On Saturday, I joined the Tour de Ballona and rode the Ballona Creek Path. It was great to meet my neighbors, talk bike commuting, and get a view of the pelicans and ducks hanging out in the wetlands.
For a video of the ride and to sign up for updates on the next Ballona Creek Ride, [...]
Entries from October 2008
October 28, 2008
Riding the Ballona Creek Path
October 28, 2008
Saving Money
In the past year, as gas prices rose to nearly $5/gallon, a lot of Americans started driving less. Now that prices at the pump are falling again, I’ve wondered if I’m still saving loads of cash by being car-free. My conclusion? Yes!
An example: ways I’ve saved money since selling my car:
Car insurance = $100/month ($1200 [...]
October 27, 2008
Shopping and Car Culture
When I tell people I’ve gone car-free, there are a few common questions that come up. After “How do you get to work?” often comes “How do you buy groceries/furniture from IKEA/other stuff?” It’s understandable but also interesting, I think, that the ability to shop is such an immediate consideration for most in thinking of [...]
October 11, 2008
Car Culture, Mortgage Crisis, and Community
PBS’s NOW recently did a story on ex-burbia and car culture. You can watch it here: Driven to Despair
The show gives a good look at some of the connections between gas prices, urban sprawl, and the mortgage crisis — especially in Southern California. I was particularly interested in some of the fears middle class interviewees [...]
October 11, 2008
Trying Zipcar
www.zipcar.com
I had my first Zipcar experience last week, when I drove my parents back to Union Station after their visit. Car-sharing is really a slick situation, and aside from the two buses I had to take to reach the car (Zipcar restricts its fleets to UCLA and USC), the sharing worked smoothly.
The car was a [...]
October 8, 2008
My Parents take a Car-Free Vacation
My parents live in a small town in Wisconsin with just one stop light. In the heart of town, the roads are wide, and traffic is light. When they first visited me here a few years ago, Los Angeles traffic was a shock to them. How could traffic be at a standstill when our freeways [...]
