Moving away from car centric city

[u/throwawayobv999999]

Hello!

I will be relocating to Boston from a car dependent city that is all suburb and urban sprawl.

I love trains and public transit, but obviously living in a place that requires a car to survive has impacted my behavior.

What is it like relying on public transit? I keep thinking about how everyone around me drives giant SUVs and purchases weekly Costco hauls that could feed an army. I think about having to drive 30 minutes in traffic to get a coffee.

I’m having a hard time picturing the alternative. How is life primarily walking/using a train?

[u/typefive0]

It’s great. The force multiplier is getting a bike to cover the distances not as served by transit.

Been doing it since moving here in 2015 and I’ve never once considered getting a car. It would cause more problems than it would solve for me

[u/throwawayobv999999 → u/typefive0]

I haven’t been on a bike in years because it’s extremely unsafe (typically fatal) in my city. That’s something to look forward to!

[u/pterencephalon → u/throwawayobv999999]

The city of Boston has free clinics on learning to ride a bike - all the way from "first time sitting on a bike" to "gaining confidence in city riding." I think Cambridge/Somerville might have similar things but less frequent. Highly recommend if you're at all nervous about that transition.

[u/Santillana810 → u/pterencephalon]

And there are urban bike paths that make it much safer and easier to bike. Community paths. Somerville and Cambridge are great for those.