Do you live in a place where you could get by without a car? Have you ever thought about what you would do to get around? Do you actually NEED that car, or do you just LIKE having it?

Sadly no. We live in a very small town so there are no public transportation. Here we have a postal office, a corner store, a gas station, a restaurant and a bar. The nearest town is a little bigger less than ten minutes away and less than thirty minutes away there's another bigger town with more available things. We used to live in a big city and I was using the bus and subway system there. I do have a driver's license but I am too stressed out when I drive so I rarely drove my dad's car. Soon I'll start again because I am tired of waiting for my dad to be available to drive me. The funny thing is that I was so tired of taking the bus and subway that I was about to buy a car when I lost my job, it did not take me long to miss it!

I wish. I read an article about a woman who created a huge custom bike with a wagon to cart her large family around (I think she had over 4 kids). Pretty cool. Living on the East Coast would make it too cold to do something like that. Plus there aren't a lot of sidewalks where we are.

I have been considering getting rid of the van payment, and gas expense though.

I'd love a custom bike like that. I do have my beach cruiser bike that I got at a thrift store, plus a kid trailer I picked up for free from Craigslist. It sort of makes my bike into a three-wheeler, since I can put groceries or whatever in the trailer portion.

In South Florida a car is a must. I also really enjoy driving...it makes me happy--my alone time.

'em..

No.

Southern CA is the same way - it is very hard to get around on foot here, and the public transportation isn't that great.

I am actually without a car right now, since mine broke down again. I am getting a ride back to AZ with a friend, and from there I will just walk everywhere. The one really good thing about my little town is that everything is close by and easy to walk to.

Does anyone use a bicycle to extend their transportation reach without breaking out the car.

I own a bicycle but I have yet to use it. When I was young (especially a teenager) I spent hours on mine then it broked and I bought a new one several years later (in 2007 or 2008). I am afraid that I have forgotten how to use it and that's why I haven't tried it yet, I know it's stupid and I believe everyone who says that you cannot forget how to ride a bike but hey that's me. As for using a bike for transportation in my town that's doable but to go to the nearest towns it could be dangerous, the roads here are not well done plus there's a lot of traffic and the people here mostly drive like maniacs in addition. Causapscal is the nearest town and there's a small road that goes to there so that I could try one of these days but I'm not too sure about trying for Amqui, I would be less scared to walk there. Two or three years ago they did a supposed bike lane, you should see that thing especially the parts that follow the river! It's like an horror movie and of course it cost a lot of money to build! I'm still missing the subway and buses, if I can have the money to move somewhere else and I'm still not rich enough to build an island a city with public transportation will be at the top of my priorities.

Yes we could get by without a car. Here in the large town where I live it's serviced by both buses and trains, and the stations are close enough to walk to. With the bus stop going through our estate it takes you into town. Plus I do online grocery shopping, and sometimes shop for shoes etc., online. However, it is nice to have a car for outings, as it becomes more difficult when going country for short holidays, long weekends and so on. Although I'm not allowed to drive for health reasons, I do love our car. I chose it, and it's been built from scratch in the colour I wanted (Chilli Orange), and fitted out with bluetooth, voice recognition etc., Dark tinted windows and very sporty looking, eco friendly, just as I order her. She's a small Ford Fiesta Sedan rather than hatchback, and all paid for toboot. No way am I going to part with her. Anyway she is a frugal car as she's very good on petrol. Runs on the sniff of an oil rag. Margaret

No. Too much of where I go and what I need to do is not within reasonable walking distance.