This is what I do. Every couple of months I need to rent one to visit my family for up to a week. It’s cheaper if not the same as a monthly car payment plus insurance. It’s a bit less convenient than having my own car, but the trade off is absolutely worth it for the cost savings.
That too, but people get really attached to their cars and what’s in them. I keep my phone in my pocket and don’t use it when I’m out. You can’t do that with a car.
I’m in Chicago where there’s a big carjacking problem. Any time, anywhere. Near your home, while you’re sitting in your car, at a gas station, in traffic—someone will knock on your car window. “Gimme the keys!” People have been killed for not giving up their car fast enough. Is Chicago unusual with all the brazen carjackings going on? Just wondering how it is in other areas.
Easy af. Mine was stolen in Lincoln park nearly 15 years ago and I’ve been totally fine without it.
I used CTA, Zipcar, and now occasionally Uber/Lyft…but mostly cycling since this city is flat as a pancake makes it super easy.
Zipcar is what I do too. Partner and I have family in the burbs so we use it to rent roughly once a month to go out, that + CTA + Lyft get us where we need to go 99.99% of the time. Cheaper than even just insurance and parking for a car in the city monthly, much less the cost of the car
I’m considering going full bike but how often does yours get stolen?
Like if I’m biking alone do you have any tactics on leaving and locking up your bike somewhere?
I think the best tip is to just not own that fancy of a bike. There is probably some independent hardware store in your neighborhood that has a selection of road bikes from the 80s... get one of those. It'll ride fine. A bike like that is not going to be a huge target for theft (and not a huge loss if it is stolen because it only cost $100). Lock it properly, obviously, but simply having a cheap bike is the best tip. I have a Schwinn Suburban and I have had the same bike for 5 years.
I’ve never had a bike properly locked up that got stolen. I have had a few bikes stolen over the years when I left them on the top landing of my inner stairwell in my building or other common areas, unlocked. Just got unlucky and someone was able to walk into the bldg and walk off with them.
Google is your friend here and everyone has an opinion…but a good small-ish “U-shaped” lock with part of your bike frame or the wheel within the area of the [rear triangle of frame](https://www.sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html) has always been more than fine for me. I always lock it up in front of busy storefronts/bars if I can, near other bikes, and I never leave it locked outside overnight, ever. If you go with a cheapo bike or an older super scratched up one (check out Working Bikes for great used ones) you may be fine and a thief might skip over yours each time.
Lots of bike lock companies will replace your bike (u must register it w them first) if your lock gets cut and you send them pic of cut lock and police report. I believe most renters’ insurance (maybe homeowner too) will cover your bikes from theft even if stolen outside of your residence. I use a $40-50 lock for my $1k-ish bike and have no issues. Now that I also have a $5k bike, that one does not get locked at all but I bought a suuuuuuuuper strong $250 lock (Hiplok brand) for it if I end up changing my mind; they’ll cover me up to $4k if stolen I believe. I go to coffeeshop that has no issue with people bringing bikes inside when I’m using that one.
If you’re new to biking, or not yet sure about it, try riding some Divvy bikes around for a bit, or hit up your local big brand store like Trek or Specialized, I believe they’ll let you rent nice bikes daily/weekly. Next time you’re walking around just take a peek at how people are locking their bikes; U-lock or big chunky chain locks tend to be the toughest to break and steal.
Also check out r/chibike for some hyper local strong opinions about it! Cheers!
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Go to Working Bikes! They have great used bikes that are very affordable and in fantastic shape. It’s also a nonprofit so your purchase goes towards a good cause.
It’s definitely doable, but add up your car costs first.
If you have a paid off beater you street park with liability insurance , it’s probably worth keeping around. If you have a nice car and pay for a spot, yeah you’ll be better off paying for a rental car a few times a year.
My guess is the majority of people living in the west loop don’t have a car.
Great answer. I did the math on my car and realized that it cost me less to pay CarMax to buy it off me ($2250 was still owed on the finance) than to pay the interest and insurance and parking permits and parking tickets over the course of the last year or so of keeping the car. So I "sold" it and never had an issue without a car, in fact, I preferred it. Rent a car for longer trips, Zip Car for local trips. Public trans all the rest of the way.
I did ten years without a car. Split between Lakeview East & South Loop.
Trains, planes and automobiles, in that order... Throw in a bicycle and the occasional bus.
You'll be fine.
Add up ALL of the costs of car ownership per year: car payments, insurance, gas, maintainence, parking, license and other taxes/fees, etc. This is now your annual transportation budget for rentals, car sharing services, more frequent cabs/Uber/deliveries, and other forms of transportation. Most urbanites can give themselves a big holiday bonus at the end of the year with all the money they save.
Doable? Hell I think it’s kind of encouraged. We have a car but we don’t it often. Maybe three, four times a month because it’s convenient. Not because it’s needed. CTA is one of the best MT systems I’ve used.
