Relocating where a car isn't really needed?

[Corporate ORphan]

Thanks for all the responses, especially the walkability site. We would really like to be able to walk to things like the library, a few restaurants/grocery stores, etc. like we can here.

We will have a car, We just would prefer not get it out if we don't have to. Driving here can be insane (I have seen worst in other cities but now that I am retired why fool with it?) If you put your blinker on, instead of people being polite and letting you through, they go faster and cut you off!

The garden seems to conflict unless we spend the summers where we "live". Are there any good "walkable" places up north?

 

[Brat]

Look at the residential areas in zip code 97210. Branch library, lots of restraunts, great public transit.

 

[kcowan]

We decided on PV from Mid-November through mid-May where the daytime highs are 85 and lows are 65-70 with cooling Pacific breezes and low humidity (45% to 65%) and then PNW for the summer. We find the desert too cold at night so that ruled out Palm Springs and Arizona.

In spite of the bad press, it is safe as long as you avoid the border areas. We leave a car down in Mexico but the city is very walkable with good public transit (50 cents) and reasonable plentiful taxis ($5). But then it is not for everyone.

 

[Martha]

I have lived in Long Beach, CA (Los Angeles suburb) for most of my adult life, much of the time with no car (currently I can borrow one when I need it, or rent one). As long as you are comfortable cycling, you don't really need a car here. You can find good cycling routes just about anywhere here. Walking everywhere would be tougher, since there are only a few light rail routes, and the bus system is inadequate. For long distances, you can ride to a light rail station and take your bike on board if you do not want to ride the whole way. Weather is almost never an issue.

I spent a couple of months there last winter. I lived at an rv park at the mouth of the LA river. I didn't have to drive around at all, I could walk or bike everywhere. Nice bike paths you have!

 

[Corporate ORphan]

Thanks for the new suggestions. We will definitely look up zip code 97210 (the portland area) though we really don't want to live in a big city again. We were hoping for something more like a college town.

One question where is PV I have been raking my brain trying to figure what that stands for.

 

[mh]

Thanks for the new suggestions. We will definitely look up zip code 97210 (the portland area) though we really don't want to live in a big city again. We were hoping for something more like a college town.

One question where is PV I have been raking my brain trying to figure what that stands for.

puerto vallarta

 

[Brat]

Portland isn't really a big city, as cities go. What you should think about is a sense of neighborhood, that brings a city down to human scale. Are there community centers, for example, with well attended activities; coffee shops where neighbors meet? The zip code I mentioned I am sure is not the only place that meets that criteria but it is a good example of what I think you are seeking.

Great public transportation and near-by shopping requires density.

 

[Tractor guy]

Take that Walk Score website's results with a grain of salt. I compared my present address with a previous one. My current address is a mile from the center of Geneva Ill which has all the things I want to do and a train station if I want to go into the city. The walk score for it was 28. My previous address was a subdivision in Peoria Ill that was about a mile from the mall. Score for it was 68. The problem is that Geneva is very walkable with streets with no traffic. The Peoria address was close to the mall but I had to cross 6 lanes of traffic at a signal that only gave us time to get halfway accross. It was NOT pedestrian friendly.

 

[haha]

Take that Walk Score website's results with a grain of salt. I compared my present address with a previous one. My current address is a mile from the center of Geneva Ill which has all the things I want to do and a train station if I want to go into the city. The walk score for it was 28. My previous address was a subdivision in Peoria Ill that was about a mile from the mall. Score for it was 68. The problem is that Geneva is very walkable with streets with no traffic. The Peoria address was close to the mall but I had to cross 6 lanes of traffic at a signal that only gave us time to get halfway accross. It was NOT pedestrian friendly.

Absolutely, it is almost useless. Another thing it will never tell you aside from traffic imposed barriers is crime. There are plenty places where you could theoretically walk to the store, or walk downtown, if you dared. But if you were smart, you wouldn't dare.

