In a rural or suburban area, getting around is an expensive and time consuming endeavor. This is because you almost always have to use a car to get to where you want to go (unless you want to spend half of your day walking there). The same isn’t true in a big city. In a big city, transportation is far easier and, often cheaper. Check it out:
The Car
Most of the time you aren’t even going to need a car if you live in a big city. Still, owning a car can give you a feeling of security because it gives you a way to easily escape the city if you get tired and need a break from all of the hustle and bustle. If you do decide to keep your car, you’re going to need to find a place to park it out of the way, where you aren’t going to have to worry about checking on it all of the time. Don’t just sign up with the first garage you find, though. Do some research! Even in Manhattan, if you take the time to do your research, you’ll find that Discount NYC Parking is available.
Public Transportation
One of the reasons that you won’t need a car is that most bigger cities have good public transportation systems in place. There are even some cities—New York, San Francisco, Portland, Chicago—that have more than one type of public transit available to choose from. Monthly transit passes are usually available. Other cities offer a card system in which you load money on to the card whenever you feel like it (or are able to). In many of these cities, transit passes are often included as a perk of employment with many companies and businesses simply giving transit passes out if you work more than a certain number of hours.
Bike
Portland, in particular, is famous for the ease with which it is possible to get around by bicycle. The city has even taken regular city streets and designated them as “Bike Corridors” in which the only time a car is allowed on the street is if the driver is visiting a specific location on the corridor and needs to park. New York is another city easily travelled by bike. Washington DC is gaining ground here as well. Bicycles are affordable, cheap to maintain and though less fun during inclement weather, are the cheapest form of transportation besides your feet.
These are just some of the ways that you can save money on transportation when you live in a city. Obviously the cheapest way to get around is to walk but when that isn’t possible, these options are always available to you.
Joe Strandell says
Living in LA without a car is a nightmare. This I know haha
I love your blog! So many great articles.