How Often We Drive Somewhere (Shortest Thread Ever?)

[Midpack]

We're in the final stages of relocation planning. We can't afford to live near city center, so we're evaluating the many suburb options. We don't want to have to drive great lengths for everything, so we want to check off what activities-amenities-stores-services are most important to have close by if possible.

DW seems to want ready access to anything we'd ever need, but I thought it might be worth prioritizing what access is most important, and not. The way our budget spreadsheet works, 5 minutes with an impromptu pivot table and review-tweak is all it took to develop.

Turns out 50% of our driving is food related, groceries or restaurants - I was not surprised (I realize others might be appalled). And if I add buying gas, going to the ATM, playing golf, and hair care - that's 81% of our driving. All those other excursions are infrequent enough that we shouldn't really care too much how far away from our house they are. For example, DW is hyper about knowing where hospitals and clinics are, but fortunately we don't visit either often (knock on wood) - and if it's anything serious I would choose the provider based on quality of care-confidence over proximity anyway.

We buy a lot online, so our experience will be different from those who favor brick-n-mortar. Shopping used to be a favorite pastime for DW and I 30+ years ago, that has changed completely with online access.

May not be of interest to anyone else, but esoteric threads do well here sometimes, or not...

[steelyman]

Very interesting break down and I think useful. I don’t have the data to support a similar chart but I’d guess my driving amount/frequency for food-related items (grocery, dining, etc) would be similar.

[ADDED] After a little thought, I realized that the fact that I have a grocery store very nearby (5 mins) is a big plus although probably increases the frequency of trips. Restaurants of varying types? Not so much. I think that would factor in to future relocation plans (for me, anyway). Meaning I’d weight easier access to groceries over restaurants.

[Sunset]

Well, it seems to me OP that combining trips would be better.
Weird that you actually drive for gas, and ATM's, instead of stopping along the way when grocery shopping or restaurant driving.

Perhaps your charting is throwing the view off by showing a gas trip , when really it's just going 300 feet from grocery to the gas station.

[JoeWras]

This may be an interesting exercise for us. I know that we do a lot of car trips for groceries. Some of our other big hitters would be church and visits with friends. I'm about to start a recurring volunteer gig that requires more driving than I like and would skew the chart. It won't be forever though.

This is a big flip away from "commute," which was a huge chunk of the pie.

[davebarnes]

Automobile
Work: My wife works 2.5 days a week. Round trip is 14 miles. This is 50% of our total annual mileage of 4200.
Liquor store: Once a week. Round trip is 2.2 miles.
Grocery store (Kroger): Once a week. Round trip is 1.4 miles.
Hit the gas station (Valero for Tier 1 gas) once every 3 weeks on way to liquor store.
Have not visited ATM in 5+ years. Use credit card to earn Avios for everything.
Hair salon: Wife drives 20 miles round trip every 6 weeks.
Medical (Kaiser): Eight times a year. 9 mile round trip.

Walk
Grocery store (Sprouts): Many times a week. A 3 block walk.
Restaurants: 42 within 6 blocks of the house. Very seldom drive to/from restaurants. Sometimes we walk (up to 4 miles) and then Uber home.
Butcher (Il Porcellino): a 2 block walk
Brewery (Call to Arms): Once a week to pick up bread share. 10 block round trip walk. We also have 2 other breweries in the immediate neighborhood. Two more are planned.
Barber: I walk 2 blocks every 7 weeks.

Online
We get 8+ Amazon/Walmart/Target/other deliveries a week.

We live 4 miles from city center in a former streetcar neighborhood.
I hate driving. My wife is OK with it.
High Walk Score (85+) is very important to us.
Housing prices are normal for Denver ($800K, LOL).

[stepford]

Reduced driving is perhaps the biggest change I've experienced since ER. DW and I ride our bikes almost everywhere and sometimes go for well over a week without getting in a car. Prior to retirement I'd go on at least a couple of errands a day by car - even apart from my commute.

[W2R]

Before we retired, when we were thinking of relocating to another state, I was adamant about needing lots of "big box stores" nearby like we have here. This definitely affected our choice of where we might want to move because I would not consider locations without lots of this type of store nearby.

Much to my surprise and amazement, with online shopping we just don't need those big box stores much any more. And that's a good thing, because they seem to be folding pretty rapidly. We are losing our nearby K-Mart and Sears this year, for example, and I am sure others might follow.

