(by Pat)
For some reason (probably at one point, it was to keep out the riff-raff, and now it's probably because people make money renting spaces and can't afford to give up the income) there is no overnight parking on the street in Brookline. This means that you have to have a parking space for your car, and if you don't own one, you need to rent one.
It also means that when your backyard neighbor is having her building repointed and you r car can't stay in its regular spot,you need to move it every morning and every night. That's what's up right now--at 6am, I have to move the car out of our backyard space and find a space on the street, and every night, I need to put the car back. I should say cars, actually, because I have to move our neighbor's car, too, because they're out of town, and it's a pretty intricate puzzle in the little lot behind our house.
We pay $75-$100/month for parking, plus $25/year to be able to park more than 2 hours in front of your own house.
Soon, none of these will be anything I have to deal with. I won't miss it.
Monday, June 8, 2009
my biggest worry about a car-free life
(by Tracy)
My biggest worry about getting rid of our car is taking care of our garden. Since we have no yard to speak of, we depend on a community garden plot to care for our green thumbs. It's only a mile and half away - so it shouldn't be a big deal, right? I should be able to bike it but I'm a little worried because it's all up hill going there and in the hot summer months I anticipate that it will be unpleasant to make that trek.
The fact that this is my biggest worry is kind of funny. It's only a mile and a half and there is even a bus that goes frequently along the route to get there. Jeez - it's even possible to walk it. I guess my concern is that the extra time that it takes will become just a big enough obstacle that we'll go less and less.
I need to fight this worry with action - I just need to get out there and bike the route and see how it is. Maybe getting a downhill route the whole way home will be such a joy, I'll look forward to going just for the thrill. :-) Pat's already done it - It took him about 20 minutes there and about 10 minutes back. No biggie. I'll have to report back when I've done it.
My biggest worry about getting rid of our car is taking care of our garden. Since we have no yard to speak of, we depend on a community garden plot to care for our green thumbs. It's only a mile and half away - so it shouldn't be a big deal, right? I should be able to bike it but I'm a little worried because it's all up hill going there and in the hot summer months I anticipate that it will be unpleasant to make that trek.
The fact that this is my biggest worry is kind of funny. It's only a mile and a half and there is even a bus that goes frequently along the route to get there. Jeez - it's even possible to walk it. I guess my concern is that the extra time that it takes will become just a big enough obstacle that we'll go less and less.
I need to fight this worry with action - I just need to get out there and bike the route and see how it is. Maybe getting a downhill route the whole way home will be such a joy, I'll look forward to going just for the thrill. :-) Pat's already done it - It took him about 20 minutes there and about 10 minutes back. No biggie. I'll have to report back when I've done it.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
The day is getting closer (we think)--June 14
(by Pat)
Right now, our tentative date for actually starting to try to sell the car is June 14. On June 13th, Kira has her last travel soccer game, which also means it'll be the last travel soccer game that I'm coaching. Travel soccer has been the biggest reason we've needed to keep the car, because of two practices every week and a game every Saturday (and lots of gear to haul back and forth). But next year, Kira will be in high school and I won't be coaching, so that excuse will be gone.
So, on June 14th, we'll clean up the minivan and try to figure out how best to sell it.
Right now, our tentative date for actually starting to try to sell the car is June 14. On June 13th, Kira has her last travel soccer game, which also means it'll be the last travel soccer game that I'm coaching. Travel soccer has been the biggest reason we've needed to keep the car, because of two practices every week and a game every Saturday (and lots of gear to haul back and forth). But next year, Kira will be in high school and I won't be coaching, so that excuse will be gone.
So, on June 14th, we'll clean up the minivan and try to figure out how best to sell it.
Why I Want to Get Rid of Our Car. (Pat, part 3) Money
(by Pat)
This is part 3 of the series that I wrote in January, on The Writing Life x3 blog.
Okay, this is the last bit about getting rid our car for now (really), at least until we finally do it.
I thought I'd lay out what it costs for us to own a car, how much it'll cost to get around without one (since we still do have to get around), and see if we'll save money.
