[Closed] Anyone doing without a car?

I haven't had a car for about ten years now. Not missed one at all but I have made important decisions about where and how to live etc based around that fact. So, I'm within walking distance of a train station (that used to get me to a job in London) and a town centre with supermarkets. I'm about 45 minutes bike ride from my parents. If I really need a car and can't take a train, I simply rent one. I find it very liberating.

My reasons have been both environmental and economic. But mainly I just loathe 'stuff' and would like to pare my life down to the bare minimum where possible. I accept that it's much harder to manage without a car with kids and their schooling, Saturday activities and so on. But I filed kids under 'stuff I don't need' years ago too.

In environmental terms, I'm not convinced by electric cars either, though they're clearly better than a dirty old diesel. So I'll stick with my bicycle(s) for now. I do feel like I've got carte blanche to rent something ridiculous on foreign trips though, like Shelby Mustangs or a giant 4WD without feeling too bad.

Sounds grim.

I have a car, in fact I have 2, but do most of my miles by bike. 10:1 this year. I’d never get rid of the car. Going to the shop (8miles away) with 2 kids on bikes, forget it.

My car is 17 years old and does about 100-150 miles a month. The other car is electric and does about 5000 miles a year.

Getting rid of them would just be a pain. They owe me nothing, cost me almost nothing (£800 a year for 2 cars tax/insurance, MOTs, etc).

I appreciate that it can work for some, but it’s not a suitable situation for all.

Me.
Sold my last one 6 years ago when I changed job to one I could get the train to. Bought a cargo bike with some of the proceeds. I rent a car once or twice a year for specific journeys.
There’s no question that on occasions I miss it, but I knew that would happen and am at peace with it.
It took me 6 or so months to get used to it, getting in the habit of thinking about journeys more and how to do things.
The cargo bike is well used, I can fit the weekly shopping in it, and have carried all kinds of odd loads on it.
I do think if I had kids it would be a challenge.

Interesting real world experience OP. I can understand bit leading to a slower, occasionally harder, but maybe more satisfying pace of life.

I like the idea of going no car, although with 2 teenagers it wouldn't happen any time soon. And it would probably require a house move, or a return of the public transport we have seen slowly removed from our village over the last 20 years we've been here.

A question for those without a car, do you live in towns/cities? I genuinely don't think I could function without a car given the proximity of shops to where I live.

If I lived in the Netherlands for example I could see it working better as they have decent public transport, better cycling infrastructure and flatter roads.

I sold my car in 2010 as i was riding to work every day (20 mile round trip) and most of my free time was spent on the road bike going further afield so the car just wasn't getting used

The only time i really missed the car was when i did the monthly food shop, i had to get a taxi there and back, getting to the shop wasn't an issue but getting home was

If the taxi was late or stuck in traffic then i was sat there with a month's worth of frozen food defrosting! luckily the taxi was never late enough for the food to be ruined

Then in 2016 i found out the wife was pregnant and due to the hours i work and childcare arrangements meant a car was needed again

Would love to go car free again but no chance of that happening till the boy is grown up and able to transport himself around

I don't drive much when in UK, in fact the house I am looking for has to be walkable to a train station. I last lived in London so cycled everywhere, it's a bit challenging being car free in a smaller town.

I use buses, trains or borrow a car if I need one. It can be challenging but you feel better for having got round the obstacle,

Well done non car owners, got to be a growing population.

A question for those without a car, do you live in towns/cities?

Think that is a given. I live rurally and no way could I live without a car. There is one bus that takes me to nearest town 6 miles away and that just goes at 11:30 now which is clearly not much use.

I rather have a car then need one but non available.

Don't care what type of car it is so long as it is a car I can drive.

It is freedom!

Freedddoommm! 😄

There has not been a car in our household for 35 years. Its essential to me to live without one. There are disadvantages yes - but also advantages as you are not tied in to using a car.

I live in a city.

