When my car broke down out in "Illinois" a couple weeks ago, that was its swansong. It won't be returning to service. :-( I spent about 95% of my first 9 years in Chicago living without a personal vehicle, and it was fine; being car-free was a point of pride even! That ended in 2009 when I took a job out in the Northwest Indiana suburbs, and of course, I needed one. I've had a car ever since.
I was planning on getting a new car this summer, as there has been some writing on the wall, about my current vehicle, for a little while. But the machine had other ideas, and checked out early.
I've been going back and forth about holding out to save money on the car I WANT (probably something all-electric) vs. just finding a way to cough up some of that dough now, and getting a cheaper (probably NOT all-electric) vehicle, sooner. But I just saw how much money the feds are trying to pass out for buying an electric vehicle. I think I'm gonna wait, and live car-free for awhile so I can save up for an e-vehicle (?e-hicle?!). Those incentive$ will help me pay for it!
So the experiment is on! It's been 14 years since I went about my business without a car. Since then, I've added a whole family into the mix, and for the next few months, it's biking at CTA-ing for me, probably with the occasional ride-share thrown in. Luckily I got this great trailer to take my little girl around in, on my bike
Wish me luck!