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

[Spinneret]

about 50/50 mostly at night

 

[TippyThomas]

100 percent. I'm miles away from everything.

 

[Meriweather]

you need one to go very far. No bus, train or anything close by. I guess you could use ride share but that would get expensive.
We live in a suburb

 

[NYCgrrl]

No need.

 

[barkley]

100 percent. I'm miles away from everything.

same here

 

[bcla]

I guess if one had enough funds and could call for an Uber ride everywhere, it would be posible. There are a few bus stops a few blocks away, but it's not easy.

That being said, I've commuted before where I just had a bike and used public transportation where I was allowed to transport the bike.

I live in a hilly area and it's possible. About a week+ ago I decided to just walk to a local restaurant/bar where I knew I'd be drinking and I walked home. It was less than a mile walk, but with a lot of elevation gain given the terrain of the area.

That being said, I've visited the LA/OC area several times in the past couple of years and I managed to get around on public transportation without calling a cab or rideshare once. Didn't rent a car either.

 

[NannyBeBe]

Absolutely necessary. Our city is very spread out. Our bus system is horrible. The bus may come, and then it may not. And it only goes around the center of town, so if you live on the outskirts, you're out of luck.

 

[mommasita]

No need.

Same here, buses, metro (subway). It has been a while for me, but the bus stop is down the street in either direction. I can walk to the metro in maybe ten minutes.

 

[easyas123]

I guess if one had enough funds and could call for an Uber ride everywhere, it would be posible.

I wish it only took funds.
We are in a rural area, no Ubers to count on...you might find one to get you there, but not back afterwards!

Couldn't live w/o a vehicle in our area. Even my tractor has cruise control and blinkers.

 

[nighttowll]

100% need a car.

There's nothing you can get to by walking where I live, not even a park, only neighborhoods or countryside, and I live in town. There is a bus that has a few stops at shopping centers in town, but it goes to very few locations, and you'd need a car to get to the bus stop to begin with. On top of that, it's common to need to drive to other cities nearby to take care of things (shopping, doctors, specialized services) that can't be done locally, so even if you lived near one of the few bus stops, it wouldn't help you with that. Lastly, most people don't work in the same town they live in around here because there just aren't very many jobs in the small communities, so they need a car to drive to work. They don't really do Ubers here either because everyone has a car since you can't get by with out one. I've known quite a few kids who have gotten their hardship licenses early at 14 because they had to have a car to get to school.

 

[tvguy]

Technically, not 100%, but close. I have ridden public transit once here and that was 60 years ago.
When I did look into using public transit, it would have taken me 90 minutes each way to get to and from work, 13 miles each way. In rush hour traffic by car, it's 30 minutes, 15 minutes with no traffic.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Very necessary

 

[summerlyangel]

I could walk to a lot of things within a mile, and pretty much everything I might need within 2 miles but I'd have to change my drs, preferred grocery store, etc. There's also minimal safe sidewalks or crosswalks for most of those trips. There's a bus stop about a mile away in either direction, but being in a small city, it's very limited. I work 27 miles away in a bigger city and there's no public option for that trip, so I'd have to drive there.

 

[DVCjj]

Definitely if you want to go to surrounding suburbs. Several stores around here but no public transportation.

Starbucks of course is only several blocks away.

 

[firefly_ris]

100%; we live in the country.

 

[kanerf]

Well I live in rural PA, so definitely need a car there. I work in DC though and while I use the Metro to get to work most days, if you need to go somewhere else you really need a car.

 

[ncc1701]

Necessary if you don't want to use Uber /taxi or Instacart/ delivery . There are restaurants we can walk to along with a hardware store. The main public transit is PATCO which goes into Philadelphia (Center City). We both used that for work before we retired . But even then we needed a car to visit family & do shopping.

 

[barkley]

I wish it only took funds.
We are in a rural area, no Ubers to count on...you might find one to get you there, but not back afterwards!

Couldn't live w/o a vehicle in our area. Even my tractor has cruise control and blinkers.

no uber for us either, also no grocery (or target) delivery, instacart or for that matter food delivery of any kind (if you want a pizza you are driving a minimum of 15 miles one way to pick it up yourself). it broke my heart when costco discontinued their frozen food online ordering b/c the carrier they used does serve our neck of the woods

 

[sasywtch]

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.

 

[dpswift]

you need one to go very far. No bus, train or anything close by. I guess you could use ride share but that would get expensive.
We live in a suburb

That is how it is where I live. There is limited buses a mile away. However I do know a good number of people that catch the bus, Uber or ask for rides.