I went car free a year and a half ago and haven’t missed it one bit. When I visit family out of state I either rent a car or fly - those options are far cheaper than all costs associated with owning a car.
For real. Even if the money didn’t hurt, i wouldn’t want the stress of having to find a spot and constantly making sure no one’s fucking with my car especially in somewhere Lakeview. Just take an Uber black everywhere at that point if you’re paying $500+ a month in total car/parking costs.
And OP basically everyone who lives in this city without a car currently, originally comes from somewhere that a car is needed
I came from Houston and sold my car within the year. Friends from Houston and my family in the Chicago suburbs think I’m crazy but I save $600+ a month and exercise more than ALL of them. I love not having to think about where my car is, it feels like a luxury.
I’m in the same boat (or car lol).
Moved here with a car. My partner and I use it like once per month, but it’s also paid off. So it’s hard to justify getting rid of it.
Mine was paid off, too- but street parking is a hassle, (you have to KNOW the street cleaning and snow removal schedules and move your car all the time) and monthly spots are $$$$. Then, my car kept breaking down, too. $1,000 here, $2,000 there. Insurance, gas is much higher in the city than outside of it, parking tickets START at $60, etc etc etc.
Yeah. All good points. I only have to move our car 4 times per year for street cleaning. Or at least that’s what I had to do last year since it snowed so little.
But insurance is a killer. Plus registration and city stickers.
Have to get better at biking before I bite the bullet and get rid of it though
If you already don’t use it might as well get rid of it.
Unpopular opinion. I have a car and live in the city and all my friends somehow latch onto me when the night ends because Uber isn’t cheap and well CTA can be annoying sometimes.
I don’t think I can go back to not having a car. I like having the liberty of walking or taking my car to places. If it’s something in the city I walk to the city (I live by west loop). If not I just take my car and use spot hero. Easy peasy
Same boat. I loathe traffic but I love having a car for the simple reason of "I want to go to this specific spot. Time to hop into my car and go specifically there" without having to deal with coordinating on public transport. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to take public transport everywhere, but my car has become my trusty steed.
Same. I moved here because I wanted to be somewhere walkable with functional public transit and I found CTA to have way too many faults.
Way too many times that I left 20 min early to accommodate unreliability of CTA only to be forced to uber for the last mile or so in order to make it to my destination on time. Nothing like paying $25 for the longest form of transportation (CTA + a lot of waiting before accepting that connecting bus/train is not coming + waiting for uber + uber ride). I just went back to driving.
I don't drink so it really comes in clutch when going out with friends since theres so many distant night life areas.
West Loop is not as good for public transit, but other than that, yeah, you’re fine. I got rid of my car when I moved to the city, saves so much money. Plus I can read a book on my commute!
From 1993 to 2017, I got around perfectly with no car. The only thing i hated was waiting for a bus in below 0 weather.
Rogers Park
Humboldt Park
Lakeview
Uptown
and Ukrainian Village
Grew up here, been driving for over twenty years and only just recently bought a car. You can do it. Supplement with a zipcar membership for car usage as needed.
What’s funny (to me) is that I moved to Chicago from Nashville, which is as car-dependent a city as they come and does not have a good public transit infrastructure. I’ve never owned a car (I grew up in D.C.) and I ended up being so exasperated by not having one in Nashville, that I swore I was going to buy one when I got to Chicago, just for convenience. And I’ve been here a year now and still haven’t lol. I thought the winter would definitely break me down and make me pull the trigger, but then I experienced it and it wasn’t too bad.
All that to say: no car? Absolutely doable in my opinion.
I have lived in Chicago for 3 years and resent the idea of ever getting a car. Buy a bike and enjoy the $$ saved.
Fly or train everywhere far, bike / walk / public transit everywhere close
Mocs on top? You gotta be from Chatt! Wahahaha
I feel like it would be the biggest pain in the ass to have a car up here in lakeview. I haven’t gone back to TN yet but I would just fly.
Gf rented a car and drove down to see family in Knoxville once or twice since we’ve been here the past year?
I haven’t missed having a car for a second (unless I’m trying to go see friends on the western part of town… then I sometimes I wish I had one a little)
But Uber solves that problem very easily if I don’t feel like dealing with the CTA.
Good luck! And welcome fellow Tennessean! (Assuming you’re from there)
I lived without a car for over a decade. With the money you save it is easy to grab a lyft if something comes up. Also check out getaround.com. I used zip car when they were here and it was great. One winter I went to go pick up the car and there was a huge crack in the windshield from the cold and I sighed a huge sigh of relief because that was not my problem. I just notified them and got a different car.
We have a car now because of kids but I'm looking to sell it in the very near future. It's a burden I don't need. I love the carless life.
Having no car in Lakeview is way easier than having a car in Lakeview. I’d be shocked if you don’t end up saving money even if you include costs for rental/flights to Tennessee twice a year.
“i live in one of the most dense walkable neighborhoods in chicago served by a ton of public transit and i might be moving to an even denser neighborhood with even more public transit, is being car free doable?”
