If you had to give up your car for a month, which month would you choose?

[taterguy]

Not to perpetuate a flamewar but it seems like August is a really bad month to give up a car.

For most of the country it's hot, and we're a sweat-phobic society.

So I'm not asking if you could give up a car for a month.

I'm asking, purely hypothetically, if you were forced to not drive for a month, which month would you choose?

[HockeyMom]

1. Anytime in the summer

when I don't have to work. Groceries might be a problem though. With 100+ heat indexes in South Florida, I don't think I could bike or even walk to the supermarket in that heat.

[stray cat]

2. December - I only have to walk 20 miles to work each day 3/4 weeks

[taterguy]

4. Seriously, why settle for walking?

Are you allergic to bicycles?

Or did you just never bother learning how to ride one?

You never forget ya know.

[Posteritatis]

20. Bicycles are allergic to a lot of places in December. (nt)

[taterguy]

26. Which is why Minneapolis is one of the nation's most bike-friendly cities

If you're gonna be out in the cold you might as well minimize the amount of time you're gonna be out in it.

[Posteritatis]

37. My hometown started as a fortification, so most people don't even try in the winter

Hell, in the summer biking one block uphill often involves biking a block or two alongside the hill to get to a point where you can climb safely. Outside of the downtown core they're ubiquitous, but in the central area it's mainly a case of setting off Darwin's pager.

Of course I'm probably in an atypical city for that sort of thing.

[wellstone dem]

41. Not one of--THE BEST BIKING CITY IN THE USA!!!

Of course I live in a different Minnesota city and would be very afraid to bike where I live in the winter. It is scary enough to bike here in the summer, which reminds me, what am I doing sitting inside!

[hobbit709]

3. None

[taterguy]

6. If I wanted "None" to be an option in this exercise I would have included it

:eyes:

[hobbit709]

25. Too bad.

If I was physically able to walk long distances or ride a bike in Austin in the summer maybe. The so-called public transportation here sucks. I'm already using a lot less gas than most people. A half tank of gas lasts me three weeks-sometimes longer.

Or like today, by the time I made it from the store entrance to my truck, I was sopping wet in the typical Texas toad strangler rain. That was a total of 100 feet in the parking lot.

[pnorman]

9. I'd choose ALL (but that's not listed)

n/t

[Ruby the Liberal]

5. June, July or August

I can walk to work and the farmer's market - and the latter is brimming with fresh produce in the summer.

[treestar]

7. Spring or Fall

So that walking would be more comfortable - not to hot or too cold.

[JVS]

8. There is usually a roughly month long period stretched over Jan and Feb where I give up my car...

because it gets snowed in and I don't feel like digging my driveway out.

[rainy]

There's an ad blocking me from choosing January can you believe that? nt

[taterguy]

15. Believe that you don't have a browser with an ad-blocker?

Nope, don't believe that.

[Art_from_Ark]

53. Ad Blocker doesn't have anything to do with it

If you're not a donor, Grovelbot has a habit of popping up in the response sections of polls.

[ThomWV]

10. Last month ...

[bergie321]

11. I live in Phoenix

I sweat walking TO my car in August.

[jesus_of_suburbia]

12. Any of the winter months. I can't stand the heat. The cold is fine with me.

I can walk in the cold, but I prefer not to walk in the heat.

[frazzled]

16. You must not live where I do

January in Chicago it can be so cold and incredibly windy that walking eight blocks can be a real endurance feat. Today, however, it is 75 and gorgeous. No way do I need to take the car out: we walked to the market and bought some things for dinner. Of course, living in the city we don't take our car out that much anyway. But we will take the bus/train/cab in the colder months on routes we would walk in the spring, summer, and fall.

[pipi_k]

13. If I were really really really forced to give it up and had a choice which month?

Probably January or February.

Driving around in the snow sucks here. Sometimes we can't even get out to the main road if our road hasn't been plowed, or if there's ice under the snow.


For that reason we really don't do much driving in the winter. I mean, we really don't anyway. The odometer sort of proves that. We live 20 miles from anywhere "civilized". Our vehicle, which we bought new in 2005, has less than 25,000 miles on it. That's a little over 400 miles per month. I know people who do that in one week. I figure that's not bad for living out in the boonies...

[Lasher]

14. Doesn't matter.

I drive a pickup.

[elehhhhna]

17. whatever month I could spend in the Caymans

[Bluenorthwest]

18. The month I spend in NYC

How's that?

[Brickbat]

19. There's no good answer for me, unless I picked February because it's the shortest.

I could get by with mooching off other people for rides, but Mr. Brickbat could not. He needs his car to work. So I guess I could give up mine, as long as he could keep his.

[Taitertots]

21. Which month are you going to care for their young children?

Which month are you going to care for their aging family members?
Which month are you going to carry their required work materials?

Last year I would have asked you which month am I supposed to ride my Mother to the hospital on the handlebars of my bike. But I'm sure they only reason we keep cars is sweat-phobia.

