LIVING WITHOUT A CAR IN THE UNITED STATES
How it’s possible when the bus stop is 5 miles away
ou’ve probably heard all sorts of things from your friends, friends of friends, friends of their friends both online and offline about the need of a car in the United States. You get different opinions because the U.S. is such a big country that has major cities like New York and Chicago as well as rural areas that are pretty much… the middle of nowhere. So if people told you that in the United States…
- Parking is free everywhere
- Parking is very expensive
- You can take public transportation anywhere for just a few bucks
- You can’t go anywhere without a car
- The train station is right in front of my house
- The nearest bus stop is 5 miles away and walking there would take you forever
They’re all probably true.
It really depends on where in the U.S. you plan on living.
Most of the times, major cities like New York and Boston would have decently reliable public transportation systems with trains, buses, and even ferries. Sure, they might not have a scheduled timetable and the crazy routes like the train system in Tokyo, but at least your ride will come eventually if you have the patience to wait. If you are in these cities and live within a walking distance from a train station or a bus stop, then owning a car will be more of a convenience and a luxury than a necessity.
Not having a car becomes more of an issue when you are in major cities like parts of the Los Angeles suburbs, Las Vegas, or Dallas suburbs where everything is spread out. Yes, all of these cities have some kind of public transportation, but the chances are, a lot of the desirable (and affordable) neighborhoods could be quite a few miles away from the nearest station. (All of you still on the metric system, read “miles” as “kilometers” and “kilometres” if you prefer it the British spelling).
So, how are you supposed to commute to work or school and do your groceries in these cities if you haven’t purchased a car yet, it’s in the shop, or never intend to buy one? We’ll help you, and be assured that life without a car is doable.
Uber
Uber has already spread to many countries, but a lot of our international readers still may not know about it. It is a ridesharing program which means that anyone with a car (and the Uber App) can give you a ride to get you from point A to point B just by calling for one on the Uber App. The standard option that’s called “UberX” will usually be cheaper than taking a regular cab.
Manhattan in New York City is the only location within the United States that we have seen where Uber’s fare could be higher than that of a taxi at rush hour. In all other cities, Uber will most likely be the more economical way to go.
While UberX will feel more like getting on a typical cab in which the fare will be the same whether you’re riding alone or with three other people, the most economical choice if you are traveling alone or with just another person will be the UberPOOL option. UberPOOL will usually have significantly lower pricing than the standard UberX, but other riders will be joining you on board. You may be taking a slight detour while going to your destination when the driver picks up and/or drops off other passengers, so be sure to plan your arrival accordingly if you are headed to a class, work, an appointment, or some other place that’s important. You are choosing it as an alternative to public transportation after all, so we’re pretty sure you’ll be pleased by the speed and convenience of either of these options.
If you have never had an Uber account before, you can get $2 off your first three rides by signing up through:
https://www.uber.com/invite/rton16ue
If you don’t have access to a smartphone, you can also request a ride on Uber’s mobile site at: https://m.uber.com.
Online Shopping
Most retailers in this day and age have an online option to have your purchases shipped to you. Some will charge a shipping fee, but some will have free shipping if you purchase a certain amount. Others will have free shipping no matter what, so make sure to look around for the best option.
Unlike in some countries, different retailers will have different prices for the same item here in the United States. That rule applies online as well.
The sales tax varies significantly across the nation. For online shopping, the general rule of thumb is that you will pay the sales tax of the location where the item is being shipped to given that the retailer has a physical location in your state.
Some of the famous retailers in the U.S. where you can make purchases both in-store and online for your everyday needs are:
- Walmart (superstore that sells pretty much everything for a low price)
- Macy’s (department store)
- Bed Bath and Beyond (home essentials such as kitchen and bath items)
- Best Buy (electronics and major appliances)
- Ikea (furniture)
That’s a very small list, but it should have you covered for the basic supplies at least.
Groceries
Walmart may be able to send you a bag of coffee and a few cans of tomatoes that you wanted to stack up on, but they won’t box up your milk and fresh tomatoes for obvious reasons. You probably don’t want to be knocking on your new next door neighbor’s door asking for a ride either, so what do you do?
Most of the supermarkets in the U.S. today offer deliveries of your grocery shopping through their website or mobile app. They could have their own service which they send out their own drivers, or they may hire third party drivers. Either way, you won’t need to walk miles to get to the grocery store or call for that Uber we mentioned earlier. Besides, your groceries will be just clicks away without having to spend hours walking through the gigantic American supermarkets while you try to decide which brand of cereal and organic nutmeg you really want to take home.
Because the brands of the supermarkets significantly vary across different regions of the nation, we won’t include a list of grocery store chains here. Do a Google search for “grocery near me,” and you’ll most likely find names of the popular grocery stores in your area. Note that some grocery chains have a completely different website for their physical locations and online delivery, so if you notice that there’s a Von’s near you, you may be better off searching for “Von’s delivery” instead.
Some of the stores will have discounts such as free delivery or $20 off on your first order, so take advantage of those offers and try out different chains.
Food Delivered
If you don’t cook or aren’t in the mood for cooking, you will have the classic option of a pizza delivery or your local Chinese delivery. As good as they are, you probably don’t want them 7 days a week.
With the technology we have today, Uber has a program called UberEATS which teams up with a lot of the local (chain and privately owned) restaurants to have your food delivered right to your door. What you can order really depends on the location you are at, but you will usually have a large selection from fast food to fine dining and everything else in between.
The good news is that we have a promotion code for you on UberEATS as well. Just copy and paste the code below to get $5 off your first order:
eats-rton16ue
Grubhub is another program similar to UberEATS, but we can’t really comment on it since we haven’t tried their services yet.
To Sum it Up
If you are in a major city or its suburbs in the U.S. where everything is so far from each other, it most likely is in your best interest to have a vehicle if situations permit. Sometimes, we have times when we don’t want to drive or can’t drive, and in such cases, the above options are good alternatives to driving your own vehicle when public transportation is inaccessible. If you plan on living in literally the “middle of nowhere” where your next door neighbor could be a few miles away from your home, forget everything we said in this article and prepare to make a few friends with a car that will give you a ride.
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