Driving Again - Am I a Loser?

The Answer is no! I've kicked the car habit almost entirely during the week and drive only for weekend errands - like when I used the Flex car. Actually, when Flex and Zip merged it kinda sucked for us because the Zip is not in a convenient location by bus, like the Flex car was.


For over 6 months I commuted to and from work by bus. I love the car free commute too much to give it up. I'm using the car I recently had repaired, thus saving land fill space and supporting my local Volvo repair shop. I will take it to another Volvo place in the North end to have some specific work done to continue the repair work.

So this summer the last of my kids will learn how to drive. Why? Well, I'm not ready to say he'll never need to have that skill and feel it is my duty as a parent to give him the experience. But he's already observed the high price of gas is more than he'd like to pay, so he's not in a rush begin driving either. My how things have changed in one generation. Hopefully, when he's my age, cars will be a thing of the past.

Driving 2008 w/o a Car

Jared Diamond's article today in the New York Times about the average US consumer consuming 32 times more than the average world citizen is another compelling and riveting reason to stay the course of not owning a vehicle another month at least. Our family has been involved in this on-going experiment to leave the car parked in the driveway since the end of August. Our comsumption has decreased and savings increased as a direct result better planning. For example, we eat out less often, because of the simple reason it's more difficult to pick up fast food and after a long day, the push is to get home and relax, not take extra time out to eat.
We've all been walking much more and during the holidays this extra walking helped us to keep off the extra pounds. We still have some way to go, but are moving in the right direction to keeping fit. And I'm thrilled I've been able to finish reading more books since I began the car free existence.

The coming months will be challenging however, as our 15 year old son pressures us to start driving. However, he has to achieve a minimumn grade point average to receive the reward of driver's education which may hold him off till summer. I hope for his sake he can do it, at which point we'll fire up the old volvo.

In the meantime I can't think of any reason to get a new car. The main obstacle is weekend and entertainment driving. We have not taken as many hikes as we did last year, but we've offset that with more frequent in- city walks. My stress level is way down not having to drive on a daily basis and I can't see any reason to ever enter the commuter frenzy again!

Imagine a City w/o Cars

I'm starting to envision a car-free society here in Seattle. It makes more and more economic sense with the merging of Zip andFlex, if you live in Seattle, why would you drive? Thursday I walked downtown to visit some First Thursday artshows: Jef Gunn at Traver; Catherine Cook at Lisa Harris Gallery; and Mark Webber at Trabant coffeehouse on 2nd and James, with a management professor. He's been commuting by foot to work from Queen Anne for many years. He is definitely a trend setter and one of our hardest working commentators for smart transportation choices at SU.

Get out of your cars, folks!

Two Months and Counting

October 31 will be the second month car-free! I let the Geico policy end this month. For a person who is very responsible it's rather odd. I don't miss the car thing: see it in the driveway but have no use for it...I know the neighbors are wondering and when my neighbor across the street told me I look like I've lost weight I told her it's because we decided to park the car.
We are checking out a Flex car, mainly to get my son to tutoring, and I do my grocery shopping, but I still figure we save money not paying auto insurance and car maintenance. The Flex car fee runs about the same price as filling up a tank of gas each week, maybe a bit less.
What I've also noticed these past two months is that I have a lot more room for creativity. The time I spend on the bus is offset by the decrease in stress. Taking the bus gives you time to decompress and walking between places increases overall fitness.
Last week my sister in law called to ask me to babysit. I was concerned about how to get out to their place in South Bellevue. Turns out, there's a bus that goes almost directly from our neighborhood to theirs, via the airport: the 560. More on buses and bus riders next entry!

October Rain

There's talk that this will be another wet and windy winter. Better make sure to patch the holes in your roof and check the basement drainage. Last winter our sump pump broke and we had a flooded basement during October. After 90 straight days of rain, I was ready to get the hell out of Seattle to some sunshine and spent 5 days at my brother's place outside San Jose del Cabo. What does any of this have to do with not driving?

For over 30 years I've always managed to beat the winter blues by staying active and using the sauna, until last year. For some reason by February I had a very bad attitude. My friends and family gently nudged me to get some sunshine (or get away from them - please). This year, I'm hoping that by walking each day up and down the hill to work, from where the bus lets us off, I can somehow beat the winter blues. Of course, it means more exposure to the elements. This year I'm trying an experiment: by increasing my interaction with the elements perhaps I can improve my winter attitude. After the first week of October I can safely say it's working. The real test will be in January, and you'll have to ask my husband and kids for an honest answer.

One Month Car-free

At close to the end of September I can claim one month car-free in Seattle! Tomorrow we'll celebrate by taking a hike to Shriner's Peak on Mt. Rainier. Without thinking too much about the big picture we managed to make it one month. I'm not sure what October will bring, just taking it one day at a time and appreciating the help from kindly friends and family.
Stay tuned!

Patricia Piccinini

After work today Susan and I went to the opening of Patricia Piccinini's show, Hug, at the Frye near work. Her work is intriquing and disturbing at once. She'll be giving a talk on her work tomorrow. While I was there I ran into a man named Cal who encouraged me to continue my pursuit of going carless. Cal works for Boeing but he parked his car today and walked 5 miles. We discussed how much more of the world we experience on foot, as well as the virtues of an education.

Dave Kane www.davidckane.com gave me a ride home.