^ It probably depends on where you live.  My husband and I live in downtown Cincinnati, and we both work within ten blocks of where we live.  We get by with one car just fine.  However, if we lived 30 minutes from downtown, we probably could not get by with one car.

"IMO, this town is not set up for complete non-car living unless you plan to live, work and do ALL your socializing in and around downtown or Ohio City."

 

More like from Lakewood to Cleveland Heights - and aside from a few notable exceptions, why would you want to? It's like I said, you can't just plunk down in some 'burb (or in a few cases, just any neighborhood) and be able to be car-free. You have to do some homework, and clearly Middleburg Heights (what's it in the middle of, btw?) isn't a good set-up.

 

What's in the middle of middleburg heights?  Not a whole lot.  Maybe "middle" is some kind of Olde English for "chain restaurants." :)

 

I would want to simply for reasons of the environment and cost.  I was really determined to try to make it work and a year of not having a car payment and insurance and repairs and gas was indeed heaven, not to mention financially necessary at the time, but it really, really limits your social life because people either have to pick you up and take you home if you want to see others or you have to forego getting together at all, or continually make people meet you in your neck of the woods. 

JRC are you a student at YSU? I was born in Youngstown and spent the first 18 years of my life there. If you can live a car-free lifestyle in Youngstown, you should have no problem is cities like Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati.

 

Who knew the area between Mahoning Ave, Mill Creek Park and Calvery Cemetery was called Garden District?

Hmm, most of my friends are understanding, and some are like "wish I could do it, too" so they don't mind picking me up. It doesn't hurt that I offer gas money, or get the first round. Most of them would much rather visit somewhere close to me (Tremont/Downtown/Ohio City) than where they are - they don't like chains and the handful of local spots near them are sort of their "regular" place and they usually want something different. Honestly, they'd usually be heading downtown (or thereabouts) anyway so picking me up is no biggie. On the rare occasions that picking me up (or dropping me off) wasn't an option, a handful of cab rides (within the city) is still cheaper than one month of a car payment

 

Now your point about the weather isn't completely inaccurate, but my social life is one thing that hasn't suffered since I became car-free. I really don't think it's Cleveland that's difficult to be car-free in, it's the outer 'burbs - and that goes without saying for any city.

Unfortunately, most of my friends are widely, widely scattered and prefer chain restaurants.  Several have babies and they don't like coming to downtown restaurants, which don't have the "family friendly" feel of a chain so other than a few times I've been able to get them to try an indie place in the burbs (such as Carrie Cerino's), we almost always meet at a chain and it's always in a burb.  I guess it depends on your age and your social group.  I have been able to organize smaller dinners at the more interesting places like Lola or Lolita, but for the bigger group gatherings it's almost always Champp's or quaker steak and lube or Macaroni Grill type places.  And if you (for example) live in Middleburg Heights and your friends live in Chesterland, Cleveland Heights, Solon, Elyria and Westlake, it's just not convenient for anyone to pick you up and take you to Independence and back for dinner and they get tired of it after awhile (and believe me, I bought plenty of drinks and gas). 

They bring their babies? Ugh... offer to pay for their babysitter! :lol:

This is what happens when you get old.  :)

When you say... "old"?

One thing that I really like about living in Ohio City is that there are so many like-minded folk nearby. If I had to go car-free, I wouldn't be difficult because most of my friends live in walking distance.

 

Regarding the babysitter thing--MayDay, are you offering your services as a babysitter? ;)  The wife and I are celebrating our 7th anniversary this weekend and ...

"...are you offering your services as a babysitter?"

 

Oh suuuure, I'm *great* with kids!

Rockandroller, how does your experience living in an outer suburb show what it's like living in the city on any level?  I'm just wondering about the basis for this comment:

IMO, this town is not set up for complete non-car living unless you plan to live, work and do ALL your socializing in and around downtown or Ohio City.

and this one,

I would love to read the previous poster's book to find out what I was missing, since my car-free year here was the worst one I've had in 14 years of living in Cleveland.