I guess it very much depends on where you live, rural not much chance unless you are lucky with public transport.
I used to live in Bristol and a bike was a much better option (you had to accept some very steep hills though)
For my job it would be almost impossible as I'm on call 24/7 for a site 13 miles away.

Not had a car since 2002 when I moved to the Caribbean for a while. On my return I never got round to having one and travel everywhere by bike/train and taxi to the station.
I live 4 miles from the station and used to work the same distance from the office. I spent a year commuting 17 miles each way over the Ridgeway and that was excellent.
Bad sides: shopping for heavy things. You end up doing lots of small shops and buy a mate a beer to do a once a fortnight 'proper' shop.
You need to plan more if you are going anywhere.
Taxis are expensive for just a connection to a station.
By and large its a win.
But I don't have kids and I accept it is not a life for everyone.
I intend to be back in Weymouth full time before next summer (fingers crossed) and I really can't imagine living town with a car.

Edit: Just seen Kerley's comment. My village has had no buses running through it for 4 years other than a school bus. Not good.

I've not had a car for about 5 years, commute by train, and more recently, commute to the dining room.

There are big disadvantages, you can't 'just nip to the supermarket' and buy a load of shopping.

And you cant 'just nip here or there' on a whim.

SO I use taxis sometimes for that.

Overall, It's cheaper, and better for the envronment i'd hope. but it does require a bit more planning sometimes.

DISCLAIMER:
I live where there are good buss and train links, if you are in the sticks, you kinda need independent transport.

Not unsurprisingly, all those who have posted that they don’t have cars also don’t have kids...

I can just nip to the supermarket. Several within walking distance - again thats a criteria for me for somewhere to live. Must be able to walk / cycle to a decent shop and a decent pub and cycle to a train station.

I can get anywhere in the city quicker by bike so nipping here and there on a whim is no issue.

You need to be prepared for occasional big taxi fares and a stream of small ones for times when buses and trains are too awkward. I will occasionally pay a £20 taxi to get us home again after walking away from the house all day and have been known to get taxis home from Glasgow, Stirling etc

The hardest thing for us is transporting the tandem - its not allowed on trains so hire vehicle it is

One real positive I like is to do one way trips using public transport for the return. something its hard to see i9f you own a car.

I've had cars off and on. Currently without one. Pros are lower cost, less stress and better for the environment and more sociable. Cons are more planning needed, less range and crowds. It's fairly rural where I live which makes it harder, but still possible. I think it would be a challenge with a family although we used to go on holiday with one, whose surname was 'Walker'.

Not for me. Apart from having to change jobs; give up my two main sports/hobbies/recreational activities due to either distance traveled or amount of kit to transport; and spend every other day walking to the supermarket with a big hiking bag; my life would be unchanged.
Talked about dropping to one between us this summer as the Mrs is now WFH full time. but I think the wet and dark evenings have scuppered that thought.

The other change is time. Things have slowed down. When we had a car, we might have gone to the out of town shopping centre, and then stopped in town to watch a film, get something to eat, before getting the grocery shopping on the way home. Without a car we can probably only do one or two of those things as cycling, walking and public transport is slower. Consequently, doing any one of these things becomes more of an event and the day’s objective. We have therefore become less efficient in making use of our time, but the journey and destination have become more important. I’m sure this would do some people’s heads in, but for me life feels less busy and better for it.

This would be a living hell for me.

I would dearly love to have the balls to at least drop to one car however with Mrs D doing 12 hour day or night shifts, finleybgoode to cart around, the fact that to get to work a few miles across town by public transport would take over 2 hours each way and to cycle I'd be taking my life into my own hands given the estates I'd have to ride through, no showers at work etc I just cannot see it happening in the foreseeable future.

A very noble ideal for sure and at some point private car ownership is going to become unsustainable globally I think. However, until someone comes up with a viable alternative public transport-wise it ain't going to happen.

