Growing up Car-Free in Chicago

In an interview with Streetsblog Chicago’s John Greenfield, 18-year-old Quetzal Kilgore shares their experience of growing up car-free in Chicago. For Kilgore, who grew up in a carless household, the city offered mobility that many American youth don’t get to experience.

For a lot of people, when you grow up, your parents have cars. There's a good mix of time where you don't want your parents to drop you off, but you have to, because you don't have your own car. I never had that. If I wanted to go somewhere, the only issue would be getting my parents permission. So it gave me a lot of freedom.

Kilgore has traveled around the city by bike, on foot, and via public transit their entire life. When they were young, their parents used a bike trailer to shuttle them around. They also used the bus and train from a young age. For Kilgore, “Biking and transit just gives you the freedom to really go anywhere in the city.”