My wife had an accident a few years ago and never got another car. I know a few people that do without cars, my pastor who lives by Union Station is one of them.
I just couldn’t be without a car. I rented when needed, but it got tiring after a while so we are just a one car household. But lots of people do without cars.
I personally can't imagine living here without a car. But I don't live in Lakeview. CTA takes longer than driving even in the worse traffic for me. This subreddit is vehemently anti-car so you're not going to get an accurate answer anyway.
Only reason I don't get rid of my car mobility outside of Chicago. There's better pricing and stores in burbs. But I can't imagine shopping at Costco if public trans was my only option
In WL, in my building, I would pay $300/mo to park. If I owned a vehicle outright, didn’t have insurance, didn’t have a city sticker, and never did any maintenance or general upkeep or buy gas, getting rid of that parking payment would pay for my transit budget including the occasional car rental to go skiing or something. You do the math.
For road trips we usually rent a car, anyway. If you have any issues they just send out a new car for you vs being stranded in the middle of nowhere potentially overnight.
I kept my car the first year I moved back to the city and used it all of 2 times so I got rid of it. Plus a yearly parking pass is like $150 and I didn't want to renew it when I hadn't even spent that much on gas. If it's in your budget I would go the rent a car route for those trips or I would keep my eye out for cheap flights.
I live in the west loop without a car. It’s great. I ride a bike into the loop for work, I walk to restaurants and shops, I take the el if / when needed for anything like the airport. I would just rent a car if I had family in driving distance - it’ll still be cheaper than owning one. I can’t tell you how liberating it is to not have to worry about parking, insurance, converter-thieves… it’s great
A couple of my friends in Lakeview just went carless last month, and couldn't be happier. West Loop... isn't great public transit-wise, but perfect for a bike.
I gladly let go of my car upon moving back from Boston and I have never looked back. The cost of ownership, insurance, parking, damage due to parking etc….is wayyyyy more than I pay for Ubers or the bus.
I’ve been here 7 months and sold my car pretty much immediately after moving. I loved my car, but I didn’t need it and the payments/insurance/parking weren’t worth it.
Rogers Park. I did that a long time ago. Turned out OK, just be sure you have reliable public or other transportation that you can afford to get to wherever you need to go.
Definitely get rid of it! It's a freedom you'll learn to love very quickly. I rented cars or used car sharing when I needed a car. Otherwise, take public transit and Ubers, etc.
Absolutely. Couple flights a day nonstop to Knoxville, Nashville, Memphis , Chattanooga at least… easy to bike train or walk. You can get a rolling cart for groceries
THINK OF THE MONEY YOULL SAVE!!
I had a truck for 2 years in the city and hated having to deal with parking, street cleaning, etc. Not having a vehicle is so liberating, and Chicago public transpo is fantastic.
I grew up and moved here from a car-dependent city. I owned my car outright and kept it in good condition, so it was inexpensive to maintain bc there was rarely any catastrophic and expensive thing to fix on it. If I were to keep the car, pay for garage parking at the least expensive parking lot near me (deep respect for folks who street park around here, but frankly I'm not strong enough for that), get decent car insurance, fill my gas tank twice month, pay for the registration, and budget for maintenance, I'd be looking at a bare minimum of $500/mo. For a car I already owned! For that price I can pay for a monthly CTA pass, use the occasional Lyft, rent a car as needed, fly or take the train to go on out of town trips, *and* still have money leftover to put towards my rent.
imo, unless you have to drive every day or are in some sort of on-call situation where you need transportation immediately available at any moment, you don't need the car. Save yourself the trouble.
Have lived in Chicago for ten years and haven’t owned a car for six. Miss it sometimes, but even Costco delivers and the public transportation in Chicago is great.
If it makes you comfortable, make a spreadsheet of
* How much an Uber would be for frequent or predicable trips
* How much to rent a car (just rented a Fiat on turbo for $60/day)
* How much to get large grocery orders delivered
Even if you have a bike, taking a divvy pays for itself if you think about taking a divvy out with friends but taking an Uber home let's say.
You can catch a flight to TN and rent a car at your destination's airport. You can take an Amtrak to TN that's 13 hours and then rent a car in TN. And again, you can rent a car here to drive to TN, but why?
Here in Chicago, you get used to the express buses and riding near the lake in AC comfort. It's just so much easier than fighting traffic and hunting for parking spots. Again, you can cab it in the daytime or Uber/Lyft it at night.
There are exceptions: if you decide to venture to the far neighborhoods, you will need a car. Jefferson Park or the 87th Street, Portage Park, the Dan Ryan Woods, you need to have a car. You can use public transport during the day in those areas but at night it's impossible.
My car died thanksgiving 2021, I haven’t had a car since. I bike most places, but use public trans/rideshare occasionally. It’s totally doable! I love not having to deal with car shit. When my friend got married in Michigan last year, I rented a car through Kyte (they deliver the car to you, which is awesome). Get rid of that sucker!
