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City Dwellers/Ppl that walk everywhere/bus riders - Page 3

post #41 of 125
10/21/08 at 4:12am
Checking in to say that we took a trip out of town this week-end. We took the train and then the bus, and on the way I lugged back a huge glass jar and a huge bag of apples (I'm gonna make apple cider vinegar ).

We can take a short cut to the train station by walking along the tracks to the back platforms. We used to have a track running right under our windows, but they've discontinued it (keeping fingers crossed that they'll make a bike trail out of it). This is one of the things I love about living downtown, although we'd like to live somewhere in a greener area of the city (but it has to be near a train line or bus line).

This week-end we're going to a film festival out of town and we're probably gonna carpool. Actually, I know people who carpool to work here. That's less of an option for SAHPs, though.

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post #42 of 125
10/21/08 at 12:21pm
Thread Starter 
Sounds like a fun day for you!!

Today the kids and I are walking to the bookstore. Their librarian is reading a story there today! Bonus: Starbucks for me.
post #43 of 125
10/22/08 at 1:55pm
Thread Starter 
Well, I decided to forego my Starbucks so that the kids could get books instead. They were quite pleased! Then we walked to McDonald's (gag) to eat and dh picked us up. (We have a meeting at 7:30 and could not be late.)
post #44 of 125
10/23/08 at 5:25pm

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Edited by BF124497 - 6/1/12 at 9:26pm
post #45 of 125
10/24/08 at 10:06pm
Can I join?
We're a car-free family too. I grew up in the city so no, I do NOT know how to drive.
We even belong to Transportation Alternatives.
post #46 of 125
10/24/08 at 11:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by WilliamsMama View Post
Can I join?
We're a car-free family too. I grew up in the city so no, I do NOT know how to drive.
We even belong to Transportation Alternatives.
That looks like a cool group. I'll have to pass it along to DH.
post #47 of 125
11/2/08 at 1:57pm
So, what does everyone do when walking when it is raining or cold? We have been car-less for about 5 months, so it has been warm and only rained once on us while walking. Here we get heavy snow! It is ultra cold, but we just bundle up. I worry about snow and rain. What do you all do?
post #48 of 125
11/2/08 at 3:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by earthyamber View Post
So, what does everyone do when walking when it is raining or cold? We have been car-less for about 5 months, so it has been warm and only rained once on us while walking. Here we get heavy snow! It is ultra cold, but we just bundle up. I worry about snow and rain. What do you all do?
It just depends. If we have to get out, we get out. We did invest in a BOB stroller after we got rid of our car. I'm in Boston so I needed something that could get around well in the snow. But basically, we are really good at bundling. And I'm lucky b/c pretty much everything I need to get to is less than 2 miles from home.
post #49 of 125
11/2/08 at 11:44pm
Thread Starter 
This will be our first winter walking a lot, so I guess we'll just bundle up and remove layers, if needed.
post #50 of 125
11/4/08 at 5:51pm
I no longer work and the weather is cooler so I look forward to riding the bus to class more often and to run errands.
post #51 of 125
11/4/08 at 6:14pm
We just bundle up and try to keep moving. My DS is always warm (takes after his daddy), I'm the one that's always cold. We try to also have fun destinations like a non-smoking cafe with a kids corner.
post #52 of 125
11/5/08 at 5:14pm
For us, I'm not sure that the winter will be much worse than the summer. Trying to keep dd from getting sunburned when she wouldn't wear a hat and "midday" lasted for hours was quite the challenge! And we were indeed walking everywhere (and still are) because the carseat has been an issue. Plus, we like walking, since you miss so much in the car...as Ursula LeGuin said "It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end."

But we'll see what the winter brings...
post #53 of 125
11/6/08 at 10:19am
Wise words from a wise writer! Though coming back home after a long day I am prone to prod DS along with a "hurry up we're almost home".

That's true about the summer wrt sun exposure, every season has its specific needs. But walking is still great!
post #54 of 125
11/6/08 at 2:39pm

So, why do y'all walk?