Monthly Costs of owning a car for us:
Ownership/Purchase. . . . $150*
Insurance. . . . $75
Gas. . . . . $120**
Repairs and Maintenance. . . . . $100
Parking. . . . $100
Tolls and taxes: $25
Total: $570 per month
So, a bit of explanation. For cost of ownership, I used what we paid for our car, spread out over ten years. Now, we paid off the car a while ago, but I think it's important to keep this in the calculation, because if we're in a cycle of car ownership we should always be setting aside money for the next purchase (borrowing money to buy a fast-depreciating car is not a smart financial move). For us, we tend to buy a new car and drive it until the repair costs rise too high. (We currently have a 2003 Dodge Caravan with 75,000 miles on it.)
Repairs and maintenance are an expected average over that time period. The figure I used for gas is a little less than our average for 2008, but prices were unusually high in 2008, though I think prices won't stay as low as they are now, and likely will spike again over the next few years, as worldwide demand recovers.
So, $570 a month for the ready use of our car. But of course, even if we got rid of it, we'd still have to get around, which won't be entirely free.
What it might cost to get around (per month):
Car rental: $90 (0ne weekend, every other month)
Zipcar: $60 (costs $10/hour or so)
T pass: $60
Bike stuff: $40
Total: $250
These are guesses, of course. Maybe we'll need Zipcar and rentals a lot more than I think. I'm not sure about the T pass, because Tracy already gets a monthly pass through work, and we tend to just share that one between the two of us.
I've put in $40 for bike stuff, which includes tune-ups and ownership costs. (The purchase costs on our current four bikes comes out to $3.85/month.) Repairs will need to happen if we use them more, but to be honest, Tracy already commutes by bike to work, so her current costs shouldn't be factored in to this setup, since we'd have to pay that anyway. I'd like to take a bike repair class, so I can maintain them myself and keep costs low. I bought my used bike for $65 on Craigs List and it does fine.
Maybe I should put in money for extra shoes (I already walk 4-6 miles per day, even with a car) and umbrellas.
With all these assumptions, it would appear that we would save about $320 per month by giving up our car. (This wouldn't all show up in our cash flow, since the car is paid off. The cash flow bump would be $170.) All this comes while helping us get more excercise, know our neighbors and community better, and have less negative impact environmentally.
Seems like it's definitely worth a try. And if it doesn't work, we can always go out and buy a car (Detroit would be happy to sell us one real cheap right now).
This is part 3 of the series that I wrote in January, on The Writing Life x3 blog.
Okay, this is the last bit about getting rid our car for now (really), at least until we finally do it.
I thought I'd lay out what it costs for us to own a car, how much it'll cost to get around without one (since we still do have to get around), and see if we'll save money.
Monthly Costs of owning a car for us:
Ownership/Purchase. . . . $150*
Insurance. . . . $75
Gas. . . . . $120**
Repairs and Maintenance. . . . . $100
Parking. . . . $100
Tolls and taxes: $25
Total: $570 per month
So, a bit of explanation. For cost of ownership, I used what we paid for our car, spread out over ten years. Now, we paid off the car a while ago, but I think it's important to keep this in the calculation, because if we're in a cycle of car ownership we should always be setting aside money for the next purchase (borrowing money to buy a fast-depreciating car is not a smart financial move). For us, we tend to buy a new car and drive it until the repair costs rise too high. (We currently have a 2003 Dodge Caravan with 75,000 miles on it.)
Repairs and maintenance are an expected average over that time period. The figure I used for gas is a little less than our average for 2008, but prices were unusually high in 2008, though I think prices won't stay as low as they are now, and likely will spike again over the next few years, as worldwide demand recovers.
So, $570 a month for the ready use of our car. But of course, even if we got rid of it, we'd still have to get around, which won't be entirely free.
What it might cost to get around (per month):
Car rental: $90 (0ne weekend, every other month)
Zipcar: $60 (costs $10/hour or so)
T pass: $60
Bike stuff: $40
Total: $250
These are guesses, of course. Maybe we'll need Zipcar and rentals a lot more than I think. I'm not sure about the T pass, because Tracy already gets a monthly pass through work, and we tend to just share that one between the two of us.
I've put in $40 for bike stuff, which includes tune-ups and ownership costs. (The purchase costs on our current four bikes comes out to $3.85/month.) Repairs will need to happen if we use them more, but to be honest, Tracy already commutes by bike to work, so her current costs shouldn't be factored in to this setup, since we'd have to pay that anyway. I'd like to take a bike repair class, so I can maintain them myself and keep costs low. I bought my used bike for $65 on Craigs List and it does fine.
