Car-less in London, Ontario
The richness of life post the automobile
September 25, 2008, was an anniversary for me: two full years had past since I sold my car. It has been two years of biking, walking, public transit, and the occasional car rental (when absolutely necessary). Without a doubt in my mind, the single greatest benefit has not been the reduction in my CO2 emissions (although extremely important), or the money I have saved (very significant), or even the new friends I have made in the world beyond the bubble of my automobile (although the stories of those relationships could probably fill another full article).
No, the single greatest benefit has been one of… presence. Mind-space made tranquil by reducing my mobility. When I slowed down the pace I discovered that I had been living my life almost exclusively “inbetween destinations.” My brain was always rushing ahead to the next thing. The automobile made it possible: it provided the necessary individualized, utilitarian tool to keep me constantly moving.
When I slowed down, I suddenly noticed that I was … living. When in a state of constant motion, the soul is often neglected for the other more “pressing” matters of life, that somehow serve as the ultimate distraction to recognizing your own, living consciousness. In other words, we’re too busy doing stuff to ever actually be alive.
Discovering life past the automobile has been a tremendously important journey for me. It has connected me with life: figuring out how to get my groceries from the market to my house has raised my awareness about what I eat; I’ve actually met my community on sidewalks and on bus routes; carpooling has afforded beautiful conversations I would have missed if I was in my own car; oh, and all that biking hasn’t hurt my thighs at all!
Most of all, though, I’m just a little more “present” wherever I am. Its been a year of learning how to simply live in the “now” and not wait for life to start at the next location in a speed-crazed life. Recapturing the space inbetween has been, for me, to regain a sense of the holy moment. A stretch, a smile, and a deep breath in (with a little fresher air)…
© Fowler Media
I’ve been without a car myself for 4 years now and it has been the greatest thing ever. Although I fully realize that the automobile has it’s place in society (SEE HERE) for myself and the life I lead I have little to no use for one.
The thing that I benefited most from ditching my car was the fact that I didn’t realize what I was missing about the world I live in. I didn’t realize all of the interesting people I wasn’t interacting with, all of the little shops that I didn’t know about and all of the beauty that I was missing. These are things that people completely become oblivious to when they are so reliant on a personal vehicle, they are oblivious to them in their home town or when they are visiting anywhere else.
Since shedding my car from my lifestyle I have come to appreciate both the places where I live and where I travel so much more and I feel very much connected to them. This is a feeling that I would never pass up.
James, great to have your added company here at FMBS.
James, good article. This is my second year without a car. I didn’t do it for any other reason, than I am cheap. It was cheaper for me to bike, take a bus or taxi. Biking and walking are cheaper than joining a gym. I also felt, as you do, the car was isolating me from the outside world. If you don’t have a car, you tend to buy less, because you have to carry it home. I see things while biking, busing or walking that I would never had noticed when I drove. Something nice about that.
Too true! I’ve never thought about it this way. I’m a walking mum and it seems to me that my life is much less complicated than my fellow driving mums. Ok, I grant you that to the driving mums my life *seems* more complicated when I’m pulling a sled with a toddler while carrying a fullsize backpack of groceries on my my back – but all I had to do that afternoon before collecting my 6 year old was go grocery shopping. If I’d had the car, I’d've been running this errand and that errand and popping here and there. The toddler would have been in and out the car and most irritated. I love being car free. Being a true part of my neighbourhood and living more slowly far outweighs the inconvenience of not having a car. Plus I’m very fit and don’t feel the cold so much now.
Driving is a convenience, and to be perfectly honest I miss the convenience even after many years of going car-free. I miss being able to turn the key and get from one side of town to the other in the blink of a relatively few short red lights. There is that downside.
London Transit, with the increased support of all three levels of government, could do much to alleviate the inconvenience of using public transit. The reason that they don’t is a lack of complainers. Not the kind who complain in a coffee shop to one another. The kind who do it in a fashion that has real results. I’m talking about written complaints to the LTC and backed up by letters to City Council and the media.
Kev: You are absolutely right about being able to be more observant and being able to enjoy your surroundings more when you’re not driving every place that you go. Not only that but you get to interact with those things.
HP: Being frugal and not consuming more than what is necessary is a good thing. Being smart doesn’t equate to being cheap in my book. And you are obviously smart (even if you are a misguided right-wing kook ROFL).
Jesse: A couple more years when your toddler is in grade school and you’ll begin to realize the true benefit of not driving everywhere, and that’s the opportunity to have real conversations with the most important person in your life. As opposed to “I can’t talk now because I’m driving.” Being able to feel that you’re part of a neighbourhood (again … that interaction thing) is definitely a huge plus!
James: It’s great that you took the time to contribute such an eloquent article. Welcome to FMBS. I hope that we get to see lots more from you!