I was with you until the bit about drinking Tenants. 😉

you live in towns/cities?

Not in, 4 miles outside the nearest town that has a train station and proper shops.

I rather have a car then need one but non available.

See I’d rather not have a depreciating asset on the drive and hire one/get a cab if needed.

There are big disadvantages, you can’t ‘just nip to the supermarket’ and buy a load of shopping.

A cargo bike removes this. I can get a weekly big shop on the bike (with a rucksack occasionally deployed) and could have my niece in the back too.
I don’t think no car would work for me without the cargo bike.

Hey guys, you know that supermarkets deliver these days? You don't need a car to do a big shop.

We still have a car because I haven't been able to convince MrsDoris that she'd enjoy doing 16 miles a day by bike. Also, it's a 250 mile round trip to see either my parents or hers, and that kind of distance puts car club stuff just out of sensible reach.

But since March it has done less than 1,000 miles and we've had to jump start it twice. Some of those miles were just to give it a runout. So this year we could easily have done without! In a normal year I drive about once a month (the longer runs to see family) - but as a household I don't think we'd want to completely get rid just yet.

Oh good grief how dreadful next you’ll be suggest no TV or animal products.

Not unsurprisingly, all those who have posted that they don’t have cars also don’t have kids…

Neither my wife and I have had a car since childhood. We have 2 children, both in their mid twenties. Neither of them have a car.

Mrs dB & I are going down to one car next year as she mostly wfh and 75% of my jobs I can get to by train (5min walk to station) but will also have a motorcycle so still not very Eco friendly. Longer term plan is to move/retire to somewhere more amenable to life without a car & don't plan on driving after 70. Brother tried car free 30yrs ago with two small kids in Worcester, was fairly tricky but probably a lot easier now with Internet shopping etc.

Edit - we have 5 grown up kids

I don’t own a car after losing my license back in 2009 from being a **** and totting up points.
I do own a motorbike which I commute on unless the weather is really dangerous like 50+ mph wind and rain or like the 2010 snow and 2018 beast from the East.
My other half drives and our nearest big supermarket is 10 minutes drive.
If for some reason I can’t get a lift from other half, the train station is a 5 minute walk with regular services to Leeds, York, Blackburn, Burnley and Preston also a regular Bus to Blackburn Burnley and Preston on a posh looking bus with WiFi and Italian leather seats.

The village we live in has plenty of local shops a couple of chippies and a Indian Restaurant and also access to the Leeds Liverpool canal so you can cycle into Blackburn.
It’s quiet and apart from some days I really don’t need a car. But we need one in the household.

No car since December 2011, sometimes we miss the convenience, but the annual ~£1k savings have helped household expenditure and made me discover I can commute quicker by bike while being fitter than sitting in traffic jams.

43yrs old and last owned a car in 1995. I live in central London. It's much easier than people imagine, trains busses etc and occasionally hire when needed. I travel all over the UK kitesurfing and riding, much nicer on the train as you bypass all the congestion etc. You definitely need a railcard though!

Not unsurprisingly, all those who have posted that they don’t have cars also don’t have kids

I was wondering this too. Not a criticism if people do or don't but question.

43yrs old and last owned a car in 1995. I live in central London. It’s much easier than people imagine

To be fair that probably one of the easiest places in the country to live without a car. Good transport links to just about everywhere in the world let alone the country and loads of car / van hire places for the occasional hire when needed.

Personally I have never not had a car but have had a stage where I used a car very rarely when I lived in London (zone 3/4) but for me it actually worked out cheaper to own a car for the times I did use it, but I can keep a car going for very cheap.

Much like many here cite living a simpler lifestyle for me a car facilitates that for me. I am not bashing being car free I think it's excellent just offering a pov people with the same aims can have different paths.

