The You Don't need a Car for the American Lifestyle /// HovCart Ebike

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Time Stamps:
0:00 Intro
0:38 The Caveats
1:53 Daily Errand 1
3:19 Bike Ad
3:50 Daily Errand 2
4:58 off to the club
6:56 Back to the City
7:19 Parks and Recreation
8:11 Groceries
8:41 Outro

[@alanthefisher]

Check out the Hovsco Hovcart here: www.hovsco.com/products/hovsco%E2%84%A2-hovcart-20-step-thru-electric-fat-bike?ref=URBANIST Thanks again for watching, hopefully you got some good info on Philly out of this!

[@knarf_on_a_bike]

I want a cargo bike. So thanks for this!

[@firedrive45]

What about Winter, buddy Alan?

[@ozAqVvhhNue]

The Hovsco Hovcart looks very nice to be honest. But I won't check out the link since I don't know if it ships to my location.

[@whitewhale9131]

as far as cargo bikes go,, you cannot carry anything in that.

[@nuarius]

they make you use a stupid App to even be allowed to use the motor properly... pass. I hate shovelware as much as I hate cars.

[@knarf_on_a_bike]

Car-free in Toronto. I must admit, I'm fortunate to live in a 15 minute neighborhood, right across the street from a subway station, and my cycle commute of 15km each way is fun and safe year-round. Drove cars for 25 years and I've now been car-free for 25 years; far prefer the latter!

[@grishnikov48]

What neighbourhood you live in? Curious as I’m from Toronto too, trying to get a grasp of good 15 min places in the GTA

[@knarf_on_a_bike]

@@grishnikov48 Bloor West Village

[@Been.Here.Since.2007]

That 15 minute socialist dream city. Keep that ish in Canada eh.

[@emiliosagichnicht7521]

Sorry, European here, what exactly is a 15 minute neighbourhood?

[@MrTaxiRob]

@@emiliosagichnicht7521 a neighborhood that has essential businesses within walking distance, as well as transit connections to other neighborhoods.

[@AshleyBromiley]

My uncle has been car free nearly his entire life and he's in his 50s now. Lives in a suburb in central Jersey and takes his bike then a bus to work in AC. Now that he's older he started working closer to home, though. Groceries, recreation, dr. appointments, everything by bike or bus. And that's in a suburb. It's not impossible.

[@Turnil321]

But not all suburbs are the same. The Netherlands also has suburbs but everything is still a few minutes away with a bike. I guess that your uncle got lucky with the suburb. Probably Newark (most bike-friendly suburb according to google).

[@Been.Here.Since.2007]

Exception, not the rule here.

[@Been.Here.Since.2007]

@jshowa o Reality.

[@VegitoBlue202]

​@@Turnil321 Newark is not a suburb bruh

[@Turnil321]

@@VegitoBlue202 sorry, I meant the Newark suburbs.

[@Trainfan1055Janathan]

2:56 As a bus driver, I've noticed recently that every time I've ever passed a bike, I would always get stuck at a red light and they'd catch up with _and_ pass me by the time the light changes, so I stopped doing this. I quickly realized it's not worth the effort. The passengers get mad at me when I don't pass them though.

[@TheRealE.B.]

Almost like you're a professional or something.

[@roadtrain_]

Imagine having to compete with a bike for road space... almost like they should give bikes their own lanes so they 'stop holding up traffic'. Ha. Let's see what the car people got in response now!

[@kailahmann1823]

I personally don't like having a bus behind me, because that feels like I am holding up a lot of people.

[@VikVaughnMISC]

@@roadtrain_ IMAGINE NOT BEING PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE WHEN YOU PUT FORWARD A THOUGHT, ALMOST LIKE NOT BEING A SARCASTIC MIDWIT TAKES TOO MUCH EFFORT.

[@Captain.Mystic]

@@VikVaughnMISC Ah yes the double standard of "im allowed to be an aggressive idiot as much as i want but as soon as someone wants to suggest something even remotely positive they have to be as uptight as possible". A classic.

