Car Free: Florida.

Heat & Cold This is an article from another who has done the car-free thing in all types of weather, where I have only done Southern California, Texas, Spring and Falls only in NYC, and Florida as well as other countries in full car-free life. The extreme heat and the extreme cold are both great challenges for the car free person.

Miami made it on the list here for best cities.

Though from this writers time growing up in Hollywood, Florida perhaps much as changed since this is where I am and there is a great “trolley on wheels” as well as bus system and though I am in the heart of Down Town and hundreds of great eateries, night life , art galleries, parks, Monday night food truck in the park and much more including parks and library, I am a less than two mile or a trolley ride away from the beach and a just few bocks from a grocery store. I have walked through a lot of the neighborhoods and O.M.G. I love these styes of architecture…but also everything seems very close, there is more sprawling area and passsings of particular highways that can become the areas of problem but I personally haven’t met with an issue yet. There is also a train system. The traffic here is INASANE and a four minute car drive can take forty so I much prefer the walking…plus really there are round abouts and cross walk weirdness and as a driver I am more afraid of an accident or running someone over. But as a walker I am fine (I do suggest sticking to cross walks here as a pedestrian and since some cross walks don’t have stop lights be VERY careful….but those cars have to and will and do stop in my experience.) But the link link here has a bit about this area as well as others they actually live car free in now and some really good information and taking points of car free living.

Retiring or heath reasons not to drive are another to hit on…there is the saving money part as well as, like my own mom and eventually myself, the lack of eyesight. But not the lack of get out there living and social life.

Tampa Finding a realtor who can help with your type of lifestyle is a really good moving move. Car Free in Orlando .

Other sites to check out. This really is a talked about and lived in real life topic:

Best Cities

No car – No problem.

Urban Car Free Projects.

Even Vacation can be Car Free.

Car Free on Galveston Island, Texas.

Living Car Free on Galveston Island for six years has had its up’s and down’s.

The biggest down side for me has been that I am a Down Town gal and the grocery store’s are two-three miles ether way of me. Now sometimes a bike ride down the Seawall on a summer evening and seeing the sunset is a real treat. Even walks on the beach that take me there will have me there before I know it, lost in thought (the coming home not as great.)

And other thing is that everything on the island is about double to triple the price off island. And we don’t have a Trader Joe’s or Whole Food’s option, Krogers is the best I get.

On Sundays there is a small Farmers Market in walking distance real close as well as SunFlower Bakery to get my bread and Katie’s Seafood to get my fresh fish and Macio’s spice is a good place for pre-made sauce, spices and pasta’s as well as a few choices in cheese and good picnic and lunch items. They also have chickpea’s and the best coconut milk.

And Mod Coffeeshop for any coffee, including beans or ground coffee to take home. I can’t leave out the newer Hey Mikey’s Icecream to bring home fresh island made icecream that won’t be melted by the time I bike ride or walk all the way home.

This is how I often try and do my shopping, though it hasn’t always fit my time table and budget to allow for. So factoring in many things can really change how one shops much more than just car-free.

However, being car-free and living down town has also been a part of my way of life…in shopping local. The library is also in walking distance as is the Galveston bookshop, two stage theaters and any live music venue’s.

The island is also about 7 miles between point to point of where you might actually need to go (longer in some cases of where you live) and about 1-2 miles wide depending on the part you are on.

So Down Town is where I live and many shops, clothing, and restaurants plus entertainment (even free) right there. The beach is one mile away…if standing in the middle of the street you can see it (well, for us, you can see the ride of the Seawall where the beach is.) And the other way is a nice sunset walk area also with restaurants at the Galveston Harbor.

A good early morning entertainment is to watch the cruise shops come in and turn…seriously insane. And I can see them from my loft.

Needing to bring big bulk items home is the toughest but again I will often do two big stock up’s (toilet paper, any shampoos ad bathroom supples and cleaning products, caned goods and pantry items) a year and this allows my grocery trips to be about produce, milk, eggs, cheese for the most part. Weirdly…it’s not expensive and makes a huge savings to shop like this as well.

I have spent a year living outside of Down Town and farther off and all this caused was a slight bike ride into Down Town, not a problem at all. Two miles on bike is only a few minutes.

