Can You Survive with One Car in Suburbia?

I would love to be able to give this a try, but alas, it's just not in the cards for us. I work 13 miles away (but it's 30 minutes minimum with traffic), and DH is an hour away in the opposite direction.

I do know that there will someday be a trail that extends right from where we live to the town where I work, and if traffic keeps getting worse, it may be faster to bike the 13 miles than it is to drive. By then the kids will be big enough that they'll both be on a bus. Only problem is how I bring my dress clothes without wrinkling them!

Thanks so much for sharing your experience and letting people know that it IS possible, even in the suburbs, if you are motivated to give it a try and your circumstances allow it.

I wish we could ditch a car, but with 3 very active small children in town who attend multiple activities and a hubby who works an hour away from us, it's not in the cards right this moment.

However, we ARE taking steps to solve some of these problems. We have no sidewalks in our town and very busy main roads. Only a damned fool would walk a stroller or walk with their kids down the road! Services (school, groceries, activities) are spread out nilly willy. There is no public transportation whatsoever in town except a senior citizen van back and forth to the senior center.

I've volunteered for a town committee that is trying to fix some of these problems by advocating for sidewalks (safe routes to school), bike paths, and bus service. We also work with other town committees to do things like Smart Growth zoning. It's expensive, so we've only gotten one new sidewalk in town from a very populous housing tract to a school, but just that one sidewalk has allowed more kids to walk to school and consolidate a school bus route. I don't think we'll ever be able to go one-car so long as we have both kids and two jobs (one a long commute job, the other a job that requires mobility), but once the kids are gone and hubby retires in 15 years perhaps we could do it.

Hi! I have 7 kids, work from home (mostly) and we only have one car. I drive my husband, high-schooler and middle-schooler to work and school each morning (about a 20 minute trip) while my homeschooler watches the little ones. My high-schooler walks home, but everyone else is just a little too far to walk and the bus doesn't come our way. The older kids can take the city bus, though, to activities and movies - and I do drive around quite a bit - but it's way cheaper than having to pay for two cars! Sometimes kids have to wait a bit for me to come and get them...but that is very rare. It usually works out just fine.

My husband and I are also a one-car family. It's fairly easy for us because there are just 2 of us. My husband also works from home and I only travel 6 miles to work (sometimes on my bike!).

I also wrote a post about living with only one car in the suburbs (and I have to agree with comment #5, the burbs are not designed well for walking and biking - it's a shame). You can check it out here.

Have you looked into cargo bikes to transport more bags of groceries or a child or two? I'm just curious, I am in awe of them but can't find any in my area. Good luck on your continued one-car family.

thanks for the post-
Little House

It's great to see so many people thinking and talking about trying a one car lifestyle.

For the people who mentioned working in the opposite direction as their spouse, have you considered when it comes time to change jobs limiting the area closer to home?

I know several people who have made it a priority to work close to where they live.

A big part of why one car works for us is we choose to live close to my husband's workplace.

I love that "Guest" is working on improving the layout of the town, to make it more walkable! That's a fantastic idea.

We've been a one-car suburban family for 15 years. In fact, now that our oldest child is a young adult, we are now sharing one car between 3 drivers. Here's how/why it works for us:

~I am a SAHM, homeschooling my younger child, so neither I nor that child need transportation

~we are homebodies and our kids aren't involved in very many activities that require transportation during the week. Fortunately we live in a neighborhood with plenty of kids around for them to play with.

~my husband and oldest child work near each other and with similar schedules so they share the car to get to work

~I am an introverted personality and don't feel the need to get more socialization on a daily basis than what I can find in my neighborhood or online

~I do a lot of my shopping, banking, and other business online and feel like not having a car available actually saves me money by keeping me away from stores

~we have retired family members living next door who can help with emergency transportation

~our mechanic is within walking distance of my husband's work, so he can drop the car off and walk to work when we need repairs done.

~we have, a handful of times over the years, rented a car for a day or two when dealing with extensive car repairs or some other issue that required us to have 2 cars.

~my husband and I are in our late 40s and both remember our parents getting by with one car when we were young, so we knew it was possible before we tried it.

We have two cars, but one is a old pickup that we drive at most once a week (and generally more like once a month) for hauling large loads.

Generally, we get by on one car with no problems. We live in a medium sized college town. I can walk to work, and my husband is at home with our son. From our house we can walk to several grocery stores, the library, the post office, restaurants, etc etc. We could almost get by on no cars if we had to! We did pay somewhat of a premium on our house when we bought one in a more downtown location than if we'd bought a couple of miles out, but I wouldn't trade. I love being able to walk everywhere.

My husband and I have been a one car household for over 2 years now. We got rid of our second car (a classic VW) when we moved to a small town in central WA (the snow and salt would have damaged the car anyway.) We were able to walk everywhere and we hardly used the car, since the town was so small.