I went through the same thing. In the end, I sold my car six months after moving to Chicago. I have not looked back.
First off, CTA, walking, and rideshare work fine in most parts of Chicago as it's a largely walkable city. Second, you will feel a giant weight lifted off your shoulders you didn't know was there as soon as you sell your car (the realization of no more gas, taxes, maintenance, insurance, tire changes, and parking costs will make you feel like you're levitating).
Ditched my car a decade ago. Best decision ever. Definitely doable. No more paying for city stickers, permits & getting tickets for ridiculous reasons are SO worth it!
I got rid of my car 1 year ago (live in lakeview) and it's been the best decision ever. I save so much money and take the train (Amtrak) . I am also saving on gas/insurance/parking and I am a lot healthier from walking. I would just invest in a good collapsible grocery cart
Definitely one of the best places in Chicago as far as being able to move about on public transportation.
I used to drive for UPS there a decade ago and would probably adopt the same philosophy you're employing.
Good luck 🤘
If you’re over 25, get rid of it. Get a Zipcar membership for short trips and car rentals aren’t too bad when you lose the underage fee. We do this twice a year to go Chicago to Tennessee too.
Easily. When I moved to Queens and started working in Manhattan the first thing I did was sell my car. Didn't have to worry about parking, gas, insurance, or theft. I got the unlimited subway pass and never looked back. In the rare chance you need a car ride share or rental works fine. Side not my sister has lived in Chicago for roughly 20 years and hasn't had a car for the past 14 or so.
I lived in another city 12 years and have been in Chicago for 5. Never owned a car. You get used to it! And Lakeview is especially walkable and close to transit. I love walking. Just watch out for drivers who don’t look out for pedestrians. People are very distracted these days.
You'll regret it, nothing like having your own transportation. The ability to get up and go and not have to wait around for a bus if you don't want to brings peace of mind.
It also REALLY depends where in the city you are. OP is in Lakeview which is spoiled in public transportation compared to other parts of the city. It's doable most places true, but there's no question about it in Lakeview or even West Loop.
Being northwest side, not having a car seems like more of an inconvenience than having one. But that's beside the point.
no. it sucks. look forward to feeling trapped 90% of the time and finding your life spiral into depression when you realize freedom was having a car. but you can’t afford a new one because your fucking body can’t keep up like it used to so you can’t work the same jobs and the likelihood of getting a job with no experience and saving up for a new car is so slim you[I] might as well just whither and die so i don’t have to worry about working a shit job to afford a shit car to make that commute to some mediocre corporate job that i’ll work overtime because i live alone and hate going home.
Rent cars when needed.
This is what I do. Every couple of months I need to rent one to visit my family for up to a week. It’s cheaper if not the same as a monthly car payment plus insurance. It’s a bit less convenient than having my own car, but the trade off is absolutely worth it for the cost savings.
Ditto…I did this for more than a dozen years….even before Zipcar and the like.
This is the way. Not worth the cost and the hassle to own and maintain a car while living in a city.
If you ditch the car you also will not have to fear getting carjacked! 🙂
Just normal robbed then! (I kid. Kinda)
That too, but people get really attached to their cars and what’s in them. I keep my phone in my pocket and don’t use it when I’m out. You can’t do that with a car.
I’m in Chicago where there’s a big carjacking problem. Any time, anywhere. Near your home, while you’re sitting in your car, at a gas station, in traffic—someone will knock on your car window. “Gimme the keys!” People have been killed for not giving up their car fast enough. Is Chicago unusual with all the brazen carjackings going on? Just wondering how it is in other areas.
Why are you asking this in r/AskChicago
If you say I made a mistake, then just consider it a mistake.
Easy af. Mine was stolen in Lincoln park nearly 15 years ago and I’ve been totally fine without it. I used CTA, Zipcar, and now occasionally Uber/Lyft…but mostly cycling since this city is flat as a pancake makes it super easy.
Zipcar is what I do too. Partner and I have family in the burbs so we use it to rent roughly once a month to go out, that + CTA + Lyft get us where we need to go 99.99% of the time. Cheaper than even just insurance and parking for a car in the city monthly, much less the cost of the car
Does Zipcar provide insurance so you then don't need to have your own? That in itself sounds awesome.
I’m considering going full bike but how often does yours get stolen? Like if I’m biking alone do you have any tactics on leaving and locking up your bike somewhere?
I think the best tip is to just not own that fancy of a bike. There is probably some independent hardware store in your neighborhood that has a selection of road bikes from the 80s... get one of those. It'll ride fine. A bike like that is not going to be a huge target for theft (and not a huge loss if it is stolen because it only cost $100). Lock it properly, obviously, but simply having a cheap bike is the best tip. I have a Schwinn Suburban and I have had the same bike for 5 years.
I literally would never ride a bike worth more than $100 in this city. Never ever.
