Why I’m a weirdo, and can’t drive
I didn’t plan to be a weirdo (in any respect). Being an adult working person without a driver’s license, without ever having driven a car, is so out of step with the norm for most of the U.S. that I think most people would assume that I’m making a statement. That I’m some kind of radical new urbanist bicyclista, and that when I’m on my bike, slowing you down from getting to the next red light, I’m engaging in some kind of holier-than-thou protest.
But honestly, it just kind of happened.
How it can just kind of happen
I grew up and lived in Philadelphia, PA until I was 28. I don’t think Philly often comes to mind when people think about “places with great public transit.” But between SEPTA’s busses, (2) subways, trollies, and light rail, it’s basically possible to get from any A to any B with at least one transfer. When I was 14, I started solo navigating the system to get to high school in Center City with my $1.40 student tokens.
So by the time I was 16, when teens and parents both want them to take control of their own mobility, I was already getting everywhere I wanted to go on my own. I didn’t feel a need to use a car, learning to drive was going to be a whole nother thing to do, and I wasn’t getting pressure from my parents, cause I wasn’t bugging them for rides all the time.
Only a weirdo out of context
Honestly, I’m only a weirdo out of context. I was able to find some data from the American Communities Survey for the percent of occupied households without a car, and compared Philadelphia County, PA to Fayette County, KY, where I currently live.
While most households in Philly do own a car, you’re definitely not a marginal outlier to be in the 30% of households that don’t. I’m more of an outlier here in Lexington, but the ~8% of households without a car is still pretty substantial. It’s about the same size as one of the city’s 12 council districts.
Why keep being a weirdo?
So why keep it up? Why not just buy a car now that I live somewhere where that’s the norm? The short answer is, right now I don’t wanna!
The key thing is that I know how to live without owning my own car. I have the stuff I need, and know how to arrange my day assuming no access to a car without even needing to think about it. I actually think more people could get away with living like I do, but without experience, find it hard to imagine how it’s possible. Meanwhile, I’m saving money on car payments, gas, insurance, and parking. Even the occasional rideshare or taxi fares sum up to being way cheaper.
Admittedly, the layout and infrastructure of Lexington does place some new stressors on my carless life that I haven’t experienced before, which is part of why I started writing this blog. It’s a kind of contrastive analysis of what I know I need to make owning a car optional, and where those things exist or don’t in my new city.