Carfree in the Country

[moolie]

I've only ever lived in smaller towns that had no public transportation where I walked or biked everywhere, or cities that had acceptable public transportation. I did get hit by a car once while biking, when I was a university student, but I was fortunately not badly injured. My bike, however, was totaled and it was a year later that I could afford another.

I didn't own a car until I got married at 23 to my hubs who had a car, and even then both hubs and I still biked or took the bus to work because of the downtown parking costs.

Once we had kids and I was at home I began to use the car more often to get myself and the kids (my daughters are 13 months apart in age) around because it was more convenient for big grocery shopping etc. but I continued to walk where I could and we picked up a toddler trailer for the bike once our littlest was 2 years old. Hubs has always taken transit to work.

Now I bike and walk as much as possible, but still have a car because the distances in this city make it difficult to do everything under my own power. I can't imagine living in the country without access to a vehicle because of the distances, unless one has horses and a wagon like the Amish.

 

[Leta]

Wifezilla, I like your sig. A lot.

If we moved to the country and were on a bus line, AND our work schedules jibed with the bus, I don't think we could be entirely carless, but I think we could get by with a single, older farm truck. We'd keep it road legal, but if we were only using it 1-4x per month, we wouldn't have to obsess about gas mileage and we wouldn't have a car payment. And the insurance would be very cheap. If it was a diesel, we could run on it straight bio in the summer and a blend in the winter. (I learned to brew biodiesel in a not-useless-after-all chem class.)

The other option would be to live right in town. We have friends, a childless couple, that work at the college and rent a nearby house. They were carfree for two years, and it really worked out for them- they are both under 30, grad students (free tuition now that they are employed there), and have $0 credit card debt and $0 student loan debt because they saved so much by going carfree. They did buy a car earlier this year, though, it is worth the $400/mo (payment + collision insurance) to have one.

The house our friends rent is typical, affordable, and could even fit our family in it (a squeeze, but doable). It sits on 1.5 acres and we could do about 90% of what we wanted to do there (chickens, ducks + pond, fish in a barrel, bees, fruit + nut trees, enormous garden, no horses or sheep, though, and I don't know about pigs). We could easily get by with one car, and manage without one at all though it would take more planning. I'd love to be that close to our university community and the not-walking-distance-but-still-darn-close independent feed store.

The problem is that urban agriculture, outside of a veggie garden, is really avant garde as yet, and I'm afraid of ending up with animals that I can't commit to, property I can't use, a legal battle I can't pay for, and neighbors that I don't get along with. It depresses me to think of how backward the laws are when it comes to this, and it's offensive to me that we have legislated private property rights out of existence, and while I'm willing to fight to change this stuff, I am not willing to put our life savings on the line over it.

I really appreciate everyone's feedback and input! Please keep the responses coming!

 

[pinkfox]

denim,
my dads a motorcycle rider and im a scoot girl...
and my dad says riding my 50cc scooter is actually MORE exciting than riding a motorcycle...he says it feels alot faster than it actually is lol.

 

[Neko-chan]

Right now we're virtually car free, and we walk or take the bus where we need to go (or get a ride), but when hubby's workpalce moves, we'll have to drive. >.> It's outside of town, and the buses don't go there.

We do have a van though (despite it's non running status atm; the engine is pulled apart to for repairs), and there's some kind of deal you can get to convert the vehicle to LP gas, rather than petrol or diesel, which saves money in the long run, and sends some kind of refund back to you.

I'm hoping to be able to use it for other things, such as possible future business runs etc.

 

[lorihadams]

We actually moved closer to the city cause of gas prices. When you pay more a month in gas than your mortgage then something is out of whack.

We still live on agricultural zoned land but are 5-10 minutes from grocery stores, thrift shops, schools, friends, and are half the distance to hubby's work.

I would love to be in an area where I could bike everywhere but with 2 small children in tow what do you do? I have never lived anywhere near a bus line but we had a community bus in my college town and I used that regularly. I just hated having to plan my whole day around the bus route/times.

I wouldn't go totally car free if I lived in the sticks but I think your plan of having a farm vehicle is good....ever tried taking a goat on the bus???

 

[hwillm1977]

We actually moved closer to the city cause of gas prices. When you pay more a month in gas than your mortgage then something is out of whack.

Yep... we're looking for a house closer to town (but still rural) now if we can qualify for financing... we pay about $700/month for gas... our mortgage is $420. We would SAVE more in gas than it would cost to buy another house.

 

[lorihadams]

Isn't it crazy? Our old mortgage was $750 and we were paying upwards of $1000 a month in gas. My husband got transferred for his job and had to drive 52 miles one way for several years. It was nuts. Now he drives about 20. It cut our gas bill down to around $400 a month now even with the rise in prices. I can be at a grocery store in 5 minutes now versus 25 minutes before. The good thing is that even though our mortgage went up to $922/mo we were able to cover that jump by cutting our gas bill and we were able to get a 10 yr mortgage instead of having a 30 yr mortgage at our old house. So we really will save BIG.

If I could ride a bike everywhere I totally would. I have been in Europe before and there are places where everyone uses public transit or rides bikes or both and it just seems like everyone is happier. No road rage and lots more exercise I guess!

 

[OrganicKale]

At one point I contemplated taking a job further away from home, and commuting by train. But I was too worried about what would happen if my daughter got sick at school and needed to be picked up- what would I do?

Also, I tend to buy a lot of groceries- big bags of dog food, etc. I can't imagine lugging 16 bags of groceries on a bus.

 

[OrganicKale]

Not to mention, how do you get your dogs to the vet without a car? And what about when you have a doctor's appointment and you can only leave work for so long- there isn't time to catch a bus from work to the doctor's and back.

It all just seems so unworkable to me. I admire anyone who can find a way to make it work.

 

[savingdogs]

Not to mention, how do you get your dogs to the vet without a car? And what about when you have a doctor's appointment and you can only leave work for so long- there isn't time to catch a bus from work to the doctor's and back.

It all just seems so unworkable to me. I admire anyone who can find a way to make it work.

I have to agree. Even if you can manage getting to your employment and back and to your grocery shopping and back, how do you go on more complicated shopping excursions, visits with friends and family and, as OrganicKale mentioned, take care of emergency and non-emergency medical appointments, all without having a car? Take a taxi? Borrow from your neighbor? If you live in the heart of a metropolis and have supportive friends with cars you can probably do this fairly well, if not.........