Sometimes getting around car-free on the island is easier than with a car…during events which we have like…a million a year, and many roads get blocked off as well as so many cars that the fire department has had to shut the island causeway down for capacity limits (Bike Rally) and really we have a lot of weird stop sign area’s that is hard to see at in a car to know if it’s safe to go.

And during things like Biker Rally or Mardi Gras it’s impossible to drive anyway. And tourists never get our one-ways.

I never have to pay or worry about what the pay options are for Down Town or Seawall parking and I never “Can’t find” a parking space on the Seawall, Down Town, or on a trip to The Spot.

We do have a bus, and though it’s not the greatest…it works for some cases when on a hot or bad weather day I might need to get farther and do’t wish to bike it. And if needed nothing is very far so TaxiCabs only cost so much. Which when you aren’t paying car payments, insurance, gas, can’t be beat. Off island trips to a mall and Houston are what I crave to be able to do car-free. Hopefully one day a train will  be available.

Car Free Life.

In my own experience of NYC, Houston, Galveston Island, and Burbank/Cerritos/Los Angeles not to mention just fun travels which include Europe there have rarely been times that I NEED a car and have been many times when the best way to be was car-free.

It’s a topic to talk about.

Many places are making big changes.

Because everybody is doing it.

Because it’s the future.

The small & The Big.

Eve oil boom towns are doing it.

It’s not just you.

Car Free. Try a different view.

Public Transport 101 (And what I wish Galveston/Houston would learn).

Depending on where you live there are typically various forms or at least one form of public transportation. When living car free there are times when one must utilize these forms, if they don’t all the time (I am personally more of a bike rider and walker.)

I suggest you see public transport as a time saver and an adventure to help with the ease of use. I love to read, listen to podcasts and see different neighborhoods by taking public transport. It’s also there for me when I need to carry items not best carried by bike (either too much, too heavy or perhaps a freshly baked cake.)

You don’t have to bike at all if you are not a biking type. And if you don’t live in a walkable area then buses and trains and subways become a big way to go.
Each locations routs and information are set up different so the best is to good or call your transportation service in your area for schedules.

Some places do not allow dogs, but if you are needing to take fido to the vet or even a park, call and check with your local service. If not, an alternative is to ask a friend or call a cab or Uber. Taxi service might seem pricey but when you don’t drive a car you really save a lot so spending a little here and there isn’t really so bad.

I use buses to go to stores or for grocery farther than 3 miles from home when I need to get more than I can carry by bike. Sometimes I will take a bus there and a cab back if I did some really big shopping. I do buy by bulk which cuts down on needed cab or bus rides as well as grocery store runs that I am unable to do by bike. I do some excellent planning on such items as toiletries, toilet paper, shampoo’s, tooth paste, dish soap, laundry detergents and canned goods I only get twice a year, once every six months. This actually also benefits me by not having to think about it on every other shopping trip, forgetting items on smaller shopping trips and I can even find coupons, sales and savings to plan my trip around. Typically because of this I use a cab only twice a year as well and also only on the way home with my items while I will walk or bus to the store to begin with.

Buses really aren’t dirty and even when they go through bad neighborhoods the people are incredibly helpful and friendly. I have never had any problems by over fifteen years of subways in NYC, trains and buses and subways in Los Angeles and buses in Texas of Houston and Galveston.

The parts that I don’t like about it are the fact that I can get motion sickness on the buses (it’s the stop and go), Galveston has been the worse bus driving as well as routs, cleanliness and helpful bus drivers for me yet. As well as timing or following routs correctly. However it is also the smallest place I have lived and where I use it the least.

I don’t like waiting. I am incredibly impatient on such things. I loved being able to read on buses and subways when I used them a lot in California but the buses here make me too queasy. The buses here are also a lot smaller than most city buses and so those wire carts are impossible which are great for grocery shopping, but they usually don’t get as crowded and so bags of groceries have a lot of space at an extra seat.
Galveston has a lack of actual visible bus stops.

Even when I travel I am one who loves to walk as much as possible anywhere I am and also make use of public transportation when available.
Houston isn’t too bad and is actually a really great way to see the city. When I first moved here I went on bus rides all around town just touristy like and I ended up in some of the not so great places and smack in the middle of the best, learned how the city worked a little bit more and were some really great thrift and antique shops I found. People were always friendly and finding my way, stops and directions was pretty easy.

