Milwaukee, a small, cold city without gold-standard public transportation, is probably not considered by many to be an obvious place to go car-free. However, this Sunday's Journal Sentinel highlights the ease with which one resident, who lives on the dense and walkable East Side, has managed to give up her car.
"I bike and walk almost everywhere. I've lost 14 pounds, causing one friend to declare this 'the car-free diet.'
I've got a new street-level perspective. I've noticed housing styles (the bungalows in Bay View, Polish flats near Brady St. and the brightly painted Victorians on Oakland between Brady and North) and the way some homes' landscaping reflects the seasons...
As my only transportation cost now is the occasional bus ticket to leave the east side or putting gas into the borrowed car, I've saved a lot of money by not having a car.
According to AAA's national office, it costs an average of $672 per month to maintain and pay for a car. You can save more than $8,000 a year by taking mass transit, says an American Public Transportation report released in July."
Thanks to Franny Ritchie
Comments
Brings back my memories of life in the Rust Belt
Where I lived without a car for three years, first in Cleveland and then in Buffalo. I even created webpages (now a bit outdated as to a few details) about car-free life in those cities:
http://members.tripod.com/~lewyn/index.htmautofree (Cleveland)
http://members.tripod.com/~lewyn/afg.html (Buffalo)
Mil-Walk-ee
I lived car-free on the east side for three years during college. After another two in Chicago, I can say that it's just as easy to live sans-vehicle in the Brew City as it is in the Windy. The east side is compact, walkable, and is bisected by a fantastic sunken rails-to-trails bike path that acts as an artery -- a sort of freeway for bikes and joggers -- for the area's alternative-transit-minded residents (of which there are more than just a handful).
could be better
Yes Milwaukee is a very walkable and bike friendly city. Though when it comes to being bike-friendly I'd like to see bike lanes on farwell converted cycle tracks to make the experience more comfortable (safe) and encourage more riders.
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