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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..