Cities or towns where you don't need a car

I think that it’s possible to find a walkable area in most any city, town, village but I don’t think that any p!ace is perfect.

I live in a gritty urban neighborhood where almost everything I need is within walking distance.

I still have a car and use it about once a week.

If I was looking to relocate, I would probably focus on smaller college towns or seasonal resort communities. Those places tend to be a bit more expensive but they usually have a few more interesting things to offer than my current neighborhood.

I would also look at the reality of the next phase of life when walking may no longer be a safe option.

Good luck!
 
Aunt Bea said:
I think that it’s possible to find a walkable area in most any city, town, village but I don’t think that any p!ace is perfect.

I live in a gritty urban neighborhood where almost everything I need is within walking distance.

I still have a car and use it about once a week.

If I was looking to relocate, I would probably focus on smaller college towns or seasonal resort communities. Those places tend to be a bit more expensive but they usually have a few more interesting things to offer than my current neighborhood.

I would also look at the reality of the next phase of life when walking may no longer be a safe option.

Good luck!
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Very wise thoughts.

I live in a walkable suburban neighborhood, but the closest food store is at least a mile away. If we stay here, we'll likely reach the point where we can no longer drive so will have to have groceries delivered, or Uber to a store, or have one of our children shop with us, or who knows what.
 

Alizerine said:
I wish I could help you solve your problem. If you sold your house would there be enough left to offer your husband something he has always wanted? A trip, a car, an apartment with a view?
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Probably not since I want to live closer to town and prices go up (even while house/lot sizes go down) the closer you move to town. If we moved into a much smaller place (like a 2-bedroom condo or something), there would probably be enough money for something like that but putting him in that small of a place would be like trying to cage up a wild animal. Good idea anyway, though; thanks.
 
Pinky said:
I think a lot of the large cities in the U.S. are probably similar .. NYC for instance.
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NY has a lot of mixed use neighborhoods, as does Chicago. LA not so much. Western cities tend to be largely comprised of business districts, convention centers, hotels, eateries (many only open for breakfast and lunch), and some entertainment venues downtown, but true grocery stores are scarcer than hen's teeth.

Since most western cities grew exponentially post WWII when everyone wanted to live in the suburbs, there's not much housing downtown. Sure, some developers have built high-end, high rise condos, but the demand is low. LA just isn't that kind of city.

Until I moved here, I didn't realize that west coast cities tend to be daytime rather than nighttime cities so people skedaddle home immediately after work. Being 3 hours behind NY, most companies here start at 8:00 AM at the latest, and a number of my jobs started at 7:00 or 7:30.

NYers were famous for two hour lunches M-Th. and not coming back to work at all on Fridays after lunch. Therefore anything later than an 8 AM Pacific time start was unthinkable for businesses with east coast vendors, customers or associates. Getting up at 6 or earlier to be to work on time makes late nights out of the question. When I tell you downtown LA is mostly deserted after 6:30 pm, I'm not whistling Dixie.
 
Pinky said:
I live in a big city, but could get anywhere via subway, bus, and walking, as so much of the population do.
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Pinky. You forgot to mention the 9,000 rental pedal bikes that are available in Toronto. The bright orange ones sponsored by Tangerine Bank. For those that don't know, the bikes are parked in individual docking charger units. You swipe your credit or debit card through the reader on the handle bar, the docking device unlocks, and off you go. The bikes have an electric motor assist so you can pedal and if you are going up a hill the electric motor kicks in to help you.

Once you arrive at a docking location close to where you want to be, you put the bike 's front wheel in the dock, swipe your card, and walk away. The docking stations all have overhead solar panels that recharge the bike's electric battery. You only pay for the time that you use the bike. Its way cheaper than driving a car in downtown traffic. Toronto has an extensive city wide network of bike only lanes , that are separated physically from the cars and trucks.

here is a link to the website. https://bikesharetoronto.com/
 
A car in NYC is necessary in the four outer boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, the Bronx. Lots of shopping plazas now with parking lots. Bus travel interminably long and won't go everywhere you want to.
 
Part of the problem is that we use our cars for more than just shopping. Even if your groceries, etc. all deliver, or if you have good bus service to the stores, we all have to (or want to) go to places other than stores. How about doctors and dentists, physical therapy, places that provide hearing aids and glasses, etc.? (Becomes more important as you get older).

And there are other things we drive to. What if you want to go to a lovely park or other kind of natural attraction, which may be way over on the other side of town? What if you need to get to an airport, for yourself or to pick someone up? What if you want to take a course at a local college which is not within walking distance? And as you get older, "walking distance" gets smaller and smaller.