I do wish that Houston/Galveston would add a train. With our constant major road construction, huge city that Houston is, as wide spread as it is and how much people have to commute for work (Been there, done that) it would be incredibly helpful. Another big perk would be tying in the medical hospitals and facities, especially with so many who come from Houston to Galveston for UTMB and so many who also work in Galveston but live off island and then there are a lot of cancer patients here who travel to Houston for day treatments and it’s impossible for them to drive but often they don’t have anyone to drive with them either.

Shopping on island isn’t very vast so being able to reach malls would be really awesome and for Houstonians to not have to drive for a day trip to the beach would be great too (plus we already have parking space shortage for the beach and events on the island.) Currently there is’t even a safe and fully connecting bus rout between the island and Houston, much less a train. We also get so many cruise ship bound tourists from the airports and Houston to the island and back in a week that a train would truly be the ideal aspect. And frankly if the cruise ships and UTMB and all of the Fertitta companies can’t provide enough parking than I would expect them to begin providing better public transport. And that is only some of the big hitters on the island side.

For the airport, there are expensive shuttle options, which I have done. And our need of reaching two airports and aprox 640,000-800,000 people coming to the cruise ships every year who would ride a train. The island sees more than approximately six million visitors a year.

Galveston really needs a great public transport facility for both tourists and locals, better bus routs, a straight beach to down town and Strand and Harbor rout (though our trolley tracks are coming back, and we did get a big new parking lot called a transport service station. Hopefully that will end up actually servicing us soon) this would also help tourists who don’t understand what to do or where to go get around and see where the locals go, much of which they miss. Or they stay in one spot and do one thing.

Houston truly needs a train and investing in one for the growing hospitals, the growing traffic problems, the concomitantly growing highway, and the growing economy would really be the only way they could go. The tiny 2 mile straight down town track is a joke (it’s also all in walking distance.) All they need to do is seriously look at the already available examples done before (Los Angeles, Chicago,London, Paris…since we can’t do subway.)

Amtrack sourly misses out on a lot of Texas opportunity with very limited routs.

And for most cities public transport generates more money, rather than results in a loss. When run correctly, I would imagine (as I know the island has run very negative in the past.)

Each location is different and I’ve been lucky enough to experience may but most have a lot to learn. I will say LA was the best…many routs to alternate with when I felt like it or when a mudslide whipped out one of the roads or my experience was if a bus broke down you hopped directly off to an opposite corner and onto another bus in no time. I was never late for work nor spent too much time ahead getting there, in fact with LA traffic I far saved time.

In Houston when in a car on the freeway it’s been so terribly backed up lately between congestion and construction combined that even the little extra a bus might take is often worth it if the public transport is set up properly where you live or travel. Houston is pretty sprawled out but I will give kudo’s on a decent bus system within the city. I suggest if you dress in heels follow the example of the ladies in NYC and wear the sneakers and carry the shoes and I suggest always having a book on hand or a podcast to listen to in any and a public transport ventures. But next time you travel…hop a bus and see the city.

 

 

Car Free: Not always struggle free.

Car Free living

My Biggest struggles and over coming them (sometimes.)

Weather actually seemed to work mostly well for me. I never once got stuck going to a place in bad weather, I’d somehow miss it by minutes. But I often got caught in it coming home, which I just didn’t worry about, drenched rat and all, I would just get home, and hot bath time. I would keep an eye on the weather all the time, such as on the way to work. Sometimes if it looked like rain was on the way I would leave early and this paid off a lot as I missed rain so many times by only a few minutes. But it was never anything I stressed about. I often wear glasses rather than contacts…that’s a whole other instructional blog post as anybody who wears glasses will understand.
Other Drivers.

 

Other car driving people can be really mean. I would always follow street laws and proper rules but other drivers seem to just have it out. I don’t come to this too often but I had to ride on the defensive all the time as drivers are almost always on a cellphone, almost always not watching before the run a stop sign or make a turn and almost always don’t go wide, especially when on a road and passing a parked car that they want to squeeze you up against.