I have always had a DIY ethos (I don't mean putting shelves up I mean one of independence and self reliance, which includes putting up shelves) and anti consumerism. For me a car of some sort has always helped with this. Buying second hand goods to buying old tools, collecting and refurbishing second hand materials. Over the last five years I have unfortunately cut back on riding for utility and it's something I need to get back into and something that can cover most of my day to day (but not week to week) needs. WFH currently so that at least has stopped the daily driving.

Loads of people live easily in Doha without a car because of uber. It's so ubiquitous and cheap that it's a great option. They will turn up in 2-5 minutes 24/7 and is a glimpse of the future when self driving cars used this way.

Doesn't work if you have kids because of car seats. No-one enforces that out here but I wouldn't do it with mine.

I do now as my job requires it. But for many years went without. I live in a city though. Never been as fit as when I used to get around on my bike, and I think it's made me a much more considerate driver too. I would be more than happy not having a car if I didn't need it for work.

Not unsurprisingly, all those who have posted that they don’t have cars also don’t have kids…

obviously I don't.

I can think of two friends families who tried it. One in York and one in London. Both ended up with a car for weekends but both did many years without a car.

Don't really get the kids point. When I was a kid I never got a lift anywhere, not once. I ride my bike, got buses or when very young got walked to school taken to places on buses etc.

However, try that rurally and it is a different matter with no pavements to walk on, no buses to take you anywhere, no street lights etc,. Makes it very worth having a car and if you choose the car wisely it hardly costs anything to buy or run.

I live in London, and have never owned a car. What with public transport generally being excellent, everything being in walking distance, and the bike covering the rest and the commute I've never needed one. I also enjoy not spending the money on one either!

We have a near two year old and don't get me wrong there are times now where it'd be convenient to have one, but these are few and far between and (pandemic notwithstanding) we've always managed with trains. We're looking to move out, but are fully aiming to still live somewhere where we can walk to every day things. I have no interest in relying on a car to live my life for both financial and environmental reasons.

We got rid of our second car 4 years ago when we moved to the outside of Leeds. p20 cycles to work, I walk and train in (not this year!). Wasn’t possible in our previous lives in the NE - both had to commute reasonable distance in different directions. We now just have the VW camper which is used for lesuire and trips to see family etc. I walk to the supermarket, chemist, post office etc and only take the van for a big shop (though the last month with being ill with COVID we’ve been getting deliveries). The van is our leisure time - but also allows us to drive to see my parents etc who have no public transport near them. Works as a balance for us but wouldn’t be without it I don’t think - would be a lifestyle change.

There are some really encouraging stories here. A common thread is that better public transport is needed if more people are to do it. We used to live in a village with a station and in hindsight we could have lived without a car there. It would still have been more restrictive than where we are now (Glasgow) but definitely doable.

We considered getting an electric car at the time we got rid of ours but emissions are not the only downsides to car ownership: noise, congestion, isolation from the world around you and space consumed for parking are also problematic, and electric cars don't solve any of these. (I was amazed at how much tyre roar a Tesla produces at 30 mph - it's barely any quieter than a diesel at the same speed).

Cargo bikes, particularly electric cargo bikes, solve many of the problems posed by shopping and of carrying kids. I also like the look of these car share schemes where you can hire a car for a few hours at a time, although I was struggling to think of examples of where I'd want to use it.

As with any big lifestyle change it's easy to think I can't do that because X which kind of shuts down any problem solving, whereas if the change in question is forced upon you, say by redundancy or by some miracle the greens getting in and banning cars, in that situation you start consider what you can do, both in terms of what is possible and how you might adapt.

In an urbanised environment and/or without kids it's much easier

I live in London and have 3 kids. Would be hard without a car.

I have a cargo bike and if it was an electric one I'd use it more. I can do the food shopping on it and do when the timing/convenience works out. You can get quite a lot on it. Also use it for kids but I live in a reasonably hilly bit of London so it's tiring winching it up hills with cargo/kids on it

Public transport is OK but cycling around is pretty straightforward. BUT, if you want to go somewhere with 1 or more other people, it's a lot more faff without a car

I live in a city.

