I was reading The Stranger's blog today, and came across this intriguing write-up about Alan Durning, who has reported on his family's attempt to go one year without owning a car. What's interesting about Durning's case is that most of these attempts at going carless are performed by single people, or by DINKs (dual income, no kids). And yet or the past year, Alan and his wife Amy have transported themselves and their two kids everywhere - work, the store, soccer practices - using a combination of pubic transit, FlexCar, and plain ol' walking and biking.
How did they fair? Pretty well. Alan laments, though, that traveling without car ownership requires a lot of planning, and that most of the burden unfairly falls on his wife. Still, he's optimistic about the future, and sees more and more families trying to brave it without an auto.
Given that my car is currently in the shop for thousands of dollars of repair work, I have to admit that this is a tempting challenge. Still, we live in the 'burbs. Ditching the car might be an option if we lived in downtown Manhattan. But I can't see spending several hours planning a trip to the store to buy vodka. Has anyone else in the 'burbs attempted the carless life? How many of you city dwellers manage family life without wheels?