I think there is no substitute with living somewhere to know what it is really like. In spite of living in this general area, and coming to my specific current neighborhood at least weekly over many years, it wan't until I had lived here several years that I felt I began to get the lay of the land. One small example- since I have had this apt I have noticed a grimey soot builds up on the window sills (I keep windows open at least a little, most of the time). I could never figure it out. I am pretty far from the Port, no RR within several miles, at least 1 mile from the freeway. I asked long time tenants, and they had the same experience but had never really thought about it.

Then 2 weeks ago I visited a RE Open House one street down- almost directly upwind from me. The agent mentioned a boiler that supplied heat and hot water for the whole complex. I asked, gas?- He said no, oil I think, or maybe coal.

Ha

 

[youbet]

My current address is a mile from the center of Geneva Ill which has all the things I want to do and a train station if I want to go into the city.

I love Geneva and many of the towns along the Fox River. But I wouldn't consider being one mile from downtown Geneva as "walker friendly," at least not in February. I'm less than one mile from the downtown area of my town, a closer suburb of Chicago, and feel the same way about it. Despite being able to see the Chicago skyline from the roof of my single story home, there is little conveniently accessable by walking, especially in winter. We can get to entertainment, shopping, medical care, etc., easily and without much driving, but a car is essential most of the time.

The last "walker friendly" place DW and I lived was years ago on the NW side of Chicago. Our flat had the CTA bus stop, a large park, a variety of stores, several neighborhood bars and some good restaurants within one quarter mile. Actually, the bus stop was about 100 yds from our door. We could actually look out the kitchen window and see the bus coming in time to run down and catch it! And we could get to Ohare and Metra stations easily. I'd consider going car-less if we ever moved back into the city.

I do agree with you on taking all the walk scores with a grain of salt. As Ha says, you need to live someplace or at least know folks who live someplace, to get a real idea of what it would be like to be car-less there.

 

[ERD50]

RE: walk score

Absolutely, it is almost useless.

Ha

Not exactly useless - I think you can use it to fairly reliably rule out some places. A low walk score is probably a legitimate problem. A high walk score comes with all the caveats you and others mention, you need to verify it with a visit or some ground reports from locals.

I'd consider going car-less if we ever moved back into the city.

Me too. There are quite a few of those zip-car rental places around the city now, and I think that can really work out if you only need a car occasionally. Maybe 2 or 3 times a month? More than once a week and it gets questionable, you'd have to run the numbers. It would be nice to be free of car ownership ( I'm in the process of shopping now). DS and DIL are in the Jefferson Park area, so they have lots of transportation nearby, but they still use both cars regularly. There are some hours that driving is preferable to public transit. We even ran into a couple scary characters in broad daylight on a weekend on a recent trip around the city.

-ERD50

 

[haha]

RE: walk score



Not exactly useless - I think you can use it to fairly reliably rule out some places. A low walk score is probably a legitimate problem. A high walk score comes with all the caveats you and others mention, you need to verify it with a visit or some ground reports from locals.

You are right; I meant it in the way that you say- first screen could be high walk score, then winnow these candidates.
However, most of us can likely guess what neighborhoods have true walkability, just from casually checking them out over the years. Thus, if not exactly useless, the walk score is unnecesary while also being insufficient.

Ha

 

[Corporate ORphan]

We looked online at at the area with zip code of 97210 and the area looked nice being so close to that forested area but the houses looked really old and EXPENSIVE! The condo looked more reasonable but we would really like a free standing house with room for a garden. Are there any other areas around Portland that you'd suggest that aren't so expensive?

Also, for the person who mentioned PV. Is Mexico safe? We have never been there but have always "heard" that it's great by the resorts but don't wonder far from them. We probably couldn't afford the "resort" life.

 

[haha]

We looked online at at the area with zip code of 97210 and the area looked nice being so close to that forested area but the houses looked really old and EXPENSIVE! The condo looked more reasonable but we would really like a free standing house with room for a garden. Are there any other areas around Portland that you'd suggest that aren't so expensive?

Absolutely. Eugene.