 

Have you actually lived in Cleveland for 14 years?  Or have you lived in Middleburg Heights?  There's a huge difference, especially with regards to public transit.

JRC are you a student at YSU? I was born in Youngstown and spent the first 18 years of my life there. If you can live a car-free lifestyle in Youngstown, you should have no problem is cities like Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati.

 

Who knew the area between Mahoning Ave, Mill Creek Park and Calvery Cemetery was called Garden District?

I'm an intern architect and my office is downtown.  This is another reason mass transit works for me--I just take the bus downtown, and walk to work.

 

Some of the neighborhood names, like "Garden District," are recent inventions as part of the Youngstown 2010 plan.

I have lived in Cleveland proper, Middleburg Heights (only for 2 years), all over Lakewood, Tremont, West Cleveland, Westlake and North Olmsted.  I also briefly lived in Cuyahoga Falls but I wasn't working downtown then.

 

I have taken public trans to/from work at nearly every job I've had from those locations, with the exception of when I lived in Lakewood and worked in Beachwood as it would have taken forever and a day.  I also drove when I worked at Case and lived in Lakewood because with the transfers and the green line not letting out at a convenient stop near where I worked on campus, I would have had a very long walk in bad weather to get to my building.

 

The only place I have not lived as I've never had any desire to live there is downtown proper.

When you say... "old"?

 

All my friends got married within the past 5 years so most of them have houses and are having babies; they are scattered to the various suburbs.  When I say "old," I mean not necessarily chronologically (I'm nearly 40) but mean it in the colloquial, as in "settling down."  In fact, I can't think of any of our friends who DON'T have babies right now, or toddlers.

So why are YOU the one suffering (inflicting their spawn on you at dinner) because they insist on perpetuating the world's overpopulation problem AND urban sprawl? (Chesterland?!?) ;-)

Friends don't let friends move to the suburbs!  :)

 

 

^Ex-urbs, or difficult-to-access suburbs, that is. :-)

^OK,

 

Friends don't let friends more to outer-ring suburbs.

I may be car-free in the next 5 hrs!  I'll keep you updated!

X, I understand your point... But to a degree, I think maybe your focusing on the hours such establishments keep rather than the lack of such establishments in SS.  Actually, btw, Dave's stays open until 10p. 

 

That's because the hours places keep matters.  If I need to get groceries at midnight, when I actually do most of my shopping, I can't walk to Dave's.  I have to drive to a Giant Eagle in the suburbs.  A place that isn't open when I need it may as well not be there.  It is good to hear that Dave's is open until 10, they must have extended their hours, they've always been closed earlier than that whenever I've been there.

 

 

But really the Rapid can get you to a number of the type of places you mention even when they are wanting in the immediate area.  Examples: Blue Line to Shaker Hts hardware; Blue/Green downtown connecting to the Red Line to such places as K-Mart (West Park); Home Depot (I forget which stop); and, as KJP mentioned, buses to Target (Steelyards) or that new one on W.117 -- where, I guess, you can hoof it or bus it from the Rapid stop there...

 

I didn't say it can't be done, I said it's not optimal.  It's not how I personally would choose to go.  For example, in the examples of Shaker Square to Home Depot or Kmart I would do the following math when deciding what mode to travel:

 

Somewhat longish headways + transfer + non pedestrian friendly destination at other end= I drive

 

So yes, it can be done, but it can be done in a fraction of the time with half the frustration if you drive, especially if other alternative stores are considered.

are there any plans to release an updated edition? 

 

also, i know there is some info on ecocity's website (http://www.ecocitycleveland.org/transportation/carfree/carfree.html), but is there a more comprehensive site that exists for cleveland?

 

Unfortunately, no. The book was published in 2000 or so, and hasn't been updated since. There are no plans to update it. The book was a HUGE undertaking by a group which called itself AltTrans Cleveland. AltTrans was a creature of EcoCity Cleveland.

 

However, I recently wrote a chapter on Cleveland for a new book whose working title is "Car-Free America." The author may not keep the title, though.