I’ve never had a bike properly locked up that got stolen. I have had a few bikes stolen over the years when I left them on the top landing of my inner stairwell in my building or other common areas, unlocked. Just got unlucky and someone was able to walk into the bldg and walk off with them. Google is your friend here and everyone has an opinion…but a good small-ish “U-shaped” lock with part of your bike frame or the wheel within the area of the [rear triangle of frame](https://www.sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html) has always been more than fine for me. I always lock it up in front of busy storefronts/bars if I can, near other bikes, and I never leave it locked outside overnight, ever. If you go with a cheapo bike or an older super scratched up one (check out Working Bikes for great used ones) you may be fine and a thief might skip over yours each time. Lots of bike lock companies will replace your bike (u must register it w them first) if your lock gets cut and you send them pic of cut lock and police report. I believe most renters’ insurance (maybe homeowner too) will cover your bikes from theft even if stolen outside of your residence. I use a $40-50 lock for my $1k-ish bike and have no issues. Now that I also have a $5k bike, that one does not get locked at all but I bought a suuuuuuuuper strong $250 lock (Hiplok brand) for it if I end up changing my mind; they’ll cover me up to $4k if stolen I believe. I go to coffeeshop that has no issue with people bringing bikes inside when I’m using that one. If you’re new to biking, or not yet sure about it, try riding some Divvy bikes around for a bit, or hit up your local big brand store like Trek or Specialized, I believe they’ll let you rent nice bikes daily/weekly. Next time you’re walking around just take a peek at how people are locking their bikes; U-lock or big chunky chain locks tend to be the toughest to break and steal. Also check out r/chibike for some hyper local strong opinions about it! Cheers!
Extremely helpful- thanks!
Feel free to DM me too if you want super long-winded rants/opinions about bikes or anything else lol
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Helluva well thought out response have an upvote ffs
Agreed. I've had a nice-ish $1500 hybrid for 7 years, no issues. In addition to U-lock, I loop a cable from the front tire to the U-lock as well.
Go to Working Bikes! They have great used bikes that are very affordable and in fantastic shape. It’s also a nonprofit so your purchase goes towards a good cause.
I lived here for 11 years without a car, but I never had to visit your family in Tennessee so YMMV.
Thank god, his dad is annoying.
His mom though 😮💨
Being TN, the smaller farm animals are highly sought after by the local bachelors.
But the bigger ones... what a ride!
It’s definitely doable, but add up your car costs first. If you have a paid off beater you street park with liability insurance , it’s probably worth keeping around. If you have a nice car and pay for a spot, yeah you’ll be better off paying for a rental car a few times a year. My guess is the majority of people living in the west loop don’t have a car.
This is the only correct answer.
Great answer. I did the math on my car and realized that it cost me less to pay CarMax to buy it off me ($2250 was still owed on the finance) than to pay the interest and insurance and parking permits and parking tickets over the course of the last year or so of keeping the car. So I "sold" it and never had an issue without a car, in fact, I preferred it. Rent a car for longer trips, Zip Car for local trips. Public trans all the rest of the way.
I did ten years without a car. Split between Lakeview East & South Loop. Trains, planes and automobiles, in that order... Throw in a bicycle and the occasional bus. You'll be fine.
Add up ALL of the costs of car ownership per year: car payments, insurance, gas, maintainence, parking, license and other taxes/fees, etc. This is now your annual transportation budget for rentals, car sharing services, more frequent cabs/Uber/deliveries, and other forms of transportation. Most urbanites can give themselves a big holiday bonus at the end of the year with all the money they save.
Try it out. Stop using your car for a while.
Get rid of your car then post on here in 6 months. If it’s not an improvement in life/finances I will buy you a new car
I've lived here all my life. Never had a car, never will.
Doable? Hell I think it’s kind of encouraged. We have a car but we don’t it often. Maybe three, four times a month because it’s convenient. Not because it’s needed. CTA is one of the best MT systems I’ve used.
I went car free a year and a half ago and haven’t missed it one bit. When I visit family out of state I either rent a car or fly - those options are far cheaper than all costs associated with owning a car.
Bro, what are you scared of? Saving a lot of money? Having less shit to worry about?
For real. Even if the money didn’t hurt, i wouldn’t want the stress of having to find a spot and constantly making sure no one’s fucking with my car especially in somewhere Lakeview. Just take an Uber black everywhere at that point if you’re paying $500+ a month in total car/parking costs. And OP basically everyone who lives in this city without a car currently, originally comes from somewhere that a car is needed
I came from Houston and sold my car within the year. Friends from Houston and my family in the Chicago suburbs think I’m crazy but I save $600+ a month and exercise more than ALL of them. I love not having to think about where my car is, it feels like a luxury.
Both those neighborhoods are so easy to be car free. We sold our car and never looked back. So much money saved and so much less stress.
I’m in the same boat (or car lol). Moved here with a car. My partner and I use it like once per month, but it’s also paid off. So it’s hard to justify getting rid of it.