[@Maniac3020]

I have long observed the "I have to be in front" mentality when in a car, too. When I catch up to them at the next 3 red lights, it makes my day a little brighter.

[@WhatAboutZoidberg]

Happens to me all the time in a Prius. I think truck drivers, especially, just cant handle a Prius passing them.

[@SporkyMcFly]

I usually tailgate them a mile later when they eventually end up behind someone else. I love the feeling.

[@Been.Here.Since.2007]

You've been that person too. Admit it. Or are you the "screamer" in bumper to bumper traffic?

[@Been.Here.Since.2007]

@@WhatAboutZoidberg Dude, you're still in a Prius though.

[@TheJupiteL]

Sometimes they slow down in front of me even without any traffic or red light, that's just how they drive, which is good. But why cut me off in the first place?

[@EminentCCapreolus]

The recreation argument is one I hear all the time. I live in western WA and the weekend warriors are a huge demographic. There's a handful of forested parks in Seattle but many cities just don't have them, and a lot of folks want to be up in the mountains, or they fish, run whitewater, mountainbike, whatever. I would love for land management agencies to experiment more with bus service to popular trailheads which would help with overcrowding. I hiked one of the most popular hikes in the state, Lake Ingalls, on a Saturday and I had to park 2 miles from the actual trailhead itself because there were so many cars along the side of the road. I worked for the Forest Service and they know its unsustainable but no one had a good answer to the problem. Partially because USFS is horrifically underfunded; no resources. I'd love to see a video about the relationship between public transit and caring for our public lands, since cars can leave such a huge impact on them.

[@ervin7178]

This is my main use for my car. I can access some trails closer to the city riding my mountain bike from my front door, but most trails are too far for me to ride to and driving to them is by far the most convenient way to get there.

[@1981menso]

I lived in Seattle and I used to ride the Gillman-Burke trail to work. I think that was it's name.

[@hobog]

I rent a car for hiking trails not in Issaquah or served by the Trail Direct Bus

[@dylanryall]

In Northern California, Caltrans has been considering extending the Capitol Corridor trains into the mountains. To Reno and Tahoe. That would mean trains from the South Bay and East Bay areas to recreation in the mountains.

[@russianbear0027]

Amtrak runs a train to glacier park irrc

[@redlinedreamin]

I love how Alan only takes sponsors that are related to urbanism. Always staying on brand lol

[@EllieBerryPie]

As someone who was born with vision too low to be able to drive or even ride a bicycle in a traffic heavy area my entire life has been built around finding places in the US that are fully accessible car free and it can be super annoying. Almost every city that is accessible via walking and public transit has a much higher cost of living than car centric cities, and anything that isn’t on the east coast is so sprawling that the second you leave downtown you have to deal with walking the lengths of absurdly big parking lots for every single block. I’ve settled on Denver for now but Philly and Chicago are probably the dream cities for being accessible and somewhat affordable.

[@cogspace]

This is the biggest reason IMO that we need to build for car-free. A lot of people CAN'T drive - people with low or no vision or conditions like narcolepsy, kids who are too young to drive, people who can't afford cars, elderly people whose faculties are declining - car-centric development kicks SO many people to the curb. We need ADA compliance at the municipal level.

[@EllieBerryPie]

@@cogspace the funny thing is in a lot of ways America is ahead of other places in terms of accessibility due to ADA. Accessible buildings are a lot more common because of it (also newer buildings, easier to retrofit for accessibility) BUT actually getting to those buildings is a nightmare

[@TohaBgood2]

@@cogspace This! I know a lot of people who simply can't drive for health or personal reasons. I have a friend who was in a gnarly car accident and has PTSD. We need to make walking the default choice. If you want to drive everywhere, well, fine. But it should cost you extra! We shouldn't subsidize driving soooooo incredibly more than other modes!

[@crassirus]

Amen lol, my eyes are shit too, but I can get away with biking since my distance vision only really sucks for reading. As a rural kid unable to drive I was basically living the COVID lifestyle before it was cool and in a car centric city I had way, way more options but I've realized how screwy it is still. I've been doing this for ages, its definitely possible but as-is our bus systems are all designed for punishment, not transit. The lack of bike lanes and the mandating of traffic cycling is insanity as well. When I realized shit doesn't have to be this bad I got lowkey angry lol.