 

[Brat]

Public transit is very good in Portland but the best is in well established neighborhoods. Your budget is something I don't know. Note, however, that the RE free fall is coming later to Portland so prices, when you are ready to move could be quite different. Right now there are a couple attractively prices quality condos/co-op units listed (2323 SW Park Place, 1620 NE Broadway St and 2335 NW Raleigh Street). New doesn't mean better, or construction without problems. Newer housing can be found around the Max stations in the Orenco neighborhood near Hillsboro BUT some structures I hear have had problems with building envelope integrity (poorly flashed, they leaked) and I am not sure where their neighborhood grocery is located. PM me if you think this area would work for you and I give you a hand.

It has been a long time since I lived in Eugene. Their public transit is good too, because of the presence of the University. Eugene has very reasonably priced performing arts events as well. You are more likely to find a single family dwelling at a price lower than Portland's in Eugene, and if you are convenient to the U and find the right structure, rent a room to a student. Eugene is a town where when people buy a house they put down roots, you will likely get to know your neighbors very well. Oh, Eugene has NO snow removal equipment. Snow is a rarity, not worth the investment.

In both Portland and Eugene Fred Meyer (Kroger) and Safeway are the major grocers. You may want to search for a home either a short bus/streetcar ride away or be a walkable distance.

For myself I like a city that has good air service making Portland more attractive. That said, Eugene is on the main N-S Amtrak route.

 

[Corporate ORphan]

Eugene sounds interesting. We would really like to get away from the big city so though Portland sounds nice we're not sure it's for us. We would also like a vegetable garden so we are thinking a condo would not suit us.

Now if we could just finish fixing up house up so we can sell it and then do some traveling that would be great! My dh does not like to fly so it's a long trip out to the PNW from St Louis.

 

[Brat]

Not as long as the trip some of my Missouri ancestors took in the 1840s.

 

[Corporate ORphan]

Not as long as the trip some of my Missouri ancestors took in the 1840s.

True but it does seem so far away from here. One other thing what time does it get dark up there now? It gets dark at 5:00 here and now that we are retired we hat it even more than when we worked!

BTW. I have to ask what is the significance of "Duck bjorn"?

 

[teejayevans]

Thanks for that link, I'm moving to a new place in the next month. It has a walkability score of 92.

diito for where I am now.
TJ

 

[Brat]

True but it does seem so far away from here. One other thing what time does it get dark up there now? It gets dark at 5:00 here and now that we are retired we hat it even more than when we worked!

BTW. I have to ask what is the significance of "Duck bjorn"?

Duck bjorn = University of Oregon graduate and born in Eugene, granddaughter of a Norwegian immigrant (the only one in the family he would speak Norwegian to, sadly he died before I started school so I have forgotten much of the language).

bjorn is baby in Norwegian

 

[Corporate ORphan]

diito for where I am now.
TJ

WHere are you moving to that has such high walkability scores? That's what we are really interested in.

We want to walk to places but fear the garden requirement conflicts plus we don't want to live in another big city. We were thinking maybe a college town?

 

[haha]

WHere are you moving to that has such high walkability scores? That's what we are really interested in.

We want to walk to places but fear the garden requirement conflicts plus we don't want to live in another big city. We were thinking maybe a college town?

That should be very easy to do in well over 100 different college towns in America. After all, students walk back and forth all day from off-campus housing, much of which is SFHs with yards.

If you don't like Bellingham, or Olympia, WA, or Eugene or Corvallis or Ashland, OR or Arcata, CA, try Oxford or Yellow Springs OH or Lexington or Elizabethtown or Bowling Green, KY or Knoxville TN or Athens GA, or Gainesville FL, or... or... or...

 

[teejayevans]

WHere are you moving to that has such high walkability scores? That's what we are really interested in.

We want to walk to places but fear the garden requirement conflicts plus we don't want to live in another big city. We were thinking maybe a college town?

Stuart,Fl...definitely not a big city.
I can walk to most places (grocery store, hospital, etc), sidewalks almost everywhere, downtown/riverwalk is real nice.
TJ