Inspiration for Going Car-Free From LA. Yes, That's Los Angeles
From the folks at the Car-Free USA blog we find inspiration for going car-free from Los Angeles (Commuter Kicks Car Habit, Kerry Cavanaugh, December 5, 2007; Los Angeles Daily News). Yes, Los Angeles, California. The article begins:
"Two years ago, Simon Pastucha (pictured here) - an urban designer and planner for the city of Los Angeles - left his Mercedes SUV at the dealership and hasn't looked back. But how does a professional with children and far-flung meetings survive in car-centric Los Angeles without owning an automobile? Quite easily, I found after tagging along with Pastucha on his commute."
The author goes on to describe how Simon, after going car-free for a bit, realized he had a lot of extra money in his pocket. In fact he was saving $1,000 a month. So he decided not get a new car as planned and instead keep going car-free. He takes transit to work, uses a carsharing vehicle, taxi or car rental when he needs to and still comes out way ahead. Enough to pay for a trip to Italy.
The story is familiar. In fact our favorite author of How To Live Well Without Owning A Car, Chris Balish had the exact same experience. Mr. Balish was so inspired he wrote a book about it. We were so inspired by Mr. Balish's book that we worked with the author and publisher to print a Special Arlington, Virginia Edition (pictured here) recently made available for FREE by participating in Arlington's Car-Free Diet.
For other car-free and car-lite stories visit Arlington's Car-Free Diet Blog.
Chris Hamilton is the Commuter Services Chief for Arlington County, manager of CommuterPageBlog and a biking/Metro commuter from Rosemont in Alexandria.