 

I would love to read the previous poster's book to find out what I was missing, since my car-free year here was the worst one I've had in 14 years of living in Cleveland.

 

There weren't any big secrets in the book except one: choose your friends carefully! ;)

Heya, this might be the wrong section, but my friend wrote this article:

 

http://www.clevelandmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=E73ABD6180B44874871A91FBA5C249C&nm=Arts+%26+Entertainemnt&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=1578600D80804596A222593669321019&tier=4&id=7746601AD81747B7A40A86A8733E64F4

Good article.  Hopefully it brings some mainstream appreciation to car free or car light living.

Of course you can be car free in Cleveland, but the ideal ratio I found is one car to two working adults.  I can see some definite inconvenience with not having a car. I would rank weather as a large factor, then unreliable buses, and finally potential safety issues (hanging around at bus stops near the kind of places I like to go may not be fun at midnight). Car or no car, if I put push pins on a map of my typical flight zone, it would probably only a three mile radius. If you find the neighborhood that is the fit for you it is a lot easier to be car free. 

 

Two wheeling it on a bike, scooter or motorcycle is a great affordable way to get around, weather permitting

 

 

edit- I should add I HATE driving the car, there really is something actually liberating about not being in the cage of a vehicle, worrying about parking, etc. 

Excellent article!

That was a great story. If only the press could pummel us more regularly with this, it might sink in to more people. I swear I could almost give it a shot if my job did not require that I drive.

He did an interview with Lannigan and Malone, if you're interested. They say some really stupid stuff, imho: http://a1135.g.akamai.net/f/1135/18227/1h/cchannel.download.akamai.com/18227/podcast/CLEVELAND-OH/WMJI-FM/03-06-08%207hr.mp3?CPROG=PCAST&MARKET=CLEVELAND-OH&NG_FORMAT=oldies&SITE_ID=1891&STATION_ID=WMJI-FM&PCAST_AUTHOR=wmji_production&PCAST_CAT=Comedy&PCAST_TITLE=Lanigan_and_Malone_On_Demand

I don't need to hear it. I already know Lanigan and Malone are idiots.

" I would rank weather as a large factor, then unreliable buses, and finally potential safety issues (hanging around at bus stops near the kind of places I like to go may not be fun at midnight)."

 

Having been car-free for a few years, I can safely say that paying for an occasional cab ride in cases of bad weather or off-hours is still much cheaper than car payments, insurance, gas, etc. Remember, being car-free is more about having your finances free to use ALL your available resources (walking, biking, scootering, transit, taxis, car-sharing, rentals, etc.) :-)

Heya, this might be the wrong section, but my friend wrote this article:

 

http://www.clevelandmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=E73ABD6180B44874871A91FBA5C249C&nm=Arts+%26+Entertainemnt&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=1578600D80804596A222593669321019&tier=4&id=7746601AD81747B7A40A86A8733E64F4

 

That was a terrific read, thanks for posting. I love the last section about the "side effects" of giving up the auto: talking to neighbors, shopping locally, attending the block meeting. That's outstanding. I'm considering a no car lifestyle in Cincinnati if I can get the right job and find the right neighborhood after I graduate. I'd like to hear more from you folks that are doing it or have done it about the benefits and challenges of not having a car...

i am in cincinnati, one of the top ten walking cities in the country, and I live a nearly car free lifestyle.  If we had a Zip Car program, i would never need to drive

I'm currently about 98% car free. On average I drive about 2 miles a week. And these are mostly trips out of convenience (I'm still waiting on City Wheels to throw one downtown). My first few years in Cleveland were 100% car free, but at the time I was in college, and your world is so self-contained that you hardly notice.

 

(I'm still waiting on City Wheels to throw one downtown)

 

As someone who is car free in Cleveland (Little Italy), and moving downtown at the end of April, I hope that they get on that soon.  When I asked last fall, they said that one would be there by this winter/spring.....