And there are other things that might be important to you, such as religious services, volunteer work, visiting friends and relatives.

What about theatre, sports events, games you like to play, gyms, the pool, etc.? Most of those places are available by uber or cab, but can be very expensive and from what I hear, they don't always show up on time. If driving your own car, you can accomplish several errands in rapid succession, going to places that are near each other. Can you do that with uber?

Outside of New York City, I can't think of any other place in this country where it is easy to live without a car. (Of course, you can always see if Morgan Freeman is interested in being your chauffeur, 24/7.)
 
Sunny said:
Part of the problem is that we use our cars for more than just shopping. Even if your groceries, etc. all deliver, or if you have good bus service to the stores, we all have to (or want to) go to places other than stores. How about doctors and dentists, physical therapy, places that provide hearing aids and glasses, etc.? (Becomes more important as you get older).

And there are other things we drive to. What if you want to go to a lovely park or other kind of natural attraction, which may be way over on the other side of town? What if you need to get to an airport, for yourself or to pick someone up? What if you want to take a course at a local college which is not within walking distance? And as you get older, "walking distance" gets smaller and smaller.

And there are other things that might be important to you, such as religious services, volunteer work, visiting friends and relatives.

What about theatre, sports events, games you like to play, gyms, the pool, etc.? Most of those places are available by uber or cab, but can be very expensive and from what I hear, they don't always show up on time. If driving your own car, you can accomplish several errands in rapid succession, going to places that are near each other. Can you do that with uber?

Outside of New York City, I can't think of any other place in this country where it is easy to live without a car. (Of course, you can always see if Morgan Freeman is interested in being your chauffeur, 24/7.)
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Good points, all of this. But the fact remains, if you live long enough, there will come a time when you're no longer able to drive safely so it'd be good if something could be done about this other than every old person in the U.S. who can no longer drive moving to NYC.
 
I agree, officerripley. It is a growing problem as the "older" population continues to grow. And even living in a seniors-only community, well equipped with many of the things I mentioned above, I still find that I am driving my car nearly every day. It's a necessity for most people.
 
Sunny said:
I agree, officerripley. It is a growing problem as the "older" population continues to grow. And even living in a seniors-only community, well equipped with many of the things I mentioned above, I still find that I am driving my car nearly every day. It's a necessity for most people.
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Unbelievably, there is a neighborhood here in this darn town that is almost European in its walkability, large supermarket, pharmacy, the library (my most favorite place in the world), primary care clinic, at least one each hair salon and barber shop, several good eateries, nice gift shop, huge shoe store, a full-service branch of our bank, a used bookstore, an upscale consignment shop, a natural foods store, etc. And there's actually some affordable, nice housing (single-family homes, apartments, condos); and I'd move there in a minute but my Huzz despises that neighborhood, so here we stay.

He couldn't care less about walkability where we live since he says the steering wheel to our cars will have to be pried out of his cold, dead hands.
 
My dearest friend has serious macular degeneration. She was practically born behind a steering wheel and always loved driving, but safety demanded she give it up. She's adapted admirably to her new circumstances: walks to a nearby, large shopping center almost daily, learned and fully utilizes her local public transportation system, makes use of Uber and Lyft when the need arises, and takes a plane, train or bus when traveling long distances.

She says when figuring in the cost of a car, insurance, registration, fuel, maintenance, parking fees, and so forth., her overall transportation costs are far cheaper than owning a car.

I'm so inspired with how well she's managing this, and without a word of complaint. She saw it as a new life challenge and has risen to meet it.
 
My FIL had a small liquor store in the Bronx back in the 60's through the 80's. Most of his regular customers had never gone beyond that block. They did all their shopping there at all those specialty stores (that I loved compared to our big grocery stores). Some had immigrated from other countries and once they got settled in their apartment stayed within that area.

I wish the downtown area of my small city had a grocery store and a doctor's office on the main street. That would make living without a car much easier for me. If I did not have mobility issues I could walk to those too.
 
katlupe said:
My FIL had a small liquor store in the Bronx back in the 60's through the 80's. Most of his regular customers had never gone beyond that block. They did all their shopping there at all those specialty stores (that I loved compared to our big grocery stores). Some had immigrated from other countries and once they got settled in their apartment stayed within that area.

I wish the downtown area of my small city had a grocery store and a doctor's office on the main street. That would make living without a car much easier for me. If I did not have mobility issues I could walk to those too.
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That was a dicey time in the Bronx - and much of the other four Boroughs. He must have been made of very strong stuff. Did you know him then?
 