Yeah, we know. Virtue signalling to a large part of the population who don’t, and have very poor public transport, due to the widespread population, is really not a good look.
I live in a large town, with reasonable public transport to major destinations. However, while it’s possible to walk to the station, about twenty minutes, and get a train to Bath, about fifteen-twenty minutes, to get to work would involve either a twenty minute walk, roughly two hours on buses, with another twenty-thirty minute walk at the other end, or the same walk to the station, two trains and another thirty minute walk, and that’s with a 7.00am shift start. I work fifteen miles away, and can drive it in twenty minutes...
And the same with a late shift when I finish at 7.00pm. Three hours each way, on top of an 8.5 hour shift? **** that!

Yeah, we know. Virtue signalling to a large part of the population who don’t, and have very poor public transport, due to the widespread population, is really not a good look.

Not trying to virtue signal, rather to add the context that I happen to live somewhere with an excellent public transport network that solves the problem you point out at the end of your post. I didn’t choose to live here 10 years ago because I don’t like cars, I don’t have a car because I don’t need one here and have subsequently designed my life that way.

I fully recognise that this place is an outlier and I’m not trying to judge others because they don’t have the public transport options I do. The poster asked if people can live without a car. I can, and the place I live I think is important context as to why I can.

I only learnt to drive six years ago, mid thirties. I always cycled and walked everywhere. Living in Manchester there were also fantastic transport links, to the city and all over the uk. I wore the 'no car' thing as a badge of honour.

Once I moved to Cumbria, I found it much more difficult. I first lived in Cockermouth, no train station and the buses were expensive, irregular and unreliable.  I'm now in windermere and the buses aren't bad, also have a train link to Kendal. To get to work, it'd be two buses, forty minutes to an hour. Takes 15 to drive, 30 to cycle.

I still cycle to work regularly but definitely wouldn't be without a vehicle, a van in my case. I love the freedom of being able to drive somewhere fun for weekend (and sleep over). I'm only insured for 8000 miles a year and rarely get near that, definitely no where near this year!

I'm currently looking to buy a house which will be much further from work, unfortunately driving will be essential. Small village with no real bus links. Theoretically, I could do bike, two trains and more bike to get there 😂

Its not virtue signalling. I merely show that its perfectly possible to live without a car. the ability to do so is a consequence of decisions you make.

I merely show that its perfectly possible to live without a car.

For some people it is, for others, it isn't

Yes it is - its a consequence of the decisions you make. If you decide to live where there is no shop or pub then its very difficult. But its still a consequence of choices made.

It may be a consequence of the decisions you make, but sometimes you reach a point where those decisions cannot be reversed, so from that point on, you cannot live without a car.

There is a very slim possibility that I could change my whole life so massively, that sometime in the future I could live without a car. However, to do so would just be ridiculous beyond belief

There is a very slim possibility that I could change my whole life so massively, that sometime in the future I could live without a car. However, to do so would just be ridiculous beyond belief

Yep. But let's say you get to 80 and you can't drive any more, those adjustments are something you'd be making naturally and probably wouldn't seem so ridiculous.

I used to live in a small town with shops and decent transport to the nearest city. Was fine managing without a car day to day, used to hire one if I was going further afield and it was needed. Managed without a car with a small child but it was definitely harder, so ended up getting one when she was about 2. Have just moved to a small village which is about 5 miles from the nearest shop. Had I not already had a car, I wouldn't have considered it.

Yep. But let’s say you get to 80 and you can’t drive any more, those adjustments are something you’d be making naturally and probably wouldn’t seem so ridiculous.

Moot point. I'll have been long retired by the time I'm 80

Not a moot point - you say "There is a very slim possibility that I could change my whole life so massively, that sometime in the future I could live without a car." I say there's a pretty large possibility that your whole life could change so massively and you'll be in a position where you can live without a car.

