 Today's Picture: Home Sweet Home. "walkable neighborhoods" closer to public transportation suddenly look like good investments. They also make it a lot easier to go car-free. I live in the old George Rogers Clark Elementary School, just a few miles from work, shopping, coffee shops, great restaurants, and scenes like the Louisville Water Co. reservoir, where I walk my dog.
For about 15 years I lived on a suburban cul-de-sac and enjoyed the bucolic surroundings – a buffer of woods out back, some breathing room between me and my neighbors, no through-traffic to keep the kids from playing ball in the streets. But all that changed when I moved to Crescent Hill/Clifton – a moderate bike ride from Downtown Louisville.
Follow this logic for a minute:
If all the healthcare reform debate has taught us anything, it's this: staying healthy is a lot cheaper than trying to get well when you're sick. And one of the first rules of staying healthy is to get enough regular exercise. The exercise frequently recommended is walking or riding a bike.
So – why live in a place where you can't get your daily exercise by simply walking or riding a bike to your destinations? What could be simpler?
Of course, you may be rich enough to afford life in the exurbs, where it's a significant car trip to the gym. But don't forget to factor in 55 cants per mile because that's how much it costs to drive to what? – the stationary bicycle and treadmill you're renting there?
I'm no Warren Buffett, but if I'm reading the tea leaves correctly, now might be a pretty good time to to think about moving before you get any more stuck than you may already be out in the burbs, all dressed up with no sidewalks, no Heine Brothers – and no economical way to get to the coffee shop. Do I complain about $2 cups of coffee? Heck, no! My transportation to get that fresh brewed Tanzania didn't cost me $3. And I don't have a car payment.
The tea leaves I refer to in the previous graph are reports from U.S. News, Yahoo.com, and Ziprealty.com, just to name a few, reporting that moving closer in might be a good investment. Most people believe gas prices will spike again. When money gets tight, people start to think more seriously about how they spend their time and money, experts say.
Some questions to ask yourself:
So, do you really want to keep up those back-breaking payments on a trophy home miles from nowhere – or will a 1,500 sq. ft. condo do the job, surrounded by neighborhood shops, local restaurants, and people who actually meet on the streets to visit and let their dogs sniff one another?
Can you do without that Chevy Subdivision SUV, scale back to one economical car, and save another $6,500 a year? And what about your time! Can you justify sitting in traffic for hours a day, when you could zip to work – and just about everywhere else – by bike or on foot?
The bottom line:
Add up the costs where you live today – including your motorized living space.
Factor in all your transportation costs – not just your car payments and gas purchases.
Consider what your leisure time is worth – and where you'd chose to spend it if gas cost $8 a gallon. You might be better off moving closer in. While the recession has made it hard to sell homes, many are trying to exit the exurbs and long highway commutes, for more walkable neighborhoods closer to public transportation and their jobs.
Take the challenge and see what you're missing!
My friend Tom Armstrong reminded me of the Cliff 2 Mile Challenge. It's a great way to get started with bike trips within two miles of your home. There are three steps toward taking the challenge: Get the Facts, Build Your Bike, and Map Your Ride. The Website helps you pick a bike or dust off the one in your garage, find routes to destinations in your two-mile radius, and take the challenge to drop your car keys and ride or walk within that radius.
Of course, if you live in an area where there's no place to go within two miles, you might want to start by calling a good Realtor.
PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.
freewheelin
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Enjoy the ride home.
See you at pedalaround.blogspot.com
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bikecommuter