how much of a necessity is it to have a car where you live?

[tvguy]

Like any good Californian, I drive 2 blocks to Walmart and Costco. I could walk to not only that but to a 7-11, Starbucks, pizza, KFC, library.. The people I watch on youtube from england would walk to a grocery store but it's 3 miles away. There is a bus stop 2 blocks away on the main road but I have no idea where it goes.

LOL. How people ride the bus and do grocery shopping has always baffled me. My daughter lived in the U.K. for a year going to school and rode public transit a lot, but she always got a car service (Easy Car I think was the name, like Uber, but MUCH cheaper) for the ride home from the store with groceries.
I do walk to Smart and Final, Bel Air, Ace Hardware etc if I just need one or two items. Smart and Final is half a mile each way, Bel Air/Ace a mile each way. Make my Doctor happy.

 

[nighttowll]

LOL. How people ride the bus and do grocery shopping has always baffled me.

I think you try to buy less more frequently, so you can carry it in a bag on the way home or use one of those roller shopper bags.

We use to just carry it all home when I lived in HK, but we had a maid to help. Hire cars wouldn't have been possible as cars weren't allowed where I lived, and you had to take boats between islands to get around.

 

[RangerPooh]

Necessary. Our county's public transportation system is extremely limited and non-existent in our area. Nor do we have sidewalks outside of a few subdivisions. You want to go to Sonic? Plan to walk on the shoulder of a busy, highspeed limit 4 lane roadway. Nor does our community have street lights.

I do think that the reasoning for a lack of public transportation and sidewalks is to promote and encourage affluence. It sucks. A downside is that our youth cannot safely ride bikes from one neighborhood to the next. I have voiced my concern about this, but money talks and my neighborhood is considered "poor", as it's the original development from 40 years ago.

 

[tvguy]

Necessary. Our county's public transportation system is extremely limited and non-existent in our area. Nor do we have sidewalks outside of a few subdivisions. You want to go to Sonic? Plan to walk on the shoulder of a busy, highspeed limit 4 lane roadway. Nor does our community have street lights.

I do think that the reasoning for a lack of public transportation and sidewalks is to promote and encourage affluence. It sucks. A downside is that our youth cannot safely ride bikes from one neighborhood to the next. I have voiced my concern about this, but money talks and my neighborhood is considered "poor", as it's the original development from 40 years ago.

Interesting. All the lower income neighborhoods here have sidewalks here. Poorer areas tend to be older and 100 years ago sidewalks were the norm. I know my parents moved into a rural area, about 10 miles outside the city limits and public transit because the cost of housing was so much lower. Low enough that they could afford a car and still be money ahead.

 

[SC Minnie]

Necessary. Very limited public transportation. What we do have picks up at certain places to go to downtown Charlotte. There is not public transportation in my town to get from one side to the other. Most roads don't have sidewalks either. My neighborhood doesn't have sidewalks. I technically could walk a mile to the nearest grocery store but half the walk there is no sidewalks.

We are a rural area that has become compact suburbs. Infrastructure is not keeping up with the amount of people moving here.

 

[nighttowll]

Interesting. All the lower income neighborhoods here have sidewalks here. Poorer areas tend to be older and 100 years ago sidewalks were the norm. I know my parents moved into a rural area, about 10 miles outside the city limits and public transit because the cost of housing was so much lower. Low enough that they could afford a car and still be money ahead.

It's like that here too. The few sidewalks we do have are in low income older areas. Everywhere else that is newer or more effluent no sidewalks. We had sidewalks and public recreation in Houston. I really miss that. Even just to go to a park that has more than a simple walking path, you have to go 40 minutes away to another town. I guess that's why we have no sidewalks. Nothing to walk to.

 

[Moliphino]

I think you try to buy less more frequently, so you can carry it in a bag on the way home or use one of those roller shopper bags.

We use to just carry it all home when I lived in HK, but we had a maid to help. Hire cars wouldn't have been possible as cars weren't allowed where I lived, and you had to take boats between islands to get around.

I couldn't walk home from Costco even if I lived next door. A regular grocery shop might be doable, but not every time.

 

[georgina]

I think you try to buy less more frequently, so you can carry it in a bag on the way home or use one of those roller shopper bags.

That's what I do most of the time - buy a few things, encourages me to get out and walk to the store more often! I do have a granny cart for larger loads, and put ice packs in it for cold things when I have a farther walk.

 

[goofyernmost]

At this stage of my live I honestly believe that if I didn't have a car, it would be like missing an important organ that has kept me alive for years and years and I would have no motivation to continue or get better from illness or physical problems. I had never lived in a big city. Even the municipalities that I lived and worked in, for all intents and purposes, were rural. Even now I live in Raleigh, but outside the normal range of public transportation so it is still required unless I want my world to be in a circle that only reaches out about 500 yards in any direction and in that area is one grocery store and ironically 4 auto dealerships.

 

[tvguy]

It's like that here too. The few sidewalks we do have are in low income older areas. Everywhere else that is newer or more effluent no sidewalks. We had sidewalks and public recreation in Houston. I really miss that. Even just to go to a park that has more than a simple walking path, you have to go 40 minutes away to another town. I guess that's why we have no sidewalks. Nothing to walk to.

Where I live, it is an odd mix of streets with sidewalks and without sidewalks. About 50-50. I walk 3 to 4 miles a day and the safest streets I walk are the one's without sidewalks. They are strictly residential with little if any through traffic. My street is a dead end, and has sidewalks, so it is safe. But the more heavily traveled roads around my subdivision you do have to keep an eye out for people running stop signs, or turning into you as you try to cross a street.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

I can walk most everywhere or take public transportation, but I have a car anyway - for bad weather, big shopping trips, visiting friends who don't live in the city. Average under 4,000 miles a year.

 

[ncc1701]

I’ve traveled with SEPTA in Philly but never PATCO. What cities does it go to besides Philadelphia? Might make for a new weekend trip route

PATCO doesn't to any city but Philadelphia, unless you count Camden. It is a commuter rail service from Jersey suburbs in part of Camden County to Philadelphia.
The last stop also houses NJ transit train that goes down to Atlantic City.

 

[NYCgrrl]

PATCO doesn't to any city but Philadelphia, unless you count Camden. It is a commuter rail service from Jersey suburbs in part of Camden County to Philadelphia.

I already transfer from NJ Transit to SEPTA so guess I’ve taken it as far as it goes, urban-wise; I think the terminus/transfer station is Trenton. Thanks!

 

[amcnj]

I already transfer from NJ Transit to SEPTA so guess I’ve taken it as far as it goes, urban-wise; I think the terminus/transfer station is Trenton. Thanks!

There is a light rail line, the River Line, that runs from Trenton to Camden. That was the piece that connected the northern rail lines in NJ to the Atlantic City line in the southern part of the state. One of the AC line stops is in Lindenwold, which is one end of the Patco line. Patco runs through towns like Haddonfield, Collingswood and Camden, and ends in Philadelphia.

 

[AnnaS]

I'm so sorry for the loss of your husband. I hope you are doing as well as you can.

I am very sorry for the loss of your husband. I have been widowed for almost 16 years. I was 57 when my husband passed (he was 55). I moved into a condo six years after he died. It was a good decision for me. Unfortunately, we now belong to a club that nobody wants to join. Wishing you all the best as you navigate your new life.

Thank you so much. I know it will take some time before I can wrap my head around it all. Miss him so much. This year we would have been married 42 years - he was truly my other half. Thank you.

 

[MamaMermaid]

Absolutely vital.