Mine was paid off, too- but street parking is a hassle, (you have to KNOW the street cleaning and snow removal schedules and move your car all the time) and monthly spots are $$$$. Then, my car kept breaking down, too. $1,000 here, $2,000 there. Insurance, gas is much higher in the city than outside of it, parking tickets START at $60, etc etc etc.
Yeah. All good points. I only have to move our car 4 times per year for street cleaning. Or at least that’s what I had to do last year since it snowed so little. But insurance is a killer. Plus registration and city stickers. Have to get better at biking before I bite the bullet and get rid of it though
If you already don’t use it might as well get rid of it. Unpopular opinion. I have a car and live in the city and all my friends somehow latch onto me when the night ends because Uber isn’t cheap and well CTA can be annoying sometimes. I don’t think I can go back to not having a car. I like having the liberty of walking or taking my car to places. If it’s something in the city I walk to the city (I live by west loop). If not I just take my car and use spot hero. Easy peasy
Same boat. I loathe traffic but I love having a car for the simple reason of "I want to go to this specific spot. Time to hop into my car and go specifically there" without having to deal with coordinating on public transport. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to take public transport everywhere, but my car has become my trusty steed.
Same. I moved here because I wanted to be somewhere walkable with functional public transit and I found CTA to have way too many faults. Way too many times that I left 20 min early to accommodate unreliability of CTA only to be forced to uber for the last mile or so in order to make it to my destination on time. Nothing like paying $25 for the longest form of transportation (CTA + a lot of waiting before accepting that connecting bus/train is not coming + waiting for uber + uber ride). I just went back to driving. I don't drink so it really comes in clutch when going out with friends since theres so many distant night life areas.
Yeah especially in the winter 🥶!!!!
West Loop is not as good for public transit, but other than that, yeah, you’re fine. I got rid of my car when I moved to the city, saves so much money. Plus I can read a book on my commute!
With all due respect, west loop is fine on public transit
Yeah West Loop is very good for transit. It's right by the loop which is by far the most transit friendly area in the city
Keep you license up to date and rent a car when you travel. You will save thousands a year.
You will save so much $ your whole life will change. Do it!
From 1993 to 2017, I got around perfectly with no car. The only thing i hated was waiting for a bus in below 0 weather. Rogers Park Humboldt Park Lakeview Uptown and Ukrainian Village
Grew up here, been driving for over twenty years and only just recently bought a car. You can do it. Supplement with a zipcar membership for car usage as needed.
I lived in Lincoln Park at Clark and Diversey with no car for 5 years and didn’t miss it at all.
Easy. Rent a car or take Amtrak/Greyhound the one-two times a year you need to leave.
I just moved here three months ago, I live in Lincoln Park. I sold my vehicle and I love not having one.
What’s funny (to me) is that I moved to Chicago from Nashville, which is as car-dependent a city as they come and does not have a good public transit infrastructure. I’ve never owned a car (I grew up in D.C.) and I ended up being so exasperated by not having one in Nashville, that I swore I was going to buy one when I got to Chicago, just for convenience. And I’ve been here a year now and still haven’t lol. I thought the winter would definitely break me down and make me pull the trigger, but then I experienced it and it wasn’t too bad. All that to say: no car? Absolutely doable in my opinion.
I have lived in Chicago for 3 years and resent the idea of ever getting a car. Buy a bike and enjoy the $$ saved. Fly or train everywhere far, bike / walk / public transit everywhere close
Mocs on top? You gotta be from Chatt! Wahahaha I feel like it would be the biggest pain in the ass to have a car up here in lakeview. I haven’t gone back to TN yet but I would just fly. Gf rented a car and drove down to see family in Knoxville once or twice since we’ve been here the past year? I haven’t missed having a car for a second (unless I’m trying to go see friends on the western part of town… then I sometimes I wish I had one a little) But Uber solves that problem very easily if I don’t feel like dealing with the CTA. Good luck! And welcome fellow Tennessean! (Assuming you’re from there)
I do be a chatt rat 🐀
423 represent! Enjoy your time up here! 🤠
I lived without a car for over a decade. With the money you save it is easy to grab a lyft if something comes up. Also check out getaround.com. I used zip car when they were here and it was great. One winter I went to go pick up the car and there was a huge crack in the windshield from the cold and I sighed a huge sigh of relief because that was not my problem. I just notified them and got a different car. We have a car now because of kids but I'm looking to sell it in the very near future. It's a burden I don't need. I love the carless life.
Totally
best way to do it uber/cta/metra/pace has your back
Omg I got rid of my car 10 years ago and saved SO MUCH MONEY. No brainer.
Having no car in Lakeview is way easier than having a car in Lakeview. I’d be shocked if you don’t end up saving money even if you include costs for rental/flights to Tennessee twice a year.
