Choosing a Car (and farming)

It looks like our temporary car is going to turn into a permanent car.  It's an oddly tough choice to make.  For most Americans, having a car is the default status, and they can't imagine life without it.  But for two years, we've very much enjoyed not having a car.  I've especially enjoyed the additional exercise, reduced guilt about green house gas emissions, getting to know the streets and city in a different way.  I liked being used less as a chauffeur by my children, and the added resourcefulness and thoughtfulness that was required in how we approached getting around.  The challenge of it was fun.  It was a good conversation starter at parties or out and about.  I loved saving hundred of dollars every month and no longer having to worry about gas in the tank or oil changes or expensive repairs at the auto shop.  I learned how to maintain my own bike, which was fun and rewarding.

So why keep the car?

It's my fault.  Tracy and the kids could continue on without it.  Tracy gets to work fine by bike or T, the kids can walk/bike/scooter to school.  Grocery shopping is easier by bike than car much of the time.  We have zipcar.

But I want to farm.  This fall I'll be taking a Farm Business Planning class, through the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project in Lowell (run by Tufts), which is about 40 miles from here.  In the spring, I hope to be part of their Training Farm Program, farming a small parcel of land, growing vegetables for sale.  I've been able to pull of tending our three different gardens near home with just a bicycle, but I don't think I can manage the commute to the Lowell classes, workshops, and field time just with the commuter rail and bike (I'd thought about it).  And I will need to use a car or truck to haul the harvest to wherever it needs to go.  I could potentially try to find farm land within Boston, in biking distance, but the NESFP training program seems like exactly what I need.  (And land in Boston is pretty tough to find in 1/2 acre or larger plots for farming.)

So, in the end, I'm deciding to choose farming over not having a car.

Our goal will still be to use the car as little as possible.  I'll still grocery shop by bike, the kids will still get to school without a car, Tracy will keep cycling to work.  I'm realistic enough to recognize that we'll end up using the car more than I'd like for casual trips, for convenience.  Kira has field hockey this fall, and we'll be in a carpool for that. 

I'm looking for a parking spot right now.  If it's not too close to home, maybe 1/4 mile, that'll help keep casual errand running down to a minimum.

I think the key factors for getting along well in America without a car are these:

• Living close to work (less than 5 miles, or very strong public transit options)


• Living close to schools (1 mile)


• Living close to shopping (up to 2 miles)


• Access to public transportation (less than 1 mile)


• Access to Zipcar or rental cars (less than 1 mile)


• Bikeable streets (not too many multi-lane highways on your routes)

We had all of those factors going for us in Brookline, so living without a car was actually pretty simple.  It's only my adding a workplace that's 40 miles away and the need to haul cargo for work, that's making us go back.

All of which means I'll be writing a lot less in this blog.  I'll still post stories about other folks living without cars and making choices to walk and bike and take public transportation, rather than own cars, but I'll be posting much less (I'll be busy learning how to farm).  If you do have your own stories of car-free life, I do hope you'll share them here, or send me links about other people who are making it happen.

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Keith Hold on Bike Shops, Low-Income Communities and Communities of Color

This brief talk by Keith Holt is of interest to me.  I was glad to see the Boston Cyclist's Union holding a free bike repair clinic at a farmer's market in Brigham Circle the other day.  It's a great intersection of neighborhoods, with public housing, students, communities of color, and sections with a variety of incomes all around.  His point about the importance of having a place to get your bike fixed nearby makes a lot of sense, and it a point I didn't think about in terms of acting as a barrier to cycling in low-income neighborhoods. 
 

Rock Auto (Nigeria)

Rock Auto



Rock Auto(West Africa) Nigeria's answer to practical mobility. Rock Auto is the name of the vehicle and Mr Sunday Okpere is its creator.



Thirty five year-old Okpere has been fine tuning the "Rock Auto" persistently for the past four months to ensure its engine runs smoothly and the body looks curvy and flashy like any of the latest imported models on sale in Nigeria.

Okpere said his interest in building vehicles started when he was a child, making toy cars from discarded tins and wires for his friends at school.

Decades later, he decided to unveil his first moving vehicle.

The Rock Auto runs on a Peugeot engine. Okpere says he could not raise funds to build his own engine. The rest of the car is made up of discarded material and scrap metal collected from dumpsites.

Okpere says the Rock Auto is just the beginning.

"There are a lot of things in my brain, because what I am thinking of now is how to build a car for the masses, that will be cheaper for cheaper transport, that is the basic thing," he said.

The Rock auto may not be flashy but it attracts several admirers from his neighborhood of Yaba in the sprawling commercial city of Lagos.

It comes with a set of motorcycle headlights and side indicators, the dash board is bare except for a speedometer and fuel gauge. The 'sound system' is optional -- a transistor radio hung from the roof, and can be taken off and carried wherever one goes to avoid break ins.

It can comfortably carry four passengers.

Okpere declined to reveal how much money he had spent on his innovation and how much he would be willing to sell it for. It has a top speed of 100km/h



Ref



http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//RTV/2011/06/22/RTV1779411/

Mobius Motors (Kenya)

Mobius Motors



(East Africa) Kenya is home to a new automotive company called Mobius Motors. The answer to Africa's lack of transport for rural Africa. A unique venture that designs, manufactures and sells functional and affordable vehicles for the developing world.



This a great example of African automotive design at work on the continent. So far Mobius Motors has developed a working prototype namely Mobius One and is currently working on completing their second vehicle Mobius Two. Do watch this space for they are on a mission to take the made in Africa badge to the next level; Full Production.



Find out more about the founder and the company at large on their website.





http://www.mobiusmotors.com/

http://www.mobiusmotors.com/company/founder.html

lovely lessons from Zen Habits

Leon Babauta has a great post on Zen Habits about all the lessons he feels he and his kids are learning from not having a car and riding mass transit.  We use bikes a lot more than the T these days, but I like riding the T for all the reasons that he lists (and also don't like riding the T for some of the reasons that he lists--which shows the strength of learning to turn negatives into positives). 

Sometimes I'm surprised by all the places that we can get to by mass transit, too.  Noah and I took the blue line to Wonderland the other day, as I was doing some research for a production of one of my plays.  We wore our swimsuits and went swimming at the beach there.  We've lived in Boston for 11 years and never bothered to try taking the subway to the beach (admittedly not the world's nicest beach, but it's really not bad).  It was a lot easier, cheaper, and faster than getting there by car.

I keep saying that I'm going to take him by commuter train up to Rockport, which is a town that I adore, and we can try bringing our bikes on the bike car.  This summer, I really need to make that happen.  With the commuter rail, we can access a lot of Eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, from Providence to Lowell, and all the way out to Fitchburg and Worcester.