Living in Chicago Without a Car
Well, the day has finally come. I’ve been talking about it for a while, but it’s finally happened. I no longer have a car. It’s been almost fifteen years since I got my drivers license and started driving. It was a melancholy moment indeed when my car drove away. It was the first car I had purchased, driven, maintained, paid off, and finally sold all on my own. I feel as if I’ve given up a little personal freedom by getting rid of my car, but for the little bit of personal freedom given up, here are a few of the things I gain as a result:
- Not having to be concerned with automotive gas prices any longer.
- Not having to feel as if I’m a hypocrite for voicing environmental concerns, whilst driving a car around the city.
- Not having to pay for city stickers, license plate renewal fees, parking tickets, worry about moving my car for street cleaning, or the possibility of theft or vandalism
- Not having to write a check to AAA once every three months for car insurance.
Although it’s not a novel concept for many metropolitan dwellers, I’m from Detroit and there is and, at least in my lifetime, never has been a useful method of getting around other than by car. So living in Chicago is absolutely ideal to solve this problem. I can use the CTA, Metra, bike, ZipCar, i-Go, cab, pedicab, or walk pretty much anywhere I need to go.
So stay tuned. I’ll post every so often on how it’s going. Have any interesting stories about living in a city without a car or justifications why a car is a necessary part of urban living? Let me know in the comments.
Here’s a few more resources for anyone else interested in being car free in Chicago:
- Car free Chicago
- Chicago Moms guide to being car free
- Conversation about living in Chicago without a car
- Yelp – Living in Chicago without a car
P.s. – the car above is the car I previously owned.
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Congrats! I’ve been car free almost two years now ( http://snipr.com/3qebj ). I have to say, it was a little easier in SF than Chicago, but I plan on holding on strong.
There are tons of hidden costs to having a car, for example, the last car I sold had depreciated about $100 a month! Not to mention all that cash could have been in a high-yield savings account.
Congratulations on going car free. I know plenty of families here and couples who are car free. Looking forward to hearing how it goes.
That was a nice car
, curious to know how things are going on there without a car. I’ll surely cannot live without car here back in my place.
Congrats on going car free! My husband and I have lived in Chicago for 4 years now without a car with no problems. Before that it was New York. We walk everywhere and feel so much better for it. The CTA is great and when you absolutely need one, cabs are abundant – and when you average out the money you save on car payment, insurance, gas etc, you can indulge in cabs occasionally with NO GUILT.
Hey, congratulations on your decision to go car-free. My husband and I were living just outside Dallas, TX 4 years ago…sold both our cars..and moved to Chicago. Never looked back. We use CTA, Pace, cabs, and IGo and Peapod for groceries…plus we walk a lot. It’s great. Actually, my husband’s transportation is completely free, his employer gives him vouchers for public transportation. I guess where you live in the city makes a difference, too. But we figure we save over $6000 a year…and that’s freedom to us.