When The Auto Columnist Gives Up His Car

White understands that it's not just about not having a car - it's about the urban landscape that makes it possible and even beneficial - to the resident as well as the environment.

Trading in Wheels for Shoes and a Fare Pass

"After 30 years behind the wheel, former suburbanite and Journal editor Joseph White tries on life in the city -- without his automobile.

I didn't dump my car because of a concern about the climate or a desire to embrace urban life. We moved to Washington for career reasons. Letting go of my car seemed to be an economically sensible choice once we decided that life in Capitol Hill would be more fun than fighting the Washington Beltway's horrendous traffic.

My new life evidently makes me part of a trend. I am a New Urbanist, a Third Life Boomer or, to the green movement, an exemplar of the new sustainable lifestyle who leaves a lighter, smaller carbon footprint on our planet by driving less, walking more and forgoing the energy-intensive life that goes with owning an edge-city McMansion and two sport-utility vehicles."