No Car, No Problem: The Benefits of Car-Free Living

[marmar]

via AlterNet:



YES! Magazine / By Orion Kriegman

No Car, No Problem: The Benefits of Car-Free Living
How one man's choice to live car-free brought him more in touch with his neighbors, his community, and himself.

April 12, 2010 |


On cold rainy days in February, when my shoes are soaked and my legs are damp, I often find myself wondering, “Why did I decide to live without a car?"

Growing up as a teenager in the suburbs, I believed cars were a source of independence. Yet, over the years, I've come to see cars as a symptom of cultural sickness. In college, I decided to save money by not purchasing a car and found that I also escaped worries of shoveling the snow from around its tires, finding parking, and arguing with mechanics. Now, when parents or friends offer me their used vehicles, I turn them down, preferring to avoid the hassle of ownership.

Cecilia Kingman, a minister who convened a Common Security Club in her church, notes that her decision to live with out a car, “always draws curious comments.” Yet she managed to raise two children as a single mother without one.

Kingman's children now say that growing up without a car not only brought their family closer together, but also helped them develop a more relaxed schedule, environmental consciousness, and a strong sense of their own independence and capability. “They learned to take public transportation at an early age, and by middle school could get all over town on their own,” she says. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/environment/146422/_no_car%2C_no_problem%3A_the_benefits_of_car-free_living

[kestrel91316]

1. Being car-free is very liberating and empowering most of the time.

I will be the first to admit, however, that it poses occasional problems for me. YMMV.