A month or so in

I sold the car a little over a month ago and thought I would offer some reflection on the experience.

I've enjoyed the experience to this point. Is been relatively easy to get along without the car, but it comes with its challenges. One of the advantages, I am realizing, of having a car is time. It probably takes me, both by bus and bike, twice the time to get from my apartment to work. If I lived closer, I could cut this down. In the end, it comes down to what is more important: time or money?

For me, I can easily lose time. I am young and single, so I only have my own schedule to keep. I enjoy the less stressful commute, as I am not dealing with the same high volumes of traffic that I was in the car. IN some cases, I have found advantage in not having a car. The other day I headed over to Lennox via COTA to do some last minute Christmas shopping for my folks. A quick walk down the street got me to the bus stop, the ride over was all of about 10-12 minutes and I was dropped off practically in front of the door. Finished my shopping and spent a few minutes waiting for the return trip, which itself was just around 10-12 minutes and another short walk back to my place.

I've found myself connecting better to my commuting through the interactions on the bike and the bus. I've had some interesting conversations with fellow passengers and the drivers.

My parents have been a great support for me, even coming up at 5 am to drive me to work the day we hit -25. Despite my insistance that I would be fine, they still got me there. I have to admit the ride was nice.

Overall, I have tried to make this my own thing. I don't want to burden someone else with my decision. I met up with some of my co-workers at Easton a few weeks ago and enjoyed a nice ride home on the bike @ 2am. I was offered rides, but had brought my bike up just in case. One of the small, simple pleasures I get is the look on people's face when I tell them what I am doing. To them an 8 mile ride is some incomprehensibile, to me it's a quick trip. I've learned the time and distance are all realitive.

I would encourage anyone out there to get the bike ready for Bike to Work Week '09 in May. Dust it off and take it for a spin when we get these unseasonably warm days. Take the bus to work a few days a week or head out for a quick walk for those few groceries. It's a great way to see the world.

Comments

[Alex.]

Good work. I wonder how long can you survive without car in the environment which was designed for cars only?
Good luck and keep surviving!

[Andrew Hulvey]

It depends on how you define it. Columbus, at least "Old Columbus" was designed well before cars existed. Many of the earlier suburbs were created around early mass transit.

Because of this, streets are often wide, gridded and easily navigable. There are plenty of side roads running just parallel to main roads that provide good alternatives.

If you rethink what you really "need", you'll find it becomes easier to live without a car-even in Columbus.