Our Life Without A Car

I had every intention of bringing my car to New York once I found an apartment…But my car had other plans 😜  It is to big for the less than few free parking spaces near the apartment, and would need some maintenance just to pass car inspection.  So our main source of transportation relies on a Metrocard and our feet.

Naturally there are pluses and minuses with public transportation in a 5+ borough city.  Besides saving a little bit of cash, an ultimate plus is the shedding of my ‘back pinch’ (You know that extra skin on your back).  I have lost weight just from the extra walking I have to do just so I catch the good bus to work.  (note – I will have to post about the buses for work) 

The main minus, of not having a car, is being aware of time constraints.  Yes when you have a car you think about time to get from here to there…But you have to add extra time when you rely on buses and subways.  A concept my children have not adjusted to — why should they since they are not in a rush.

This past Sunday is a prime example of how time is affected by the subway system.  The church we attend has various services, but since it is in Manhattan I try to make sure we go to the morning options.  We left the apartment at the right time to catch the bus and subway for 12:30 service….Just so happened when we got to the subway platform there was some police matter that was making the current subway remain at the station for 15+ minutes.  That delay impacted the subway we were to catch –  what was to be a 10 minute wait turned into over 25 minutes for a subway that never showed.  I honestly have no clue where it went…so we ended up taking a different route and got to service around 1:15.  Thankfully we are flexible — but I will admit I was a tad bit mad while we waited…especially after seeing numerous subways going the opposite direction but not coming our way.

Not having a car takes some manuvering –  but I rarely miss ‘old blue’.  Besides if I really need a vehicle — Uber and Lyft will gladly come to the rescue (better than a taxi).