StarSong said:
That was a dicey time in the Bronx - and much of the other four Boroughs. He must have been made of very strong stuff. Did you know him then?
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katlupe said:
My FIL had a small liquor store in the Bronx back in the 60's through the 80's. Most of his regular customers had never gone beyond that block. They did all their shopping there at all those specialty stores (that I loved compared to our big grocery stores). Some had immigrated from other countries and once they got settled in their apartment stayed within that area.

I wish the downtown area of my small city had a grocery store and a doctor's office on the main street. That would make living without a car much easier for me. If I did not have mobility issues I could walk to those too.
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What neighborhood was the liquor store? I spent plenty of time in the Bronx growing up during the late 60's-late 70's culminating w the blackout of 1977. I was down in Hunts Point around 2am skirting the looting and lawlessness on my way to work.

NYC Blackout 1977
 
The community that I live in was once a much smaller village surrounded by farms.

It was on a major railway and had a station primarily used to load cattle and hogs, apples and onions and potatoes, corn and beans and wheat and rye and flax to ship them onward to Chicago, or the other direction through Port Huron/Sarnia to Toronto. These trains also brought in shelf stock, clothing, notions, non-local foods, and such for retail. There was also a passenger train several times each week.

In addition there was a parallel inter-urban light railroad that connected the village with the capital city in one direction and the next two villages "up the line" in the other. In the capital there were horses and wagons, but also horse-drawn (and later electric) streetcars.

People got around within the village on foot or by horse and wagon.

The days of a compact walkable village and connectors to other communities are long gone here.

I was able to still do that until almost three decades back when we lost the last two grocery stores in the old village when Walmart came in. At least I can still walk to our last pharmacy and hardware store and a Mexican food truck and small Chinese take-out food place. Speculators are buying everything up. Once they have enough land together in one place they build 4 story luxury retiree housing locals can't afford.
 
againstthegrain said:
What neighborhood was the liquor store? I spent plenty of time in the Bronx growing up during the late 60's-late 70's culminating w the blackout of 1977. I was down in Hunts Point around 2am skirting the looting and lawlessness on my way to work.

NYC Blackout 1977
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It was on Lydig Avenue. I have looked on Google Earth trying to find it but I don't know the number so couldn't find it. There was a produce market right across the street, a seafood store, a drug store (with a soda counter where we filled up on egg creams), a butcher and the most wonderful bakery! We would bring boxes of baked goods back home with us.
 
katlupe said:
It was on Lydig Avenue. I have looked on Google Earth trying to find it but I don't know the number so couldn't find it. There was a produce market right across the street, a seafood store, a drug store (with a soda counter where we filled up on egg creams), a butcher and the most wonderful bakery! We would bring boxes of baked goods back home with us.
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I passed by Lydig Ave about a million times. The bakeries of the day were phenomenal!
 
dilettante said:
The community that I live in was once a much smaller village surrounded by farms.

It was on a major railway and had a station primarily used to load cattle and hogs, apples and onions and potatoes, corn and beans and wheat and rye and flax to ship them onward to Chicago, or the other direction through Port Huron/Sarnia to Toronto. These trains also brought in shelf stock, clothing, notions, non-local foods, and such for retail. There was also a passenger train several times each week.

In addition there was a parallel inter-urban light railroad that connected the village with the capital city in one direction and the next two villages "up the line" in the other. In the capital there were horses and wagons, but also horse-drawn (and later electric) streetcars.

People got around within the village on foot or by horse and wagon.

The days of a compact walkable village and connectors to other communities are long gone here.

I was able to still do that until almost three decades back when we lost the last two grocery stores in the old village when Walmart came in. At least I can still walk to our last pharmacy and hardware store and a Mexican food truck and small Chinese take-out food place. Speculators are buying everything up. Once they have enough land together in one place they build 4 story luxury retiree housing locals can't afford.
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If 4 story, luxury housing is attracting retirees of some monetary means, your community must have some greater appeal than an outlying Walmart, a local pharmacy and some small eateries would offer. People only move to Podunk when there's a good reason.

What do you suppose is attracting them?
 
We’re seeing two of those high density low rise self contained villages planned for this area.

The one pictured has 500 housing units, shopping, offices, restaurants, etc… on eighty acres of land.

K52BFGQQQVFTRDSPZ53Y5RYYZU.jpg


They are both high end communities geared towards singles and dinks of all ages but definitely not for the people that will be building and working in them.
 

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