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Review: "How To Live Well Without Owning a Car - Save Money, Breathe Easier, and Get More Mileage Out of Life" by Chris Balish



 
 
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Old November 29th 09, 06:49 PM posted to misc.consumers.frugal-living,rec.bicycles.soc,misc.consumers
Shawn Hirn
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Default Review: "How To Live Well Without Owning a Car - Save Money, Breathe Easier, and Get More Mileage Out of Life" by Chris Balish

In article
ca6ca7c70910280657r6d859fa0ic21607abbbf4787b@mail .gmail.com,
"Dave U. Random" ] wrote:

(BikePortland.org) - I have been hearing all about how Chris Balishıs
book, "How to Live Well Without Owning a Car" (Amazon.com:
http://xrl.us/WithoutCar ), is the foremost manual on how to live
car-free no matter where you live. I am here to tell you that it is
true..

Balish starts by laying out exactly how much car ownership is costing
you, and our society as a whole. I found that angle, as opposed to the
³Save the Earth² approach, to be oddly refreshing. Letıs be honest,
most people care a hell of a lot more about their bank account than
their carbon footprint. I sold my car, so I was already rid of that
cost, but was still stunned by how much a car truly costs..

Continued: http://xrl.us/WithoutCarReview


One of the steps to self actualization is not having to own a car and
not needing to depend on others for transportation, but everyone's
situation is different. I was carless for two years when I lived and
worked in Center City, Philadelphia. That worked out fine, but now I
live in the Philadelphia suburbs where public transportation is lacking
and many of the areas here are not pedestrian friendly.

Where I live now, I tried going without a car for four months as an
experiment. It was a major pain in the neck. I had to get up every day
an extra hour early to get to work. To visit friends who don't live near
convenient public transportation, I either had to rent a car or spend
hours trying to get to them via public transportation, walking, biking,
and/or having them pick me up.

I also have four god children who live with their parents in a tiny
rural community near New Hope, PA. There is no public transportation
near them. There is no way their parents could manage without a car. The
nearest public road to their house is one mile unless we cut through the
woods and jump over a creek behind their house. The closest regional
rail line to them is about 30 minutes away and there is no bus route to
get to it from where they live. It takes me ninety minutes to drive to
their house. My god kids are ages 6 to 15 so there's no way for me to
see them unless I drive. I visit them once or twice a month. In fact, I
was there yesterday and I took the oldest girl out shopping for school
clothes. Going to the mall was a 60 minute drive. I racked up nearly 150
miles yesterday visiting the kids and shopping.

My 2008 Prius costs me roughly $550 a month, which includes my car
payment, insurance, gas, parking at work, tolls, and maintenance (e.g.,
oil changes, tires, etc.). That monthly cost will drop by at least half
when my car is paid off in two years. The cost for me to rent a car for
one weekend would easily cost me half that amount in my area (South
Jersey). I would still have to pay for gas and tolls too, plus there's
the value of my time to pick up the rental car and drop it off again.

Factoring in the cost of my time, an extra ten hours in commuting
to/from work a week and the cost of my driving expenses vs. one of the
most expensive public transportation systems in the United States
(SEPTA), driving is the cheapest transportation option for me in most
situations. For example, if I took public transportation to visit my
parents, it would easily take me two hours each way. Driving to visit my
parents takes me 20 minutes. If I value my time at a modest $50 per
hour, that's $200 in time to visit my parents via public transportation
ONCE a week verses $16 worth of my time to drive. Adding in the cost to
drive my car to my parents doesn't change that cost differential
significantly.

Even today, I am supposed to visit some friends for dinner and help them
decorate their house in Christmas lights. I can't leave early for this
visit because I have a friend who lives two hours north of me who is on
his way to visit me for lunch on his way to Virginia for a business
meeting tomorrow. There is no way I can get to my other friend's house
before dark today if I used public transportation, especially
considering that the friend who is on his way to meet me for lunch just
called and told me he is running late.

On the other hand, when I go into Center City Philadelphia to see a
movie, visit a museum exhibit, have dinner, etc., I usually take public
transportation because the cost of parking there is not worth the
benefits of driving there.

My lifestyle at this point in time requires that I drive. As a result, I
doubt I will go carless any time soon, although I sure would like to. I
am looking at the option of buying a house near where I work, but
unfortunately, every house I have seen thus far is way outside my price
range.
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