anniversary

We hardly even noticed that we passed the one-year mark in our experiment of living without a car. Time for some reflections. Basically, I'd sum it by saying that there are some obvious inconveniences of carlessness but, then again, car ownership is also a pain in the neck. It's been a matter of trade-offs.

Car ownership (cons)

• parking tickets on street sweeping days
• always forgetting to renew residential street parking permits
• keeping up with insurance payments
• remembering to file car registration
• oil changes
• dealing with maintenance issues
• I hate driving
  

Carlessness (cons)

• can't just hop in the car and drive down to the store when it's cold and rainy
• fewer Target runs
• having to plan things ahead of time
• getting to the CityCarShare pod and finding out that your car isn't there or the reservation that you thought you made wasn't made after all
• relying on others for rides
• grocery shopping is a bigger production
• the herky-jerky drivers on AC transit
  

Car ownership (pros)

• ability to do things at a moments notice
• ability to haul a lot of stuff (sometimes I really miss that Passat wagon)

Carlessness (pros)

• I've learned to love biking and have discovered I can go many places in Berkeley (and beyond) on my bike
• Target is overrated
• none of those bureaucratic headaches (see above)
• walking is great exercise