Are you sick of crazy drivers on the road, dealing with the woes of driving, and paying high expenses to have a car? Fortunately, there are places in the USA where residents can easily live car-free.
Why Living Without a Car is Beneficial
The cost of owning, operating, and maintaining a car is more expensive than ever. Between car payments, insurance, maintenance, and repairs, you can expect to spend a pretty penny every year. Plus, you have to consider parking fees, tolls, scary gas prices, and maybe the occasional ticket. In total, the average car owner spends over $10,000 annually just to have a car. Living car-free means your transportation costs come in much lower, allowing you to spend those precious dollars elsewhere.
Now, that’s just the money. Owning a car also means wasting time driving, sitting in traffic, suffering the woes of finding parking, and, of course, the environmental impact. You can save time and frustration by ditching the car while also taking strides to help the environment. While it may seem impossible to give up a car, there are actually quite a few places in the USA where having a car isn’t necessary.
Top Cities to Live Car-Free
According to Bloomberg, the top five areas to live car-free are as follows:
- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA
- Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
- Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
What Can You Use Besides a Car?
Given that these cities are large metropolitan areas, that means there are a wide array of alternative transportation options to get residents where they need to go.
1. Your Own Two Feet
Residents living in large cities such as these often make it a point to live nearby their place of work or study. Whether within a few blocks or a couple of miles, residents choose the healthy alternative of walking or riding a bike, skateboard, scooter, or other wheeled options.
2. Public Transportation
Within large metropolitan areas, the governing bodies make extensive efforts to create viable public transportation networks to reduce traffic congestion, pollution, and wear and tear on the city. No matter where they live, residents are typically within walking distance of a bus stop, tram, rapid rail line, train, or subway. Through these methods, they can generally get wherever they need to go.
3. Rideshares
Sometimes, walking or public transportation isn’t the appropriate option. At times like these, residents often use rideshares like Uber or Lyft to get them from point A to point B quickly. Even then, friends, family, and coworkers often split the ride to reduce costs if they are all heading to the same place, such as a party.
4. Chauffeur Service
Private cars are an amenity that serve a unique purpose, especially when people don’t feel like sharing; when they want to go off the beaten path, or they want to arrive in style. Rather than keeping a personal car around for these rare moments, residents can hire a chauffeur service to cater to their transportation needs. Often this is recommended for business functions and special events as the rider gets to be pampered and forget the worry of driving, all at an affordable price.