Still, everything anybody could possibly need or want is available within a mile or two of our homes. When we go places I drive exactly half the time, which is my choice so that I can maintain my driving skills as I age. In nine years of retirement I have driven an average of only about 3300 miles/year.

We drive when we go out to eat every day. We also run errands when we do that, mainly to Walgreen's drive through pharmacy, the bank, gas station, ATMs, doctor/dentist appointments, and hardware or home improvement stores. Occasionally (once or twice a year?) we might go to the physical location for our cell phone or cable internet providers, or to Guitar Center or Barnes and Noble or Good Will or whatever.

We also like going on daily pleasure drives to pretty areas, such as the nearby marina where we can watch the sailboats out on Lake Ponchartrain, or down to the French Quarter. I also like occasionally driving through my old neighborhood so that I can sneer at how it is going downhill (I know, I know, guilty pleasures! I should be ashamed but I'm not).

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunset Well, it seems to me OP that combining trips would be better. Weird that you actually drive for gas, and ATM's, instead of stopping along the way when grocery shopping or restaurant driving. Perhaps your charting is throwing the view off by showing a gas trip , when really it's just going 300 feet from grocery to the gas station.

You're right, I/we always make a point of consolidating errands. But condensing the readily available data to actual trips would have been WAY more effort than it's worth. And as you note, I am confident I never go buy gas or visit an ATM as a singular purpose trip.

Furthermore, there are drives we take where we don't spend anything, or pay cash which wouldn't be caught in my Excel data.

But I was only looking for an OOM chart, not precision. DW and I already reviewed it, and she agreed about what our proximity priorities need to be, so it served it's purpose.

Like I said, maybe the shortest thread ever...

[Moemg]

Not only do I look at how far things are away but what roads I have to take to get there . As I age I much prefer back roads as compared to interstates . Important for me is a large grocery store , an all purpose store like Target , a bank ,a few restaurants , a hair salon and a decent hospital . All the rest are negotiable .

[Moemg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack For example, DW is hyper about knowing where hospitals and clinics are, but fortunately we don't visit either often (knock on wood) - and if it's anything serious I would choose the provider based on quality of care-confidence over proximity anyway. ...

When you get heart pain you want that Emergency room close .

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by davebarnes We live 4 miles from city center in a former streetcar neighborhood. I hate driving. My wife is OK with it. High Walk Score (85+) is very important to us. Housing prices are normal for Denver ($800K, LOL).

Years ago when we began our search, high walk score was a high priority for us. But we quickly realized we couldn't afford a home in an area we'd want to live, with a high walk score. So we settle for suburbs with the best access for our needs, hence the rough chart.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moemg As I age I much prefer back roads as compared to interstates .

+1, or actually +(5 million), at least!!!!

I thought I was the only person who felt like this. I just don't enjoy driving on the Interstate any more. Back roads are so much prettier and less stressful.

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moemg When you get heart pain you want that Emergency room close .

Depends, odds are the frequency of those events will be very low or non existent given our family history. There are EMT's and clinics close to anywhere we're looking, so a non issue for us. And as I noted earlier, as long as there is good health care in the larger metro area, proximity isn't a priority. For a serious non emergency medical event, does anyone put proximity over quality of care? We sure wouldn't. YMMV

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack Agreed, but odds are the frequency of those events will be very low or non existent given our family history. There are EMT's and clinics close to anywhere we're looking, so a non issue for us. And as I noted earlier, as long as there is good health care in the larger metro area, proximity isn't a priority. YMMV

Often hospitals have a lot of doctors and dentists and labs located near them, too, so living near a big, high quality hospital cuts way back on the level of hassle one might encounter when aging. As we grow older, the need for health care seems to increase quite a bit even for those with spectacular and amazingly good health.

We live 2 miles or less from the best hospital in the New Orleans area (IMO), and I sure like this. When I have to go get my lab work done two weeks before my several-times-a-year routine doctor appointments, it's just so easy - - I just zip down there and I'm done. It was a lot more hassle driving maybe 3-4 miles from my old house through heavy traffic to the same medical corridor. Same when I go to my appointments. I know, when I was in my 50's I felt the same as you do but as you age, needs change for many/most of us.

[Teacher Terry]

6 years ago we moved from the burbs into town. We are 1.2 miles from downtown. We walk down frequently. Most things are just a short drive. We do much of our shopping online.