We now live in a larger city. I don't know if we are considered to be living in the "burbs", but one car is still doable for us. When we moved here we purposely found a house that was within walking distance to my husbands job. Since he works at a University we save a ton on parking too.

I use the car most of the time, but since I work 10 minutes from my husband's job, he can take the car when he needs it.

We've actually been talking about the possibility of going "car-less" in a few years. There are a lot of zip cars around town and we live in a bike friendly place.

My husband and I were a one car household for a few years. This spring we purchased a medium sized scooter for my drive to work. Although that is a net vehicle addition, it is still cost-effective for us for a few reasons.

Insurance on the scooter is very cheap. The scooter gets about 90 mpg, making our gas costs cheaper. The scooter is my commute method, the car isn't driven very much, because my husband works from home. Occasionally he uses the car for errands, or we use it when we need to buy a lot of groceries. We use the scooter for going places around town, as it seats 2 people and has a small cargo area under the seat. The car is old, so driving it less will (hopefully!) make it last longer. Scooters are pretty inexpensive new or used.

If you can't give up the second car, consider replacing it with a scooter! They are efficient, inexpensive and lots of fun! Save the car for hauling around cargo or kids.

My wife and I have been a 1-car family for 9 years now. It's gotten a lot easier since she learned to drive manual transmission. 1 car living used to mean I drove her everywhere, since we always seem to end up with a stick shift.

Anyways, we've thought about adding a second vehicle; we're seriously considering making that second vehicle a scooter. A scooter-like ebike probably wouldn't meet our second-vehicle needs, but a gas scooter just might.

For those that can't manage without one car, it is helpful to find ways to use your 2nd car less. Weekends are a good time to combine errands and things to do.

I love that so many of you have alternatives to the 2nd car. I wish I had thought to include scooters in the article, but in our area we just don't see them. Motorcycles-yes, but not scooters.

Part of the reason I was so impressed we could do it, was because we have tried in the past and it was very isolating. At the time we lived in a walkable neighborhood, but you couldn't really go anywhere. Combine that with 95% of the neighbors working all day (while I was at home with little ones), and you have a recipe for isolation.

Should we ever move again (not happening for at least 5 years) we will move to a more walkable and pedestrian friendly area.

We did pay a premium to live closeby to my husband's job, but would have paid even more had we chosen to live closer. It was a decent tradeoff for us.

Shogun, we don't currently bike as a family. That would be expensive for everything we would need, but I'm hoping we can get there at some point. It doesn't help that my oldest is averse to riding.

ZipCar, well something similar anyhow, is available in the nearest metropolitan area, but that's over 30 minutes away for the closest car. It is a fantastic option for people who live in cities or areas that offer it.

I find it interesting that when you get used to walking a certain distance or route, to later drive the same route seems to take ages longer than it should. Conversely, when you drive a certain distance without ever walking it, you start to believe that it's just too far to walk (when it might only be a 10 or 15 minute walk).

I have a friend (a 2-car 2-person household) who just bought a place in suburbia, and when driving by the nearby shopping centre, I commented that wow - she could walk to do her shopping and even get some exercise while she's at it! She shot me a look like I was absolutely nuts. "It's too far to walk" was the curt reply.

Sigh.

My husband and I are both self employed and live in a Seattle suburb. He works from home and I work in Real estate, so I have the car most of the time. It's worked out perfectly for us, mainly because my hubby doesn't like to go out too much. If I need to go downtown I can take the bus, or he can give me a ride/pick me up. I dread the thought now of having to pay to maintain another car, I like things just the way they are now!

We have been a one car family for over 15 years now. We live in Syracuse, New York- not exactly suburbs- but the bus system is not exactly conducive. My car literally died the weekend of my wedding ceremony with hubby--- we've never looked back on getting a second car.

Before children, she had a job that required lots of driving and I didn't. Logically, she would drop me off and pick me up. When the first two kids entered the picture, the daycare stop was added before my drop off in the morning- then she would pick me up in the evening so I could help gather the little ones at daycare.

Once we adopted our third, finances made more sense for her stay at home. Before ending her job, we saved enough to buy a mini van (hard to fit a booster and two baby seats in the back seat of most sedans) with cash on the barrelhead. I began bussing to and from work- my job was downtown and relatively easy to get to. Having the van home for her to have for any school pickups, drop offs, and emergencies only made sense. Any emergency I had could warrant a cab ride if needed.

Unfortunately, the workplace moved- but I was lucky enough to find someone to carpool with.

I was laid off in February and the job searching required frequent interviewing. Hubby and I would plan out the next day's car usage each night- so there would be a clear understanding of who would need the car.

I have had a new job since May- and made it clear to my employer that travel needs planning for me. I needed to travel to Rochester NY for some training for the first few weeks- we borrowed my father in law's car for that, but could have rented just as easily, given the good milage my job pays. I am back to bussing into work- but my transfer in the morning is iffy. I either just make my transfer- or just miss it. Luckily, I can walk the distance to work in about 15 minutes and haven't been late. Afternoons, I must walk the 15 minutes to the main bus center of town. Its a good refresher between work and home for now- but when snow is two feet deep, it will be less enjoyable.