Buying too much at the grocery store. This happens…all the time. I am the worse at misjudging or it’s like I forget in the vortex of grocery stores that I am not driving an SUV. I have more than once had to call a cab to take my bike, my groceries and myself home because of this. Costing me some money and carbon footprint. But that’s rare and usually part of the fun of diner with friends has often been the bike rode together to the store first. I do typically keep a few different bikes and one is the “Grocery Getter.

 

In summer here it gets sweaty super hot but the way around that is to really dress like you live on a beach, as we do, in airy breathy flow (but can’t get stuck in your tires) clothing. I am also personally not a makeup wearer and the salty sea air helps keep us with that beachy wind blown look. You just have to rock it. Funny thing is 2016 brought that as an actual thing so for once I am in style.
But biking doesn’t have to mean you always wear bike gear and helmet head either.

 

For those who say it doesn’t get cold here, I curse you. We get cold and it’s a different kind of wet cold down to the very bone. I am in my 30’s with a few old injuries so I personally ache in this type of weather to no end. Bundling up well, tall boots, jeans and good layering of sweaters with a good coat and proper ear coverage is the way I go, and gloves.

Place’s that don’t have any place to chain up a bike. I went to a yoga studio and tried a tree but I had to be careful of killing flowers, I even tried a back gate but they needed the usage, there wasn’t a pole or rack or anything there. Stores and shops can cause the same problems on longer rides away from Down Town where you can’t park and chain in one spot and then walk a block or two if needed. There should be more bike racks. Especially in a Down Town area. Galveston Down Town is just now starting to see a few racks besides the ever available one at Mod Coffeehouse.

 
Lack of bike shops for fixing flats. When you can’t put your flat tired bike in a truck and take it places it can be hassle. Since our down town Galveston shop closed it has been missed, especially by the down town crowd & UTMB students. However, learning how to do much of bike repair on your own is a great thing especially since most things are very small and simple and will save time and money as well as good when on long rides and takes very little tools. Warning: Knowing how to work on your own bike or build one, can become very addictive.

 

Dating. Guy’s think because I don’t own a car I must be a broke ass bitch. Very not true but I get tired of explaining my car free living choices. Also the fact that suddenly dating seems to mean going places in his car all the time, while sometimes can be a fun treat it makes me want to convert them to a lot more bike riding activities and not compromise my original reasons of living car free. But also dating guys that don’t live near by becomes a problem. Yes, dating and car free living is a thing. However it has had it’s ups and downs it has been a useful tool to weeding out guys in your life, just be careful not to make the mistake of living in a small pool. But frankly you tell them why you do it and they either are all “Yeah wow that’s pretty cool” or they don’t call you back and well…you don’t need them to call you back.

 

Bike theft. Especially when one has a strong emotional relationship with one’s bike. which totally happens. RIP Yellow Bike.

All in all struggles and not there are a lot and enough benefits to be car free. I promise.

Car Free: Living & Learning.

Websites, articles, and Books that I have enjoyed checking out.

This is a really good one about a ten year long car free liver who has also lived car free in multiple and very different type’s of area’s.
Car Free has even caught the economic attention of Forbes Magazine.
This is a humorous article about a Family trying out the car free life.
Car Free living has become a topic of National conversation.
Living Abroad can teach us a lot about car free living, even in the more non-car-free cities, but we can really learn from expats who come to America as well. Where I live many from other countries come from places that are relatively car free. They certainly cannot understand why every Texan needs a truck.

Car Free Living

My Path To Car-Free Living

I have always been one who loved cars and loved to drive and yet loved to walk, loved to live in a community where most things were of walking distance, loved the idea of not being dependent on a car, and loved the cut down of my carbon foot print on my Earth.

I had lived in a lot of places where, even with a car, I would walk or use public transportation. In NYC everything was subway or walking. I could easily walk before getting on a crowded subway, at a young age, sneakers on feet and heels in my bag, I would walk from tip to tip before I knew it. Being from the country and a lot of walking as a kid through the woods didn’t hurt me at all and taught me that my own two legs where more power than any four wheels. I hadn’t even known yet then that I was conscious about why I preferred walking over wheels of transportation.

In California I had a vehicle and means of it but if anything was within blocks I would walk to the store and my twenty minute walk to the gym through a lovely college and library area of Cerritos neighbourhoods seemed right…I was going to work out after all and the walking was a start. My trainer was always impressed. Twenty minutes didn’t even seem reason enough while wearing sneakers and gym clothes to warrant a drive or finding a parking space.