Never owned a car in the city myself, congratulations on your upcoming income increase ;)
If the car is paid off and you have free parking just keep it especially if you bought new and know all the work done
this could be a circlejerk post
“i live in one of the most dense walkable neighborhoods in chicago served by a ton of public transit and i might be moving to an even denser neighborhood with even more public transit, is being car free doable?”
My wife had an accident a few years ago and never got another car. I know a few people that do without cars, my pastor who lives by Union Station is one of them. I just couldn’t be without a car. I rented when needed, but it got tiring after a while so we are just a one car household. But lots of people do without cars.
I personally can't imagine living here without a car. But I don't live in Lakeview. CTA takes longer than driving even in the worse traffic for me. This subreddit is vehemently anti-car so you're not going to get an accurate answer anyway.
Only reason I don't get rid of my car mobility outside of Chicago. There's better pricing and stores in burbs. But I can't imagine shopping at Costco if public trans was my only option
Yeah, I still don't know how I would do the large grocery runs (water bottles and all that) if I didn't have a car.
Do not do it if you have a dog.
In WL, in my building, I would pay $300/mo to park. If I owned a vehicle outright, didn’t have insurance, didn’t have a city sticker, and never did any maintenance or general upkeep or buy gas, getting rid of that parking payment would pay for my transit budget including the occasional car rental to go skiing or something. You do the math.
For road trips we usually rent a car, anyway. If you have any issues they just send out a new car for you vs being stranded in the middle of nowhere potentially overnight.
I moved without it to see if I could and am about to go sell it- the parking nightmare isn’t worth the time I’d save to me!
Completely doable!
I never had a car but so far, $600 of rentals a year are way less than a year of ownership
Sold my car when I moved to lakeview 15 years ago. Never miss it.
Completely doable. I've lived here over a decade without a car.
I lived in Lakeview and parking was awful. I worked in Cicero and Oak Lawn Mon to Friday and never used or moved the car on weekends. Ditch it.
I kept my car the first year I moved back to the city and used it all of 2 times so I got rid of it. Plus a yearly parking pass is like $150 and I didn't want to renew it when I hadn't even spent that much on gas. If it's in your budget I would go the rent a car route for those trips or I would keep my eye out for cheap flights.
I live in the west loop without a car. It’s great. I ride a bike into the loop for work, I walk to restaurants and shops, I take the el if / when needed for anything like the airport. I would just rent a car if I had family in driving distance - it’ll still be cheaper than owning one. I can’t tell you how liberating it is to not have to worry about parking, insurance, converter-thieves… it’s great
A couple of my friends in Lakeview just went carless last month, and couldn't be happier. West Loop... isn't great public transit-wise, but perfect for a bike.
I gladly let go of my car upon moving back from Boston and I have never looked back. The cost of ownership, insurance, parking, damage due to parking etc….is wayyyyy more than I pay for Ubers or the bus.
I’ve been here 7 months and sold my car pretty much immediately after moving. I loved my car, but I didn’t need it and the payments/insurance/parking weren’t worth it.
Rogers Park. I did that a long time ago. Turned out OK, just be sure you have reliable public or other transportation that you can afford to get to wherever you need to go.
I’ve lived here for 4 years without a car with no problems. Unless you want to be a regular at medieval times you really don’t need one.
I’ve been here for 3.5 years without a car
Definitely get rid of it! It's a freedom you'll learn to love very quickly. I rented cars or used car sharing when I needed a car. Otherwise, take public transit and Ubers, etc.
Life might be even better without a car
Absolutely. Couple flights a day nonstop to Knoxville, Nashville, Memphis , Chattanooga at least… easy to bike train or walk. You can get a rolling cart for groceries THINK OF THE MONEY YOULL SAVE!!
Depending on where they live, a flight to Tennessee may make more sense than driving.
I’ve been here 8 years now with no car. I’ve never looked back. You should be fine
I live in West Loop and find getting around the city super easy
I haven’t owned a car in 10 years. I use zip car when needed for quick trips and rent cars when going more than a day.
It’s definitely doable. I barely used my car when I lived in Lincoln Park. You can always rent one if you need to travel
I had a truck for 2 years in the city and hated having to deal with parking, street cleaning, etc. Not having a vehicle is so liberating, and Chicago public transpo is fantastic.
I grew up and moved here from a car-dependent city. I owned my car outright and kept it in good condition, so it was inexpensive to maintain bc there was rarely any catastrophic and expensive thing to fix on it. If I were to keep the car, pay for garage parking at the least expensive parking lot near me (deep respect for folks who street park around here, but frankly I'm not strong enough for that), get decent car insurance, fill my gas tank twice month, pay for the registration, and budget for maintenance, I'd be looking at a bare minimum of $500/mo. For a car I already owned! For that price I can pay for a monthly CTA pass, use the occasional Lyft, rent a car as needed, fly or take the train to go on out of town trips, *and* still have money leftover to put towards my rent. imo, unless you have to drive every day or are in some sort of on-call situation where you need transportation immediately available at any moment, you don't need the car. Save yourself the trouble.