Maybe I should put in money for extra shoes (I already walk 4-6 miles per day, even with a car) and umbrellas.
With all these assumptions, it would appear that we would save about $320 per month by giving up our car. (This wouldn't all show up in our cash flow, since the car is paid off. The cash flow bump would be $170.) All this comes while helping us get more excercise, know our neighbors and community better, and have less negative impact environmentally.
Seems like it's definitely worth a try. And if it doesn't work, we can always go out and buy a car (Detroit would be happy to sell us one real cheap right now).
Why I Want to Get Rid of Our Car (Pat,Part 2)
(by Pat)
This is part 2 in a series of blog posts that I wrote on The Writing Life x3, back in January.
We live in a car culture, and I'm definitely a part of that, even if I don't really see the type of car I own as defining my identity. So the idea of not owning up a car ends up bringing up a bunch of concerns (and people voice these to me, if they've always had cars in their families).
What about in an emergency, especially something medical? This one's not that tough, actually. We live about 400 yards away from an emergency room. I could crawl there if I needed to. And I could easily call a cab to take one of us to our regular doctor's office, which is about 3 miles away.
What if the dog or cats get sick? Not quite so sure about this one. Zipcar (even though you're not supposed to have pets in the car) or maybe a cab?
What about grocery shopping? That's easy. We have a little cart, backpacks, and lots of baskets on our bikes. Plus they'll deliver. As will the hardware store and office supply store.
What about when the kids are old enough to learn to drive? Driver's ed, or borrow a car. They'll grumble, but that's life in the city, kids. This way they certainly won't expect us to buy them a car, right?
Maybe it'll make me crazy, because sometimes it'll take so long to get to places by bus or train. Yeah, but let's just say patience is something I need to work on anyway. Doing things faster and even getting places faster isn't always as much the ideal solution as it seems. This will not be easy for me to accept.
It'll be hard to visit my favorite grocery store, Russo's in Watertown. True. Just have to live with it, or use zipcar (I could get there by bus, but I'm not sure I have that much patience.)
It'll be harder to go to meetings/events in suburbs. True. Maybe it'll make me work even harder at building/joining groups and organizations in my own back yard. If they're important enough, I'll spend the money to rent a car. Or I'll keep getting in better shape for longer bike rides. Or maybe I'll join bike advocacy groups, to make regional bike travel safer and more convenient.
What about when the weather stinks? One of my first investments if/when we do this is going to be to get a rain suit for bicycling. Bikes aren't much good in slick ice like we had in Boston this morning, but to be honest, neither were cars or feet. And it's hard to get around in Boston when there's a foot of snow, whether it's on foot, bus, or in a car. And if you drive your car, there's nowhere to park.
When I look at them, they're all things that we can handle. And I know that I missed a bunch of benefits yesterday (one of them was that I think buying less gas takes money out of the hands of people with whom I disagree with politically (especially internationally).
This is part 2 in a series of blog posts that I wrote on The Writing Life x3, back in January.
We live in a car culture, and I'm definitely a part of that, even if I don't really see the type of car I own as defining my identity. So the idea of not owning up a car ends up bringing up a bunch of concerns (and people voice these to me, if they've always had cars in their families).
What about in an emergency, especially something medical? This one's not that tough, actually. We live about 400 yards away from an emergency room. I could crawl there if I needed to. And I could easily call a cab to take one of us to our regular doctor's office, which is about 3 miles away.
What if the dog or cats get sick? Not quite so sure about this one. Zipcar (even though you're not supposed to have pets in the car) or maybe a cab?
What about grocery shopping? That's easy. We have a little cart, backpacks, and lots of baskets on our bikes. Plus they'll deliver. As will the hardware store and office supply store.
What about when the kids are old enough to learn to drive? Driver's ed, or borrow a car. They'll grumble, but that's life in the city, kids. This way they certainly won't expect us to buy them a car, right?
Maybe it'll make me crazy, because sometimes it'll take so long to get to places by bus or train. Yeah, but let's just say patience is something I need to work on anyway. Doing things faster and even getting places faster isn't always as much the ideal solution as it seems. This will not be easy for me to accept.
It'll be hard to visit my favorite grocery store, Russo's in Watertown. True. Just have to live with it, or use zipcar (I could get there by bus, but I'm not sure I have that much patience.)