We have not even entertained for one minute the idea of buying a second car for my work. It never makes sense to me to buy a car for ten minutes of driving each way- then sitting it in a parking lot for the 8 hours I work.

While working with the town planning committees and consultants to make our community more walkable and green, the biggest challenge we seem to be having is that a lot of the planners come from large urban areas, such as metro-Boston, and really don't "get" how challenging it is for someone living in a more rural area to get around without a car. They come up with unworkable assumptions such as taxpayers coughing up huge tax overrides for bike trails and new sidewalks and assume businesses will voluntarily rebuild things simply because it gets rezoned (yeah ... on who's dime?) Their retort to everything is for everybody to pack up and move back to the city (the thing everybody here fled in the first place ... hint ... we loathe the city down to the core of our bone marrow and aren't moving back). Explaining to them you just can't hop the "T" because there -is- no "T" is like shouting "hello-hello-hello" into an empty cave...

If you want people to change, you need to make it work for THEM. Otherwise ... you're just banging your head against the wall.

Many people view their cars as freedom and are reluctant to give them up. Some of their concerns are legitimate (no sidewalks, dangerous traffic, unsafe to bike, services too far, no public transportation, etc.) On the other hand, a lot of the resistance is just plain inertia. Advocating for people to give up one of their cars is about as socially acceptable as farting in church. We've had good luck convincing people to carpool, plan trips to deal with multiple errands, and buy more fuel efficient cars when gas prices spiked and had people nervous, but with prices back down inertia is beginning to set back in.

Asking for tax overrides for new sidewalks and bike paths is a challenge. There simply isn't any money left over once you pay the teachers, the firefighters, and the guy who plows the road! And for those of you who retort "well if it was important you'd spend the money" I dare you to go say that in any New England town meeting (caveat ... wear a raincoat ... you'll be leaving the room covered with rotten eggs and tomatoes). It's important to YOU ... it's up to YOU to make it important to THEM if you want them to change. Simply saying it's so isn't enough ... you might as well be off in the corner muttering to an invisible pink elephant.

However, we've found the voters are more receptive to new sidewalks when you can convince them it will save them tax dollars in some other area (such as eliminating a bus route). The old geezers aren't willing to get out and walk themselves, or spend money on the schools, but they're sure enthusiastic about getting kids out of tax- and gas-guzzling school buses and walking/bicycling that 2 miles to school.

A little at a time ... that's all you can do. By the time we get all those new sidewalks built 25 year from now, the kids the geezers gleefully kicked out of the school buses onto the new sidewalks will have grown up walking and be raising a new batch of more environmentally-conscious one-car kids themselves.

Where I live isn't exactly suburbs, but still two miles to the city centre. I walk that two miles to get to work. It's 45 minutes at a leisurely stroll, I can do it in half an hour. There are supermarkets on my walk back. I rent a car for some of my holidays, and while I've got it, I'll run errands that are difficult on foot. I'm 25, never owned a car, and only took my test less than a year ago. I've been places where not having a car may have been more difficult, or even impossible, but most people are too easily scared.

We have tried this out for a week or two here and there when one of the cars needs the mechanic but we don't feel like dashing off to spend the money. Having one car is definitely an option we've considered.

We have a little bit of a plan mapped out that includes some days when my husband takes the car and leaves me home with our homeschoolers, and others when I drop him off so I can take care of chores and various lessons the kids go to.

It helps that the kids are older and can be left alone and that my husband only works about 6 miles away.

It is still my dream to put this in action!

Though on the surface we would appear to be ideal candidates, I don't think it would work in our case. Our area is rapidly becoming a "bedroom community" for Atlanta, 45 miles away, but there is no public transportation in our county nor any of the surrounding counties. Likewise there are no sidewalks and the two lane roads are hilly and curvy, with no street lighting - not at all conducive to safe walking for children or adults. The closest place to purchase anything is an independent gas station/convenience store 3 miles away. That might qualify as walking distance but a second car is cheaper than the prices I'd have to pay to feed myself, husband, and 5 kids if I did my shopping there (not to mention how unhealthy that stuff is). The closest grocery store, Wal-Mart, is 8 miles away.

Even still, since we homeschool and hubby telecommutes, one car might be doable if none of the kids played sports, took music lessons, or participated in church activities, and 2 of the kids weren't in college. Considering that we are a 7 person family with 4 drivers, I think we do well to get by with one minivan and one pickup truck.

I must add that my husband has a high quality well-maintained bicycle with a trailer for the little ones or groceries and the children also have quality maintained bicycles, so if we need to go anywhere and don't want to walk, we are able to with no problem as long as weather permits but we also have appropriate rain gear we can use if needed. Our house is also in the heart of the city, within blocks of our schools, doctor's office, hospital minor emergency, grocery store and convenience store so those are also factors that work well with our situation.