I'm just wondering what went into your decisions to become walkers. For us, it was pretty much a matter of pragmatics. We moved to Boston a few years ago and soon found out that driving here is seriously a nightmare! It takes forever and a day to go just 5 miles, and 9 out of 10 times you're going to get lost anyway. It got to where we were only using our car to go to the grocery store and the very occasional outing outside of the city. Then last summer our car died and we decided we may as well just be carless. So far, so good. It helps that we have a really decent public transit system, and our neighborhood pretty much has everything we need.

So, how did you make the decision?
post #55 of 125
11/6/08 at 6:04pm
Thread Starter 
We walk because:
1 vehicle that dh uses for work (he goes to client sites)
vehicle is stick shift which I can't drive
walking is relaxing to me
kids seem calmer when we walk vs when we drive
post #56 of 125
11/6/08 at 7:23pm
We live downtown in a city with great public transport. We live walking distance from a tram stop, bus stop and train station. We are also too poor to afford a car, insurance and parking fees, not to mention that parking and traffic in this city is a nightmare and we live in a high petty crime area, our car would get broken into alot.

But even if we could afford a car, lived uptown, we still would be car free. This city has unbelievable smog and it's all due to the boom in car ownership so we want to do our part in reducing emissions and shop in local stores. We even travel out of town using buses, trains and our own two feet, so not having a car has never prevented us from going out and getting some fresh air and hiking, seeing nature. But this country has a really great network of rails and buses, which is pretty unique even in Europe.
post #57 of 125
11/6/08 at 7:29pm
For us, once our car broke (and gas was over $4) we decided to go car-less. We have always struggled with not having enough money and when we did the math, we realized we were throwing away hundreds a month! Just not worth it. We want to work on saving and getting out of debt. I wish I lived in a bigger city and had better transportation options. The bus takes an hour to go a 10 minute drive and it doesn't run that much.

I typically love walking and love that I am losing weight! I need to pick up my daughter from school in a few minutes and it is raining outside so I don't want to walk. Blah.
post #58 of 125
11/6/08 at 7:57pm
Oooh! I'm so excited this is me. We do have a car that DH takes to work but I don't have a licence and never have. DD and I walk or catch trains/buses everywhere. Sydney has a pretty crap public transport system compared to other cities in Aus but at least it's a given that there are footpaths everywhere. I can't imagine how a city would work without them
We live about 7 kilometres from the CBD and depending on the time of day it's no faster or slower to drive or catch PT
post #59 of 125
11/6/08 at 11:32pm
I love this thread...
Dh and I both grew up in suburbs where we relied on cars for everything. Now, we are actively choosing a neighborhood to move in that has everything we need in walking distance. It's such a great topic. The intention to live in a community where you live with everything walking distance around you, has so many benefits. And, wanting to be in an engaged community, walking really helps. I'm glad to have found this and reading through each person's experiences really confirms what I draws me to this lifestyle.
Although, I have to say having a car has some perks. It's going to be a rough adjustment not having a car-- we will definitely become more patient!
post #60 of 125
11/6/08 at 11:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by earthgirl View Post
I'm just wondering what went into your decisions to become walkers. For us, it was pretty much a matter of pragmatics. We moved to Boston a few years ago and soon found out that driving here is seriously a nightmare! It takes forever and a day to go just 5 miles, and 9 out of 10 times you're going to get lost anyway. It got to where we were only using our car to go to the grocery store and the very occasional outing outside of the city. Then last summer our car died and we decided we may as well just be carless. So far, so good. It helps that we have a really decent public transit system, and our neighborhood pretty much has everything we need.

So, how did you make the decision?
Boston parking seriously sucks as well. Before we moved here, we were here once for a weekend with a rented car, and it got towed within 10 minutes of our parking (which we totally deserved but didn't expect to happen so quickly)!

Boston is very walking friendly, but not at all car friendly IMO. I think that's a good thing in a city.
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