It'll be harder to go to meetings/events in suburbs. True. Maybe it'll make me work even harder at building/joining groups and organizations in my own back yard. If they're important enough, I'll spend the money to rent a car. Or I'll keep getting in better shape for longer bike rides. Or maybe I'll join bike advocacy groups, to make regional bike travel safer and more convenient.
What about when the weather stinks? One of my first investments if/when we do this is going to be to get a rain suit for bicycling. Bikes aren't much good in slick ice like we had in Boston this morning, but to be honest, neither were cars or feet. And it's hard to get around in Boston when there's a foot of snow, whether it's on foot, bus, or in a car. And if you drive your car, there's nowhere to park.
When I look at them, they're all things that we can handle. And I know that I missed a bunch of benefits yesterday (one of them was that I think buying less gas takes money out of the hands of people with whom I disagree with politically (especially internationally).
Why I Want to Get Rid of Our Car (Pat, Part 1)
(by Pat)
This is actually a post from my other blog, The Writing Life x3, that I wrote in January, but it sets the stage for what we're up to. (It's a series of 3.)
We've played around with the idea of us going car-less ever since we moved to Boston. But for various reasons, it never quite seemed practical (it was very handy to have a car while ferrying around small children and fixing up houses). However, we also recognized that if ever there was a chance for us to live without a car, this might be it--Boston is extremely walkable and has a decent public transportation system. Still, it never happened. (And still hasn't happened.)
A few things have happened since we first moved to the Boston area (in 2000) that have increased the practicality of living without a car:
One good question is, why not just drive our existing car less? That would get keep the carbon emissions down, certainly. But it wouldn't save as much money (we'd still have to pay for parking, taxes, insurance, and upkeep). And, if it's there, it tends to get used because it's awfully convenient--sometimes it's just too tempting. Getting rid of the car would force us to make conscious choices about how we get around and examine the associated costs. Driving a car costs money every time the car moves (or doesn't) but those costs tend to be hidden, whereas having to rent a car for a day or an hour reminds you right away that you're paying money to drive that vehicle.
So, what do I think would be the benefits:
(more to come on hassles and cost)
This is actually a post from my other blog, The Writing Life x3, that I wrote in January, but it sets the stage for what we're up to. (It's a series of 3.)
We've played around with the idea of us going car-less ever since we moved to Boston. But for various reasons, it never quite seemed practical (it was very handy to have a car while ferrying around small children and fixing up houses). However, we also recognized that if ever there was a chance for us to live without a car, this might be it--Boston is extremely walkable and has a decent public transportation system. Still, it never happened. (And still hasn't happened.)
A few things have happened since we first moved to the Boston area (in 2000) that have increased the practicality of living without a car:
- We moved to Brookline, in a neighborhood where the kids can walk to school, and we can walk to grocery stores and other shopping.
- The kids are older, and so can ride bikes to get places.
- We've become increasingly aware of our carbon footprint and increasingly concerned about the effects of human generated carbon emissions on global warming. I know there are still a few people out there who are unconvinced that people are having an impact on the world's climate in a clear and negative way. I might suggest they look at it like Pascal's Wager. In this case, if we change our behavior, based on the belief that global warming is due to human impact, and it's true, then we did the right thing. If it turns out to be false, we will have made changes that pollute the environment less and might have other benefits. In fact, I think that if you are convinced that human generated carbon emissions are having a negative impact on global climate, you might even have a moral imperative to take action (stopping eating meat will have a bigger impact than buying a Prius or selling your car, by the way).
- We live very close to several Zipcar sites, so we could easily rent a car on short notice, if we needed to. Tracy has a Zipcar membership subsidized through her workplace.
One good question is, why not just drive our existing car less? That would get keep the carbon emissions down, certainly. But it wouldn't save as much money (we'd still have to pay for parking, taxes, insurance, and upkeep). And, if it's there, it tends to get used because it's awfully convenient--sometimes it's just too tempting. Getting rid of the car would force us to make conscious choices about how we get around and examine the associated costs. Driving a car costs money every time the car moves (or doesn't) but those costs tend to be hidden, whereas having to rent a car for a day or an hour reminds you right away that you're paying money to drive that vehicle.
So, what do I think would be the benefits:
- Less emissions (especially since we would walk and bicycle more).