[@GirtonOramsay]

If you want walkable, but small college towns, Pullman Washington and Moscow Idaho are very cheap, like

[@scottfrazer4669]

Car-free from Boston with a family of 5! It’s enjoyable even in the winter. I do weekly grocery trips with my 4 year old on the cargo bike with a trailer. Every time I spark a conversation with a curious onlooker and they’re shocked to learn that I live car free

[@sebdapleb1523]

Have you ever done the bike-a-thon? It's in Jamaica Plain every year

[@scottfrazer4669]

@@sebdapleb1523 no, but I'll look it up! sounds fun

[@CHGIV]

As someone born and raised in Philly I would say another caveat is neighborhood and income. If you live in, and can afford live in, a middle to upper income neighborhood in center city Philly or a center-city-adjacent neighborhood, you can go free. The EL is there, The Subway is there. Lots of things are walkable. I did it for years. But if you live in a working class or poor part of town, like where I grew up, such as: West, Southwest, “Down da Bottom” , North Philly, The Northeast, The Badlands, Olney, North West Philly, maybe Kenningston, maybe Fishtown, Allegheny, etc, etc etc - then you’d definitely need a car to get around, and get to and from work. Appreciate the content, and your take here - just think that it needs to be acknowledged that living car free in a big city, in the US, is a privilege that depends on income and neighborhood; which is in no way your fault. And I suppose that falls into your “US Cities aren’t Perfect” caveat. But, I do think that it should be acknowledged, at some point, that theres a class issue around car free convenience; at least in the US. I was born and raised in Southwest Philly and, again, lived downtown for years and didn't need a car - but I paid for it with higher rents of downtown Philly.

[@daniellewis1789]

More and more accessable walkable areas are essential - there's a demand factor that helps drive up the price. They are often desirable places to live. And the people who would benefit the most from cutting car expenses often can't choose to.

[@MrTaxiRob]

I live in San Diego and there are no low income units being built where the transit is. I work in construction and right now I'm working on a 174 unit plex down in Otay Ranch, but it's not within walking distance of anything whatsoever. And of course once your income level rises beyond the initial "low income" requirements- that is, once you begin to succeed in life, you can't live there anymore.

[@Lady-V]

I can't speak for Philadelphia, but where I live, Keizer Oregon (and Salem) it's easy enough to live car free and be poor like I am. It's not that the buses are "good" it's that the bus system is "good enough" which is all we need. The place is still absolutely overflowing with cars, the parking lots are gargantuan, crossing a stroad everyday makes me fear for my life, there are no good destinations, and the sidewalks just disappear sometimes, but I can get around fine.

[@scout8145]

For sure. My city has a few great walkable neighborhoods, but they’re all very expensive. The most affordable options are either historically underfunded neighborhoods and/or renting a house out in the suburbs, which are usually both very car dependent. I’m sure this sounds backwards to folks outside of the US and Canada, but there are rarely affordable walkable options available here. The demand for those places is high, which I think says something about how reluctant many of us are to need cars.

[@GolinKNar]

Even in modest neighborhoods in most midsized and larger cities in the US if you strategically chose your location to be near a trail, a grocery store, the library, and the one express line bus that takes you close to work you can multimodal with the bus and a bike if you are able bodied. While you can save some money with used cars and doing maintenance yourself, you're still looking at around $1.5k a year in costs alone if you drive. If you don't drive (or stick to one car / moped) you can pay a higher rent / mortgage and transit fees.

[@darmanistan]

your videos inspired me (21 y/o) to move to my nearest city, Philadelphia. I got rid of my car and got damn its been soooo good for me. Thank you for your videos :)

[@darmanistan]

i was literally at that exact spot of the parkway today, and everyday for that matter.

[@darmanistan]

i also literally ran from the parkway, down the SRT and through the Wiss all this morning. I love Philly.

