Link parking in honor of Bike to Work day

[chargirlgenius]

Heh. No pun intended.

http://www.carfreediet.com/

I don’t think we could ever be a car free family, but it’s interesting to think about going car-lite. If Jeff and/or I worked in Crystal City (not at all out of the question), and we lived in Arlington or someplace central, I could see dropping down to one car. Sure, Arlington is expensive to live in, but owning that second and third car is expensive too.

http://www.bikesatwork.com/carfree/cost-of-car-ownership.html

This link has a calculator that estimates the monthly cost of car ownership*. If I leave in their defaults, but cut the gas and oil way down (since I live close to work), and the repairs and maintenance (since Jeff does most of it), we could still afford almost $100k more worth of house. Which, handy enough, makes living in Arlington *almost* within reach.

Illuminating.

I’d keep the minivan. It’s handy for almost all of our needs – hauling my new wood floor home from Lowes, going to events, carrying the boys and another person, whatever we need. I like that the Jetta gets 50 mpg, but if we were car-lite, the goal would be to drive as little as possible anyway.

*Yep, it’s from a pro-bike site, and therefore suspect. But the numbers correspond well to info that I’ve seen elsewhere.

Comments

[alyclepal.livejournal.com]

We've been dealing with one working car since August. It sounds all nice and eco friendly but since we don't live in a city, there are no bike lanes and it's unsafe to bike to town, it actually sucks. Rurik works a hour away too so it's not like I can borrow the car for the day:<. On the good side I'm so used to staying home now that when I do have a car I don't really have anywhere to go once I've hit the library, farmer's market (sat.) and grocery store.

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

That bites. Yeah, it's not something that's easy or fun when you live outside of an urban area, or even inside of one that doesn't have public transportation and/or walkability.

[trystbat.livejournal.com]

I've never had a driver's license or a car -- & I've always lived in California :-) It's a challenge, but it's doable. Definitely more affordable, esp. in the ultra-pricey SF Bay Area. T&I wouldn't be able to afford a house here if we had 2 cars.

We did upgrade to a Prius a couple years ago, & that made a world of difference. He drives a lot for work (freelance videographer), & when gas prices shot up, it didn't hurt him.

[greta-k.livejournal.com]

Sister #3 doesn't drive and never has. If you want to know about public transportation in the NoVa/DC area, she's the person to talk to :-)

As for me, as nice and eco-friendly as going with 1 car sounds, I have to admit that you will have to pry the wheel of my car out of my cold, dead hands. I like to drive, and I miss just driving out into the country for a morning or an afternoon. Perhaps when the Small Person is a bit older it'll be feasible again.

And never, EVER suggest that the Navigator give up his Jeep. Them's fightin' words!