- Improved health through more exercise.
- Save money. (calculations to come)
- See the world differently, more interactively. As a writer, this is a big one for me--though I certainly get some info from NPR when I'm driving, when I'm in the car, I don't interact much with the world, and short driving trips aren't good for paying attention to anything besides crazy Boston drivers. When I'm on foot or on the T or on my bike, I see the world closer, I hear more interesting conversations, meet new people. Input like this makes my writing life a lot richer.
- Slows pace of life. Yes, having a car is convenient. But sometimes it allows me to cram too many errands into too small of a stretch of time. There's something to be said for slowing down a little more, and being more conscious of how and where I'm going.
- Less stress from dealing with Boston drivers (though this is still a factor on bicycle) and finding parking, etc. (Dealing with the T can be stressful, so this might be a wash.)
- I don't believe in the systems that have grown up around the car--suburban sprawl, car insurance companies, big petro corporations and their negative global political impact, etc. Insurance galls me in particular--I have 24 years of a clean driving record, not even a speeding ticket. I've been paying car insurance my entire life, which is many, many thousands of dollars. I was involved in a minor fender bender a year ago, which was my fault. No one was hurt. There was minor damage to the other car. As a result, my car insurance premiums have jumped by $400. So what exactly was I paying for for all those years? The increase will pay off the cost to the insurance company for the accident pretty soon, and I'll be stuck paying more for something I never want to use, and if I do use it, it'll cost me even more. It's just dumb.
- I hate having a machine that I can't fix. Cars cost a lot of money to buy and especially to repair. I'm a decent carpenter and can handle drywall, plumbing, electric, and other parts of my house, at least to an extent. I can grow my own food and I'm a decent cook. I don't know much about how to fix cars and I don't have the time or inclination to learn. And it's hard to find a repair shop you can trust. And the repairs are expensive. We've got a couple problems on our vehicle right nowthat just keep getting put off, because they take a block of cash that we don't have handy or want to spend on other things.
- I like the challenge of trying to go without a car. It requires some additional resourcefulness and problem solving, which has appeal to me.
(more to come on hassles and cost)
Choosing No Car - What We're Thinking
We're a family of four living in the Boston area (Brookline actually, just a few feet over the Boston line) and we're planning to get rid of our car. Lots of people in Brookline and Boston live just fine without cars, but it's taken us a while to get serious about getting rid of ours.
For a while, the main excuse was the the kids were too little. But now they're 14 and 9 and perfectly able to get around by bicycle, and we live close enough to school and their friends for them to walk to where they need to go.
Gas prices rising to $4 a gallon gave us a good excuse to run the numbers again on what it would mean to get rid of our car. It turns out that getting rid of it will probably save us quite a bit of money (even with gas at $2/gallon). And it'll be good for the environment for us to be driving less, and we'll get in better shape.
Since Christmas, we've been telling people (it was even in our Christmas letter) that we're going to get rid of our car. Well, now it's time to actually make it happen. This blog will probably just run for a little while, long enough to detail actually unloading the car itself and talking about the subsequent changes to our lives. Our hope is that it might provide some insight for other people who decide to give up their cars and start using alternative forms of transportation.
For this blog, we'll both (and maybe the kids, too) be posting about our experiences around the transition, and we'll also be sharing all kinds of information about articles and organizations that focus on life in America (or at least Boston) without a car.
For a while, the main excuse was the the kids were too little. But now they're 14 and 9 and perfectly able to get around by bicycle, and we live close enough to school and their friends for them to walk to where they need to go.
Gas prices rising to $4 a gallon gave us a good excuse to run the numbers again on what it would mean to get rid of our car. It turns out that getting rid of it will probably save us quite a bit of money (even with gas at $2/gallon). And it'll be good for the environment for us to be driving less, and we'll get in better shape.
Since Christmas, we've been telling people (it was even in our Christmas letter) that we're going to get rid of our car. Well, now it's time to actually make it happen. This blog will probably just run for a little while, long enough to detail actually unloading the car itself and talking about the subsequent changes to our lives. Our hope is that it might provide some insight for other people who decide to give up their cars and start using alternative forms of transportation.
For this blog, we'll both (and maybe the kids, too) be posting about our experiences around the transition, and we'll also be sharing all kinds of information about articles and organizations that focus on life in America (or at least Boston) without a car.
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