[Robb]

22. The bus is awesome in hot weather.

At least a couple days ago, at almost 100, I would've paid twice the fare I did just for the cool-down. :D

[Curmudgeoness]

23. None. Sorry you didn't give that choice.

Why doesn't everyone stop with beating each other up with the "I'm better than you are because...." This is counterproductive. People continue to be ridiculed for every action they take, and if you cannot give up a car, you are NOT the villian. For me, giving up my car for a month equals losing my job, and from what I am hearing on DU, it would be next to impossible to replace it. Force me to give up my car, and I will take a header off a bridge. That is how much my life depends on it.

[havocmom]

24. Have gone carless for years in Tucson and Montana

Finding a lot of comments here pretty funny. Conditions. Yeah. Tucson in summer: air temp 120+ on busy street corners waiting for buses; Yes, I did carry a thermometer from time to time, out of curiosity. Cars + acres of asphalt = temps MUCH higher than official temps at weather stations off pavement. Bus system is decent, but still limits areas and times for the car-less, and that limits job opportunities and housing choices.

Montana in winter, cold with winds. Winter is LONG and chances are good if you live in Montana you are a long way from at least half the goods/services you use. Yea internet shopping and the friendly UPS driver!

Count your blessings. OP only asked for one month. Try to imagine either of the above locations for YEARS at a time. You can survive more than a month if you are wise/lucky enough to live close to work or live where there is transportation. But you have to make adjustments and sacrifices.

[FBI_Un_Sub]

27. From My Lake Erie and Lake Ontario Snow Belt History

FEBRUARY

[redqueen]

28. If I could give it up I'd give it up all year.

When I lived in the city I could depend on the bus or my two feet and had no problems with it.

Now I have no choice. It's a car or nothing.

[crikkett]

29. I gave p my car a few years ago n/t

[MrsMatt]

30. Latter half of June, 1st half of July

School for my daughter didn't end until mid-june, and my husband is off during summer. It's always a tight schedule between her start time, my son's start time at daycare, and my work start time (husband's schedule is very iffy, between his teaching duties and free-lance work, so he doesn't factor into the scheduling during the school year).

Once mid-July rolls around, I get crazy busy at work, and August would be impossible, as I'm usually putting in about 12-17 hours a day at work.

[Swamp Rat]

31. k&r

:kick:

[TheCowsCameHome]

32. The one after I died.

Without it, unfortunately, I'd be stuck.

[WillowTree]

36. That was my choice, as well.

[MrSlayer]

33. I never took one up to begin with.

I don't own a car, never have, probably never will.

[branders seine]

34. One of the months before I got my driver's license.

[noel711]

35. January...

The snowiest month in the Lehigh VAlley,
and digging out and driving is a bitch.

In a perfect world, I could walk to work, walk to shop, walk....
But my work is 30 miles away.. and it is what it is.

[EstimatedProphet]

38. How about GFY-ber?

Really, give this shit a rest.

[taterguy]

39. What about civility and not resorting to personal attacks?

The point of this thread was not to cast judgment.

It was to make a simple choice about which month it would be easiest to not drive.

[nickinSTL]

40. January or December?

Uh, if I had to give up my car, and, say, take the bus, I'd much rather it be spring or fall, when the sidewalks aren't covered in ice.

I also wouldn't want June through August because of the 95 degree weather with 105+ heat index.

[wellstone dem]

42. May, the best month of the year.

not too hot, and not too cold.

[Dappleganger]

43. I would choose December in order to avoid christmas shopping and those

god-awful christmas parties. It would give me immense pleasure to sit at home and tell anyone who calls "no, sorry!" if they invite us anywhere that month.

Seriously, I would just LOVE to not go anywhere during that month!

[Iggo]

55. That's one time when it's a joy to go to the mall by bus.

[Throd]

44. Nevertember

[tammywammy]

45. The month after my area institutes a form of public transportation. n/t

[taterguy]

46. Are you lost?

This is the thread where you're supposed to whine about how you absolutely positively can't live without a car:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8651227&mesg_id=8651227

[tammywammy]

47. You asked when and I said when.

Once there's a form of public transportation I'd be more than happy to use it versus my car.

[a la izquierda]

48. I didn't vote, but it certainly wouldn't be January.

One reason: ice storms plus Texas drivers. I'd be dead in a second.
However, I am very, very fortunate that I live in a college town and am a grad student. I ride to work (showering at the gym if needed after my paltry mile ride); the bars are the same distance away; I live around the corner from the grocery store. My husband works 2 miles from home.
We're lucky. We're also cyclists, so we can deal with the crappy weather (hot or cold).

[Liberal_in_LA]

49. Spring months, not too hot/ not too cold

[Edweird]

50. Meh, I'm flexible. I commuted to work by bike for a couple of months just recently.

It's the only cardio I enjoy - and I do enjoy it. I have 3 bikes plus various parts - enough for another complete mountain bike.

To me this is heaven on earth (and why Canada is my #1 emigration choice): http://vimeo.com/8256781

[guitar man]

51. July or august

They're about the same here, hotter than he'll but it hardly rains at all so staying dry on a motorcycle is not a problem :)

[mysuzuki2]

52. July or August

it would be warm enough in Milwaukee to ride my motorcycle.

[petronius]

54. Probably January: I walk to work, the recreational activities that require driving are least

attractive in late winter, and I stay in weekends to watch NFL playoffs anyway...

[Codeine]

56. Second February of next year. nt