are at work creating a meaningful local economy in the neighborhood, so it’s happening, bit by bit.
Great posting Jay. I’m riding to work tomorrow.
I was just visiting SD last week (for a wedding and the marathon) and I am impressed that you can ride there. I was staying at Hotel Circle, and just trying to run a single lap of that road, which should have been easy, was a nightmare. Sidewalks suddenly ending, bike lanes suddenly ending, and cars driving way too fast.
Every time I leave Portland, I am reminded how lucky I am. Please keep advocating for bikes and pedestrians in SD. It can be a great biking and walking town if the city goverment made it a priority!
Hi Tonya, thanks for commenting!
Mission Valley is pretty unique — it’s a case study in every bad postwar practice in urban planning, land use, transportation, and exurban development. It’s a mess, I suspect making it work for actual (as opposed to theoretical) humans will require major demolition.
A little south of where you stayed, up on the mesas, is the part of SD that was built in the early 1900′s, when cities were built along lines that have worked for eons. These areas are a lot easier to bike in (though not perfect), and walk in, and use public transit, etc.
Fortunately — and for related reasons — most of the great stuff to do in San Diego is in the older areas of town, too, so it works out pretty well to not drive. Though it still has a long way to go before it’s as navigable as Portland.
I was surprised that Hotel Circle actually connected to anything. I grew up in Spring Valley, so to me, Hotel Circle was just literally a ring of hotels around the 8 freeway. It actually has decent connectivity to the rest of the city, and with more sidewalks, transit and planning could encourage low-car tourists to stay there.
I wish I’d known about the restaurant last week. I’ll definitely pay a visit the next time I’m in town!
Thanks for joining the club! People are incredulous and my husband and I are happily car free…but North Park is the perfect place to be car free. I have everything I need within walking distance. I even work within bicycling distance near Balboa Park. When people exclaim that they couldn’t live without a car, I similarly state that I couldn’t imagine life with a car. Tags, insurance, parking tickets, gasoline expenses…who needs those burdensome outlays?