I love walking on beaches and hiking in mountains and this alone is a hobby, this alone would take me a easy five miles…and hiking on a Saturday plenty more before even registering that perhaps I had walked far enough and it was time to turn back.

Then I lived in Burbank and it’s 17 square miles living right in the heart of the entertainment and blocks to restaurants, movie theater, bookstore, Tradrer Joe’s, Bagel shop, and Saturday Farmers Market, and mall simply left my car collecting dust in the garage. Even hiking, trail running, and the equestrian center were all within 4 minutes of walking time. Taking one of five bus routs and or subway or even train routs to work in Down Town LA and reading on my trip rather than sitting in Los Angeles traffic seemed to make much more sense of my time and energy. The library was one block away. I was good.

And then I changed jobs and began working only three blocks walk in Burbank from home, an easy stop for a wonderful breakfast burrito that hasn’t been beat since along the way. Or another job that had me walking right past the Jay Leno Show right after work and right as they where bringing people in for the show…often someone asking me to come fill the audience…for free I saw many performances of amazing musicians and had a hour killed of free enjoyment, not out of my way and still time when I got home of daylight to change and the walk a 1/2 mile up the road, past some of the most beautiful enjoyable neighbourhood I’ve ever loved, enough time still plenty of daylight to stop and enjoy the Japanese Garden at the base of my mountain and then plenty of time for a good solid run up the mountain side just in time to watch a sunset over all of Los Angeles. Breath taking…and no cars. The run home with flash light plenty safe in my area. And only the company of an occasional coyote or rattle snake.

I did pull the car out for trips to Malibu, through hills full of waving poppies in one of the most scenic routs of my life (Burbank to Malibu). And usually even then was a car load of friends, leaving my little red convertible in the garage still.

I even enjoyed the ease of train rides…beautiful, fun and sometimes full of Amish. Let’s just say it was always eclectic and the scenery along the coast amazing and breathtaking. Down to San Diego or up to San Fransisco.

I then moved to Galveston Island, Texas. A small island off the coast and not far from Houston. I lived always in the Down Town area, and living a “Walk distance from my coffee shop” became my motto. I also went, at this time, fully no vehicle even owned, car-free living.

Grocery stores and rain are my biggest challenges. Stolen bikes at times as well and then lack of funds when that happens always makes life interesting. The bus and public transportation in Galveston is the worse I’ve ever known. Each bus is behind schedule by about a half hour…I have waited at the main bus stop for over an hour and when over 6 busses are supposed to be coming in and out I’ve had zero. Then when they do come, it’s all at once, so alternative routs aren’t an option either. Clearly understanding the routs is sometimes of rubix cube since most times the buses don’t seem to follow a simple laid out rout, making you feel as if you might be being kidnapped when they are taking entirely different than what your research told you routs. Or those days when the same bus you took somewhere yesterday takes you nowhere ear there today…but life’s an adventure. The buses here are also not driven as well and make me incredibly queasy when I’ve never had that problem anywhere else. Even since when traveling places and taking their buses.

When I don’t have my bike I will usually walk to the grocery store (enjoying a lovely beach walk) and then take a cab back. Once a month. With a bike I go more often and use my basket. This does have to be done around good weather and there have been a few days that were too hot, too crowded, got stuck in the rain, or something went wrong like hitting a bump and every basket contents flying across the road and getting run over. So, car-free living does has it’s up’s and down’s. More up’s than down’s, however. Like bikini season becomes much more your friend. Your stamina easily surpasses any adventure you need it for. Sex is pretty frickin good. You don’t have to stand in lines in the heat or pay all the fee’s that annoy you for inspections, registrations and of course there are savings on car payments, insurance, and gas. You are also giving back a little balance to the Earth.

Currently I am about to begin a new adventure…on wheels, and likely enough large vehicle and long distance driving to completely take away all the years of good low emissions living I have accomplished. I figured there is balance. Like dieting or eating too much of a good thing, like cake. Either way, it is about my life and enjoyment but also in the environmentally aware at the same time…to a point. I also don’t believe in sacrifice, or I’d live without a computer, and that ain’t happening. And there will be much in the new adventure of that. But for now, there is much more to be said about car free living first.