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How to Live Well Without Owning a Car: Save Money, Breathe Easier, and Get More Mileage Out of Life (2006)

de Chris Balish

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You don't need to own a car to live well in America. In fact, you'd probably be better off without one. In this groundbreaking guide, award-winning journalist Chris Balish exposes the true costs of car ownership and shows how car-free living can put anyone on the path to financial freedom. Using the book's car cost worksheet, first figure out how much owning a car really costs-you'll be surprised. Then, see how easy it is to transition to a car-free or car-lite lifestyle using Chris's strategies for commuting, running errands, taking trips, dating, socializing, and more. You'll also find hundreds of tips and success stories from car-free people in cities and suburbs across America. Without car payments, rising gas prices, and traffic jams to worry about, you'll have more money and leisure time to spend as you choose. Discover why getting rid of your car may be the soundest and sanest lifestyle change you can make. Reviews View a video clip from NBC's Today Show: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25609661/ "Chris Balish offers a mix of the practical-a worksheet to figure out a car's total cost and impact-as well as the horrifying: The average American walks just 300 yards a day." -Sierra Magazine "If ever there was a practical inducement to get out of the car trap, this is it. For the multitude of Americans stuck in traffic and spending thousands of dollars a year on their cars, Chris's lively and pragmatic step-by-step solutions provide a way out." -Jane Holtz Kay, author of Asphalt Nation "Chris Balish's book can help environmentally conscious Americans live their values. If you're concerned about pollution and global warming, follow the program in these pages. There can be life without a car. And a good life at that!" -Ed Begley, Jr., actor and environmental activist "[Chris Balish's] prescriptions are feasible and most important, reasonable." -San Antonio Express News "Even if living car-free or car-lite isn't for you, you'll still learn a lot from this book. I did." -Michelle Singletary, Washington Post Listen to Chris Balish talk about living car-free in Los Angeles on NPR's Morning Edition.… (mais)

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The author didn't prove his "live well" thesis. Yes, you can manage in metropolitan areas without a car, but since several of his car-free solutions, such as subscribing to ZipCar or renting a car, cost money, I dispute that ditching a car saves money and maintains (or improves) quality of life, especially in suburban or rural areas.

He asserts that Greyhound and Amtrak are reasonable alternatives to using a personal car for transportation, so his research was lacking or he is badly misled. Five people can travel in an automobile, whether rented or owned, from BackofBeyond, South Dakota, to MiddleofNowhere, Arkansas, much less expensively than they could by buying five tickets on mass transit, and do so more reliably.

You have to be a skilled bicyclist to pedal in snow, with special tires. It's not the "no big deal" he suggests. He suggests using garbage bags as rain gear, which are incompatible with "living well."

I believe in more public transportation and less driving. I believe in biking more than driving. I believe that subsidizing roads but not rail is ridiculous. I also believe Balish didn't prove his point.

ljhliesl | May 21, 2013 |

The gist is that you will save money by not owning a car. Probably should have been a pamphlet and not a book. Balish actually puts a negative spin on car free commuting in his attempts to provide padding. (

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librarianbryan | Apr 20, 2012 |

Overall, this is a useful book in explaining how to live a car-free or "car-lite" life in the United States. It is well organized into sections, such as alternative modes of transport (bicycling, walking, motorcycling) and how-to guides (get to work, have a social life, use car-sharing). It is easy to read and peppered with anecdotes from people across the country.

Unfortunately, the author tends to downplay the difficulties of living car-free in the U.S. He does not address the fact that in some cities it is much, much easier to live without a car, and in others it is almost — if not entirely — impossible. I wish he noted that some of his alternatives are not options for everyone. For example, bicycling can be very dangerous (after being hit by a car while riding my bike, I can’t imagine going into traffic again) or downright impossible for someone with a physical disability. Not only does he seem to be coming from a middle/upper-class perspective, he also fails address what people outside an urban/suburban environment might do.

I also disliked his assumption that everyone already drives and is only now considering switching to a car-free life. It would be nice if his book assumed that at least a few of his readers do not (or cannot) drive and do not have a car to begin with.

Despite these problems, the book is a handy guide for anyone who lives a middle-class existence in an urban environment in the U.S. Straightforward, well organized, and easy to read, the book might give you some useful tips you hadn’t considered before, or it just might be the motivation to get rid of your car, which is what the author intends. (

)

csoki637 | Feb 16, 2012 |

O. K., true confessions, I'm "car lite." But we ride bicycles everywhere we go locally when it's not icy on the roads. This is a good book, and the basic thrust of it is, "you'll save money by ditching your car!" To which your response is, "But . . . but . . . but . . ." to which the author's response is, "well, this is what you do in that situation." So his style is more practical and less theoretical than "Divorce Your Car" (which is also good). The emphasis is on how you can go car-free, now, rather than why we need better mass transit or more bicycle lanes. Methods of getting around include buses, bicycles, carpooling, walking, renting a car, getting rides from other people; the author even counts motorcycles and scooters as good enough to qualify as "car free." I like it that he tackles the really tough situations where you think you just have to have a car (like dating, which gets quite a bit of space). Going car-free really is more of a social challenge than a physical challenge. It's a long story why we're not car-free completely. (I used to have a pretty good excuse: impossible to get my stand-up bass to gigs without our Honda Hatchback.) I actually lived without a car for over a decade. But this is a good book to give you an overview of the issues. (

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KeithAkers | Jun 5, 2010 |

Do you own your car, or does your car own you? Practical strategies for living in North America without a car.

Lake_Oswego_UCC | Feb 27, 2009 |

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You don't need to own a car to live well in America. In fact, you'd probably be better off without one. In this groundbreaking guide, award-winning journalist Chris Balish exposes the true costs of car ownership and shows how car-free living can put anyone on the path to financial freedom. Using the book's car cost worksheet, first figure out how much owning a car really costs-you'll be surprised. Then, see how easy it is to transition to a car-free or car-lite lifestyle using Chris's strategies for commuting, running errands, taking trips, dating, socializing, and more. You'll also find hundreds of tips and success stories from car-free people in cities and suburbs across America. Without car payments, rising gas prices, and traffic jams to worry about, you'll have more money and leisure time to spend as you choose. Discover why getting rid of your car may be the soundest and sanest lifestyle change you can make. Reviews View a video clip from NBC's Today Show: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25609661/ "Chris Balish offers a mix of the practical-a worksheet to figure out a car's total cost and impact-as well as the horrifying: The average American walks just 300 yards a day." -Sierra Magazine "If ever there was a practical inducement to get out of the car trap, this is it. For the multitude of Americans stuck in traffic and spending thousands of dollars a year on their cars, Chris's lively and pragmatic step-by-step solutions provide a way out." -Jane Holtz Kay, author of Asphalt Nation "Chris Balish's book can help environmentally conscious Americans live their values. If you're concerned about pollution and global warming, follow the program in these pages. There can be life without a car. And a good life at that!" -Ed Begley, Jr., actor and environmental activist "[Chris Balish's] prescriptions are feasible and most important, reasonable." -San Antonio Express News "Even if living car-free or car-lite isn't for you, you'll still learn a lot from this book. I did." -Michelle Singletary, Washington Post Listen to Chris Balish talk about living car-free in Los Angeles on NPR's Morning Edition.

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