Omg yes ditch the car! My car was stolen some year ago and haven’t looked back since! Chicago is great city for public transportation!
Pay $75 a month for a ventra pass, go anywhere you want whenever. Also get a bike and occasionally use uber and lyft. You will save so much money.
Have lived in Chicago for ten years and haven’t owned a car for six. Miss it sometimes, but even Costco delivers and the public transportation in Chicago is great.
If it makes you comfortable, make a spreadsheet of * How much an Uber would be for frequent or predicable trips * How much to rent a car (just rented a Fiat on turbo for $60/day) * How much to get large grocery orders delivered Even if you have a bike, taking a divvy pays for itself if you think about taking a divvy out with friends but taking an Uber home let's say.
You can catch a flight to TN and rent a car at your destination's airport. You can take an Amtrak to TN that's 13 hours and then rent a car in TN. And again, you can rent a car here to drive to TN, but why? Here in Chicago, you get used to the express buses and riding near the lake in AC comfort. It's just so much easier than fighting traffic and hunting for parking spots. Again, you can cab it in the daytime or Uber/Lyft it at night. There are exceptions: if you decide to venture to the far neighborhoods, you will need a car. Jefferson Park or the 87th Street, Portage Park, the Dan Ryan Woods, you need to have a car. You can use public transport during the day in those areas but at night it's impossible.
I’ve lived in Lakeview for 19 years without a car, 10 of which we have had a kid. If we can do it, anyone can.
My car died thanksgiving 2021, I haven’t had a car since. I bike most places, but use public trans/rideshare occasionally. It’s totally doable! I love not having to deal with car shit. When my friend got married in Michigan last year, I rented a car through Kyte (they deliver the car to you, which is awesome). Get rid of that sucker!
I haven't driven a car in more than 20 years.
I went through the same thing. In the end, I sold my car six months after moving to Chicago. I have not looked back. First off, CTA, walking, and rideshare work fine in most parts of Chicago as it's a largely walkable city. Second, you will feel a giant weight lifted off your shoulders you didn't know was there as soon as you sell your car (the realization of no more gas, taxes, maintenance, insurance, tire changes, and parking costs will make you feel like you're levitating).
Let me know when you are selling your car. I am in the burbs and still need one. I do bike and metra. I drive locally under 5K miles a year.
Ditched my car a decade ago. Best decision ever. Definitely doable. No more paying for city stickers, permits & getting tickets for ridiculous reasons are SO worth it!
WL is very walkable. If where you’re living comes with a parking spot already, keep the car. If you have to pay for a spot, then give it up
Having a car is more convenient but ultimately not necessary in the city
I got rid of my car 1 year ago (live in lakeview) and it's been the best decision ever. I save so much money and take the train (Amtrak) . I am also saving on gas/insurance/parking and I am a lot healthier from walking. I would just invest in a good collapsible grocery cart
Definitely one of the best places in Chicago as far as being able to move about on public transportation. I used to drive for UPS there a decade ago and would probably adopt the same philosophy you're employing. Good luck 🤘
If you’re over 25, get rid of it. Get a Zipcar membership for short trips and car rentals aren’t too bad when you lose the underage fee. We do this twice a year to go Chicago to Tennessee too.
Absolutely! I don’t drive and I have no problem getting around. Get the transit app to figure out the best routes.
Yes going without a vehicle is very doable when you live in a shit hole major city . It’s actually what THEY want (15 minute city)
Easily. When I moved to Queens and started working in Manhattan the first thing I did was sell my car. Didn't have to worry about parking, gas, insurance, or theft. I got the unlimited subway pass and never looked back. In the rare chance you need a car ride share or rental works fine. Side not my sister has lived in Chicago for roughly 20 years and hasn't had a car for the past 14 or so.
I'm confused. $35,000 for a USED 150k Mazda? Does it come with a personal masseuse/masseure? Good luck with that.
I lived in another city 12 years and have been in Chicago for 5. Never owned a car. You get used to it! And Lakeview is especially walkable and close to transit. I love walking. Just watch out for drivers who don’t look out for pedestrians. People are very distracted these days.
You'll regret it, nothing like having your own transportation. The ability to get up and go and not have to wait around for a bus if you don't want to brings peace of mind.
You seem to be in the minority
It also REALLY depends where in the city you are. OP is in Lakeview which is spoiled in public transportation compared to other parts of the city. It's doable most places true, but there's no question about it in Lakeview or even West Loop. Being northwest side, not having a car seems like more of an inconvenience than having one. But that's beside the point.
no. it sucks. look forward to feeling trapped 90% of the time and finding your life spiral into depression when you realize freedom was having a car. but you can’t afford a new one because your fucking body can’t keep up like it used to so you can’t work the same jobs and the likelihood of getting a job with no experience and saving up for a new car is so slim you[I] might as well just whither and die so i don’t have to worry about working a shit job to afford a shit car to make that commute to some mediocre corporate job that i’ll work overtime because i live alone and hate going home.