I'm glad you know so much about my life that you can argue with me that just because I could transition to not using a car when I'm old and retired, that I could do it now.

Yes, yes I said sometime in the future, but that's a pointless discussion relating it to when I'm 80

Mate, chill! Am absolutely not saying you could do it now, genuinely have no idea how you've read that into what I've written.

What I am saying is that at some point in the future, living without a car is definitely a possibility for you and everyone else. The subtext to that point, I'd say, is that there are loads of elderly people who probably shouldn't be driving. If I live here for as long as I want, it's a decision I might have to face personally.

I could just about do it (and did, at times I barely used the car in a year, it was still more useful and cost effective to have it than not though). But it would be counter-productive. I need a car for work for some jobs. I could cycle (or get the train) to the office then use the work van, but then I'd be driving round in a van rather than a car burning even more diesel.

Yes it is – its a consequence of the decisions you make. If you decide to live where there is no shop or pub then its very difficult. But its still a consequence of choices made.

Well, yes. If I had been born 30 years earlier, had a second flat I rented out to supplement my income, and could afford to be picky about jobs. Then yes.

Unfortunately being born 30 years earlier wasn't something I could decide.

As a crap statement, it's up there with Tory's saying that being poor is just a function of your decisions.

I had a job I could walk to, then got made redundant from it (twice, although the second time wasn't even redundancy they just ended the contract). So short of upping sticks and moving my choices are no job, or a job that involves driving.

The amount of driving we'd be doing definitely influenced where we chose to live when moving out of town. Those idyllic West Coast villages all would need repeated trips to Inverness etc. Even some of the nearer towns and villages to us would have seen us driving around more than we now need to.

I do get the impression from these threads that some town/city dwellers simply do not understand the difficulties faced by those that live more rurally and think we should all live in conurbations and that the countryside is just one big theme park set aside for their leisure time.

I do get the impression from these threads that some town/city dwellers simply do not understand the difficulties faced by those that live more rurally and think we should all live in conurbations and that the countryside is just one big theme park set aside for their leisure time.

The flip side of that is that 99% of the countryside dwellers are actually part of a/the problem in some way? The countryside is a nice place to live, but how many people actually live there because it's where they work?

Mate, chill! Am absolutely not saying you could do it now, genuinely have no idea how you’ve read that into what I’ve written.

Apologies.

I have covid and am grumpy (well grumpier than normal)

No worries, hope you feel better soon. 2020 definitely has brought out the grumps in all of us, for good reason. Next year will be so much better, and STW will be peaceful and relaxing like never before 😉

We could probably manage without but I don't think it's be that worthwhile. We'll often go a week or two without driving. Replacing car usage with something pretty similar like a train journey or a supermarket delivery is more of a sideways step. Better to reduce your travel and look at other ways to reduce your footprint imo.

 The countryside is a nice place to live, but how many people actually live there because it’s where they work?

Round here? Almost everyone. Of course, there are a few folk who've retired and then moved to the area. I'm mostly thinking actually rural, not just commuter-belt where I can see that brings real issues.

We were [i]kind[/i] of doing without a car while having a car and just needed one last push to get rid of it and we sold it about 6 weeks ago. It was only getting used every 10 days or so anyway so it made sense to sell it. It's a bit of a relief to be honest, we'd been umming and ahhing about it for ages and it was the last MOT that pushed me over the edge. I'd been roughly adding up how much having a car was costing us (about £1200-ish a year- insurance, VED, MOT, servicing + repairs, fuel) and it had just thrown up a load of error codes a few days after the MOT that, frankly, I just couldn't be arsed with any more. I also resented the fact that we've ('we' as in people) come to see owning a car as a Thing One Does, just another monthly bill (around £100 a month in our case, based on my rough guesstimations.) Balls. To. That.