(I'm still waiting on City Wheels to throw one downtown)

 

As someone who is car free in Cleveland (Little Italy), and moving downtown at the end of April, I hope that they get on that soon.  When I asked last fall, they said that one would be there by this winter/spring.....

 

Yeah, I can use rental companies for weekend trips, but many of the downtown offices has piss-poor hours.

what is the status to City Wheels downtown? I think we lost the OC branch last year, and they were talking about parking one over by CSU/Asia Town. I think Case's and Oberlin's car(s) gets out and about quite a bit. Anyone know for sure?

I've got several friends here in Columbus who live car-free with no problem. Their bikes and the bus system gets them around to where they want to go.

I was car-free in Columbus for two years and it was quite simple.

Great article!  Very pro-transit.  Not the kind of thing you'd expect in oh-so yuppie Cleve Mag.  As the writer notes, cars may increase our travel flexibility, but they don't make us better people.  But like (often annoying) cell phones, people act like they can't survive without them.

excellent article jamiec. your friend is a great writer.

Of course you can be car free in Cleveland, but the ideal ratio I found is one car to two working adults.

 

Agree totally. I work in the burbs and the GF works 5 blocks from home and we live in the WHD in Cleveland. She walks or takes the free trolley and once I bring the car back from the daily commute we tend to stick to local stores and restaurants. Still, its nice to be able to pop over to Steelyard in about 7 minutes than taking the bus, which would be significantly longer. If I worked in DT I would probably keep the car just to save time and make the bi-monthly trip to Columbus to see family.

 

Friends really don't mind coming downtown to party. They come here more than I go to the burbs to hang with them. It helps to be able to guide them in parking because that seems to be a major cause of anxiety for them.

tell your homies to take public transportation or move!  :-P

I haven't used or needed to use my car since Sunday morning.........for me that is pretty good.  However, even though we have free public transportation (NIU has an excellent system for a moderate-sized university) and good walking/bike trails near my apartment complex, I need my vehicle to get to work and for entertainment.  But I digress.....4 days (by tomorrow) without using my car has been a blessing for my wallet! :)

I'm getting rid of my '98 POS tomorrow. Can't wait.

why?

It's a lost cause, really. The entire underbody is rusted. One of the tires deflates rapidly. You should have seen my brakelines before I replaced them. Rusted all the way through. I need new rotors, I can't just get them turned. Battery died, I had to jumpstart it but I'm worried there might be a dead cell. etc etc

It's a lost cause, really. The entire underbody is rusted. One of the tires deflates rapidly. You should have seen my brakelines before I replaced them. Rusted all the way through. I need new rotors, I can't just get them turned. Battery died, I had to jumpstart it but I'm worried there might be a dead cell. etc etc

 

Are you going car free?

 

If I had a 9-5 at a specific location, I'd be car free in a heart beat.

I'm VERY close to ditching my car completely.  I can thank the rising gas costs ($3.79 today) and the increasing maintenance costs for my aging vehicle (2002 Hyundai Sonata - 86,000 miles or so).

It's a lost cause, really. The entire underbody is rusted. One of the tires deflates rapidly. You should have seen my brakelines before I replaced them. Rusted all the way through. I need new rotors, I can't just get them turned. Battery died, I had to jumpstart it but I'm worried there might be a dead cell. etc etc

 

Are you going car free?

 

If I had a 9-5 at a specific location, I'd be car free in a heart beat.

 

Yeah, I am for now. I don't blame you; I wouldn't want to transfer busses all the time as unreliable as so many routes are. I wouldn't risk being late all the time to meet with clients and such.

If I worked in DT I would probably keep the car just to save time and make the bi-monthly trip to Columbus to see family.

 

A friend of mine is a regional vice president for a big company and doesn't own a car. His wife has a car, but when he goes on business trips to Columbus or Pittsburgh, he rents a car (since bus or train service is scant or nonexistent and airlines charge for your first born). Most everyone thinks renting a car is so expensive, but if you're doing it just a few times a month, it's saving you a lot of money over owning a car.