Greg, I think it is because I grew up in such a large family, nothing was wasted, a use was found for everything. Every hardship turned into an adventurous lesson on survial. As I got older and acquired purchasing power, I would buy all kinds of junk, that I really had no use for, just because I could.
HP: My childhood was much the same. 5 kids and both parents working hard just in order to provide the necessities. Of course, as a Catholic household, it simply seemed natural at the time. Now I look back and am amazed and have to wonder how the parents of some of my friends ever stayed sane, trying to cope with +10 kids!
You’re a catlick too? I suppose you will be expecting me to give you the secret handshake when we hook up.
My car was in the shop for two months one year, and it was absolutely awful. To get anywhere the trip time tripled, I was behoved to the LTC schedules, and went out less and stayed closer to home then if I had a car.
I wouldn’t live in London without a car. Toronto, now that’s a different story. I use the car maybe twice a month now.
John, my son said the same thing. When he was working in Toronto, he just parked his truck, he said it was easier going on the go-trains. The bus system sucks here in London. The routes make no sense to me. I wouldn’t depend on the bus system here in London for getting to work. I am hoping London goes for that bike rack on the front of the buses. I would really like that.
HP: Not only that, but I was an altar boy. And what’s more, i spent 4 yrs. in a minor seminary. Can’t you see the halo when you look at my avatar? LOL
Just so that nobody misses it, Brian Frank has something to say about this article in London’s True Calling. Here’s a teaser:
Heh, I was an altar boy too. I was the Senior Altar server, on the liturgy council and the church board.
I was thinking of becoming a nun, and then the thought struck me of getting none the rest of my life, and I changed vocations…quickly.
The bishop was always trying to convince me to be a preist. Girls won out obviously.
HP: What new vocation did you decide to pursue?
John: And the girls are still applauding your decision!
nothing spectacular, a gyspy.
I think it is interesting to hear people complain about how long it takes to get places without a car — that is precisely one of the reasons I love not driving.
We are addicted to speed, our society conforms to this cult of productivity like a religion. Quite frankly, the more “less time efficient” ways I find of doing things (i.e. the bus instead of the car; gardening instead of the supermarket; etc) the healthier I seem to become.
Sure, I guess slowing down isn’t for everyone… but hey, some people are so immersed in their lifestyle/cult of speed that they won’t even consider an alternative and that, I think, is the sad part.
James: Maybe I’m just too thin-skinned sometimes, but I don’t think it’s fair to suggest that all complaints about LTC travel time are without merit. Read An LTC Bedtime Story (and there’s several more if you care to search for them).
You have a good attitude about not driving. We seem to try pack so many things into a day, work, chores, etc that we forget that life doesn’t necessarily have to move as fast as we seem to want it to.
The difficult part is for those of us who feel that we must do everything, is finding when and how to slow down.
It’s food for thought though.
Jen: The best thing about the food here is that no matter how much you keep coming back for more you can never get too much
I gave up owning a car a couple years ago. It was tough at first. I could always “be there” in a short time. Now I can echo pretty much what James said.
Just the other day (recall that beautiful sunny Friday) I walked downtown from Huron and Adelaide. I saw this incredible looking old house somewhere, maybe on Piccadilly, it has been there for centuries and I have been here for half a century, yet never noticed it. I stood and looked at it wishing I had my camera. While walking through Victoria Park I saw things I never noticed before, plaques and stuff. Again I wish I had my camera with me. I became so enthralled with the sights I was seeing for what seemed to be the first time, I looked like tourist! And I likely will the next strollable day because I vowed to never leave the house again without my camera and to go back to that house and Victoria Park and take pictures. I further vowed to get out and about this spring to places I haven’t been before and shoot picture after picture (gotta’ love digital).
Thanks for posting this, Steve. It was a well written and very inspiring read.
(The only reason I needed a car in Toronto was to get the hell out! But that’s just me)
(I miss having a car for just 2 reasons. 1) My son and I enjoyed cheap drive-in Tuesdays at The Mustang. Now he is too to get in free, so that doesn’t matter.
2) I have to depend on my friends (a total stranger will do, even) if I want to go play golf, which is pretty much every day. But, paying someone’s green fees or buying lunch is cheaper than owning or renting a car and by gosh it sure makes them happy.)
(I read an article somewhere yesterday about no fare public transit. Apparently quite a few municiplaties do this and find it a great way to cut down automobile usage in the city. Of course for London to adopt such a plan the LTC would have to increase its fleet and revamp routes and schedules to make it more rider-friendly. But wait, at $2.50 a ride, shouldn’t they be doing that anyways?)
Randy: I’ve advocated for “free” public transit for a long time. Do a search for the articles that I’ve published here. Plus, FPT now has a Canadian website, so you might want to Google that as well.
[...] much as I wholeheartedly agree with the spirit of James Shelley’s From My Bottom Step post about car-less living (and I’ve got some very similar thoughts in response I might post [...]