We work from home and can walk or ride to the shops (about a mile away) if we need anything so the car was only ever fetched out if we were doing a big/heavy shop and/or had a lot of post to drop at the post office or I was going to see my mam (30-odd miles away). We've found that for everything other than going to see my mam (which I can't do at the minute anyway- lockdown!) we really didn't need a car. Big/heavy shops can be handled by my OH's shopping bike and a couple of panniers on my bike (surprising what you can get in the box on the back of that shopper!) The post still goes out but we stopped selling the bulkier items which needed to be collected by car then packaged and dropped off at the post office at the start of lockdown (seemed the right thing to do) so that requirement (and attendant stress) had already gone. There are hourly trains that run up to Newcastle and I can cycle the rest to my mam's, making a day of it (think sarnies and a flask 😎 ) rather than just popping up for a cuppa while the car was out.

I was made redundant in Sep so my company car had to go back. Had 2 interviews 1) local to ride to (and would have been a good excuse for a new bike) and 2) bit further away and would need a car.
Would have liked to not get a 2nd car (still have one in the family anyway - my son has CP needs a lot of ferrying to therapies and has a ton of equipment).
Of course I got the job further away so had to get a car. I could have waited for a job within a cycle commute but the bills won’t pay them-self.
Sometimes circumstances dictate the choices despite what we’d prefer.
About 25 years ago I had a job I could cycle to, it was the best commute.

The countryside is a nice place to live, but how many people actually live there because it’s where they work?

It certainly is a nice place to live and I work 10 miles away from where I live. I would rather live where I live and have a car than live in a town/city/estate and not need a car.
I just choose a car that is very cheap to run and don't tend to use it that much anyway.

I have always had a DIY ethos (I don’t mean putting shelves up I mean one of independence and self reliance, which includes putting up shelves) and anti consumerism. For me a car of some sort has always helped with this. Buying second hand goods to buying old tools, collecting and refurbishing second hand materials.

For me this is the issue. It's fair enough if you are the kind of person who pays someone else to decorate the house, buys furniture online and has it delivered. Not having a car really limits your ability to do your own work, pick up materials and that kind of thing.

It certainly is a nice place to live and I work 10 miles away from where I live. I would rather live where I live and have a car than live in a town/city/estate and not need a car.

Thats the choice you make. You would hate living in a my city flat with all the facilities with a few hundred yards 🙂 Me I'd hate to live where I needed to get in a car to do anything!

I am considering a move to a town a few miles from the city but the criteria is that there must be a decent shop and a pub within muscle power. I'm (semi) retiring but I will do some agency work by e bike

I'll always use taxis and hire cars when needed

Not having a car really limits your ability to do your own work, pick up materials and that kind of thing.

I had a timber yard with walking distance! Manys the time we have carried a few lengths back. I accept tho that is rare / odd / lucky / stupid

I had a timber yard with walking distance! Manys the time we have carried a few lengths back. I accept tho that is rare / odd / lucky / stupid

That's fine for a few lengths of timber but it is a bit limiting. I'm trying to cut my consumerism and pretty much everything I buy is second hand or left overs. I wouldn't say I "need" a car to do that, but it makes it way easier. I think this a reasonable price to pay for the significant savings. Quite a bit comes from local skips which can be walked to, but for example, I get my 8x4 timber as used building site hording, itd be about an hour a sheet to bring that back. A lot comes from local Facebook, which while local, can still be several miles away. It's a balancing act and I think you need to find what is sustainable and works for you.

You would hate living in a my city flat

I certainly would. The forest is literally 100 metres down the road and I am in a detached house surrounded by 1/2 an acre of garden so can make as much noise as I want without being bothered by neighbours doing anything. Well worth having that and a car for me and would never go back to a town/city.

No car since 2009 (and that was only one winter). Just rented occasionally. Mostly lived in London and a car would have been stupid.

Just bought a doer-upper house back in home town (semi-rural) where car usage is high. It will be tough DIYing without car but I can borrow a van at a push.

I want kids eventually and retire to a properly rural house- that will be a challenge for sure..