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A provocative ad in my Feb. 14, 2011 issue of Time magazine charges that every car you own extracts $7,095 per year from your local economy. The total includes gas, insurance, the purchase price, and finance charges. A measly $1,390 per year stays in your community, including the cost of your license, taxes, repair, tires, registration, and maintenance. The total yearly car spending – $8,485 – is based on a AAA stat. The ad is paid for by Intelligent Cities, a project from National Building Museum, was created by an act of Congress in 1980 and is devoted to studying the built environment and its impact on people’s lives.
Give up your wheels, start walking, and spend more money in your hometown, is the message. If 15,000 people in one community gave up their cars, that would be an extra 127 million dollars to spend. How many jobs would that create? How much stability, through investments and savings, would that foster? A lot more than there is now!
Would you consider giving up your car? Why or why not?
I have often thought about it but here is what’s holding me back:
- Riding my bike or walking in the cold of winter to get groceries – at best not fun, at worst dangerous
- Over relying on friends to hitch rides or carpool
- Getting stuck with taxi/ride share fees when I go to the airport
I paid outright for my used car, so my yearly expenses are much lower than the $7,095 average. Although you’d be surprised how costly is it to drive fast. My car is now 8 years old and has almost 94,000. I’m confident it will last at least another two years, if not longer. So for me and any one else with a paid off car, perhaps the question is really will you consider not buying another car when your current one dies?
Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price. 
I lived in New York city for 6 years without having a car and it was heaven! I need a car out here in LA but not having a car relieves a lot of pressure and saves a lot of money.
When you are sick and can not walk …how do get to your Govt. appointed doctor?…how do you carry home stuff that you shop?…was weather taken into the mix?…this is where our tax dollars go to…they need to close this group down.
Like Jim, when I lived in a city (SF) I didn’t drive–didn’t even know how to–but here in LA it not just convenient, it’s a necessity. I live a half mile from a bus line, on a hill and I have bad knees so a lot of walking or biking isn’t an option.
I have a used car, paid for. Because it’s older, my insurance is much less and I use a local agency (jobs in the community). I use a local mechanic (ditto) who keeps my car running safely and as clean as possible. I buy my tires locally. When I buy gas, that another local business and maybe an occasional car wash (since they save water). More local jobs. I know those were included in their study, but these are businesses I personally care about as I know the owners.
On the other hand, when one knee was really bothering me, with the exception of groceries, I did all my shopping online–and for some of that, not even the taxes stayed local.
When I worked in Long Beach I thought it was going to be wonderful to be able to take the Blue Line to work.
Two transfers each way and what took me a half hour by car took an hour and a half by Metro.
Studies and statistics are fine but there are real people who get crunched along with the numbers when plans are made.
I do limit my driving plan ahead, etc. but relying on friends isn’t practical (location) and I’m sure there are others like me.
It would only work if there is a really effective infrastructure in place.
I also wonder how the companies who sell large items, or in bulk would feel…people wouldn’t drive up and stock up–and since (bargaineers aside) so many people make spontaneous purchases, those core customers would be in the stores either.
Whoever put the study together (set the guidelines, etc) should have had a good psychologist on board to evaluate how the change would affect WHAT people would do besides not drive a car.
And I think most people you would talk to would say they think it’s a good idea (wanting to present the proper attitude to the interviewer, a common problem with surveys) knowing they themselves would not want to do it.
I did a quick lookup on Intelligent Cities and it seems it has the backing of environmentalists (not a bad thing, but that’s a very broad term and could include a lot of people I disagree with) and big businesses like Siemans, IBM, Cisco & Phillip –all who stand to make money with the new technology that the Intelligent Cities initiative would require.
And the article I read (USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-01-28-cities28_ST_N.htm) said with the economy most cities don’t have the money to implement the initiative.
That is so crazy. I support my community yes but this is a free country still & we should be able to choose how we spend or save our money. It’s a ridiculous argument.
What about those who live in the country & drive miles one way to work? Time is money too, not everyone has time to travel on public transportation, walk or ride a bike to work. Some of us live in climates that are too harsh for walking or biking except during certain seasons.
By the way, your car is young still. My dh drives a 21 yr old car to work that has well over 200,000 miles on it & gets great gas mileage because it’s been maintained so well. My car is 11 yrs old & my son’s is 13 yrs old & all three well maintained, low gas mileage, paid for & low insurance. Looking at our family their numbers aren’t even close anyway.
In answer to your last question – we’re saving for our next car so we won’t be financing it. Should that help my community? i don’t know but it keeps me in my budget & that’s my main concern.
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