Dear PDX Advice Guy
Like a lot of recent transplants to Portland, I’ve started to think about ditching my car for a bike and public transportation. But I also like to go on adventures outside of Portland. I could use your input. Thanks!
- DL, Portland
First off DL, welcome to Portland. I myself am a somewhat recent-ish transplant here and I also considered giving up my car, but decided that wasn’t a smart move on my part. At the moment, my wife and I happen to own a planet-raping SUV. Now, with that said, let me make a case for and against ditching your regular hoopty.
- Against:
Portland is a BIG city and it’s rather spread out. Of course, as you’ve mentioned, you like going outside of Portland. Near as I can tell, TriMet doesn’t seem to go out to the beach, the mountain, or anywhere else outside of Portland. So for adventures, you’re stuck carpooling or else somehow biking to your destination. Oh sure, a bike ride to the coast sounds wonderful, until you realize just how far away the coast is and then also realize that commuting to the coast by bike seems like an absolutely retarded idea anyways because it’s going to take you a billion hours to get there. Not to mention it’s just not an easy ride. Hills, valleys, narrow roads, and no real bike access are going to turn that ride into a mobile Bataan Death March. And that’s just not fun at all.
- For:
Ok. So I’ve managed to dish out a lot of reasons why ditching the auto and going with bikes and public transportation is bad. Those things said, there are GREAT reasons to consider ditching your car. Portland itself is a bike haven. Lots of lanes, bike boxes, and a massive biking community are great reasons to get on two wheels. Your want of exploration outside of the immediate Portland area isn’t that tough when you’re car-less. A quick ad up on the ole Craigslist can help you find a travel partner who can get you all to at least part of your destination; then you can just let your natural side take over and hike the rest of the way. Oregon is PACKED with trails. Portland Monthly has an article all about trails this month and a great trail locater here.
A word of caution though. giving up your car isn’t quite the dream that it sounds like. You sacrifice the ability to haul most anything, altho River City Bicycles does try to solve that problem (and BikePortland.org has a good thread on it here). Additionally, maintenance on a bike can be a slight bit trickier than maintenance on a car, but Bike Gallery offers some great free clinics in order to learn the proper care and feeding of your bike.
Ultimately DL, this is very much your call. I can give you some ideas, but how about we let the ever-awesome readers of OurPDX chip in their own advice on this. Anyone out there care to give us their story? Pro Bike? All Car? Do you like to get drunk and drag out the ole Segway? Sound off in the comments and let’s see if we can help DL here!
As always, if you need any help with something, feel free to send me an email. you can find me at pdxadviceguy (at) gmail (dot) com. Or if you’re more modernistic, why not give me a follow on the ole Twitter (and you ARE following the OurPDX Twitter right?). Thanks much for taking the time to stop by!
{ 5 comments }
You can give up owning a car and use Zipcar or another car-sharing or rental business to use a car just when you need it. I know several Portlanders who do just that. You pay a membership fee and then call to reserve a car, use your card to get in (they’re parked all over town) and use it for as long as you need it, then return it to the spot you picked it up. I think it’s around $10/hr, and there are discounts. http://www.zipcar.com/is-it/.
Also, check Clever Cycles or Joe Bike on hawthorne for cargo bikes — you can haul more than you think.
Many other regional transit agencies connect with TriMet, so you can reach big chunks of the state that way too (for pennies). I blogged about this a few years ago: A Car free jaunt from Portland. I think most of the info is still accurate.
And as brett mentions above Zipcar is good for couple-hour trips, or hauling stuff – they have pickups available. I’ve moved with one.
I get around Portland without a car, and without a bike (I know, crazy!). The easiest way to do this in Portland, and still have a life, is to live near a frequent service transit line and/or downtown. And of course you can always make friends with someone who has a car and also wants to explore the state. Or you can rent a car for a weekend jaunt.
In any case it’s not only doable, but relatively easy too and you won’t have to sacrifice much. You’ll also save thousands versus owning a car.
I’m a recent-ish transplant too. I mainly get around using public transport, however when we moved here, we chose a place close to a MAX line so that I could use my car less (mainly because we’re restoring it)/ get around fairly easily. We got a zipcar account and we use that for longer jaunts and certain shopping expeditions (really, when it comes to furniture, not much fits in a bug). However, there are times when it’s nice to know that we can use our car and not have to reserve a zipcar or not be able to due to funds.
I say try living without your car first. You know, pretend it doesn’t exist for a month. This way, you’ll have a better idea of what you’re in for before you no longer have a car.
There’s a cool group doing bicycle camping trips to great spots out in nature. I’ve been hankering to try it myself — this weekend they’re biking out to, and then camping at, Beacon Rock State Park!
http://www.cyclewild.org/ is the website for the group organizing these trips.
I like to ride tri-met.
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