[@peskypigeonx]

In NYC, people of ages commonly use these vertical carts with wheels which fit easily on transit to get lots of groceries in one trip easier, especially seniors

[@chow-chihuang4903]

When I lived there, the shopping carts in supermarkets even had hooks to hang your folding cart from as you shopped. Nobody I know from car-centric parts of the US (where I went to uni and where I live now) knows what I’m talking about when I try to describe them. I miss being able to easily get around without a car. I bike as much as I can but my neighborhood is very hostile to it, though there are some scattered and disconnected trails, and my commute routes were very dangerous, being two-lane suburban roads with many drivers exceeding the posted 35mph limits.

[@trapmuzik6708]

in my community the side walk is filled w shopping carts they should use what your describing

[@nanismeelasla]

my older sibling is car free as well, and uses one of these also

[@frafraplanner9277]

@@chow-chihuang4903 When I lived in California, the only time I ever saw those vertical carts was in Downtown Los Angeles. So yeah suburbanites won't know what they are

[@GirtonOramsay]

I saw old poor people using them in the Orlando suburb buses too. They looked very handy for large grocery hauls.

[@Skip6235]

Even in the few places in North America you can comfortably live car-free, most of the people who live there still have cars, and I think a big part of that is because as soon as you go literally anywhere else, the car becomes necessary. I live in Downtown Vancouver and living car-free is super easy. . .until a friend who lives down in the suburbs wants me to come over and it takes 4 bus transfers to get there. We still have a long way to go. . .

[@calvinyahn2840]

I live in Philly and rarely use my car on a day to day basis but it's really handy when visiting my parents' place or the Jersey Shore or other locales with poor transit.

[@TohaBgood2]

In many places in Europe that are perfectly viable as car-free areas people also have cars. The trick is not to necessarily prevent people from owning autos. The point is to build enough of the correct infrastructure that people don't want to drive everywhere. I would bike everywhere if we had useable bike lanes. But all we have are the crappy share-lanes and I refuse to bike in our insane traffic! It's just too fricking crazy out there. So I walk to transit and Uber/Lyft for everything that's more than 1-1.5 miles away from a rail station. (Our busses are usually atrocious.)

[@name_less227]

Why don't you just use a car sharing service like zipcar for the few times you actually do that? Maybe it doesn't make financial sense.. I haven't actually looked into it too much. Just a thought.

[@a-r]

@@TohaBgood2 This is very true! I grew up in a car-free neighborhood (which was great for my childhood), and although we had most of what we needed within a 15 min walk, my dad still owned a car for the commute to work. Ironically enough, he worked as a bus driver... Induced demand definitely applies to any transportation mode; be it cars, walking, transit, etc. Build the right infrastructure and people _will_ use it!

[@GirtonOramsay]

This is where ride-sharing or even taxis can come in handy without breaking the budget, instead of owning a car for this occasional trip

[@sammywiener]

I love that you called the train diaroma club “a club” like you were going out to drink and dance, the cut to the train dioramas sent me

[@hyperspeed1313]

Living car free in America, the $10000+ spent on car ownership would all have to be poured into increased rent/mortgage payments to live in a place where you can live without a car instead of on other things

[@alanthefisher]

luckily Philly rents are pretty low compared to other east coast cities, but yes many other cities do not have this luxury

[@rockym9981]

I haven't had a car my entire adult life. I live in Tempe, Arizona. People are always shocked when they learn this and will always ask me "Do you Uber everywhere?" They can't conceive that I might possibly take a bus or ride a bike

[@MrCleonwarrior]

How do you manage during the summer ? Mostly bus?

[@rockym9981]

@@MrCleonwarrior Arizona summers are great bike weather! I can bike and walk year round here. Summers here are definitely better than winters in the Midwest/East Coast.

[@MrCleonwarrior]

@@rockym9981 good point about winters in the Midwest/East coast

[@bgriffin95125]

@rockym9981 I don’t know how anyone can cycle here in the summer. I’m just across the Loop 101 in Mesa. Early last summer I experienced serious heat exhaustion riding a regular bicycle on the Riverview path near the Tempe Town Lake and wasn’t sure I could make it back home. After that episode I purchased an ebike thinking that at least I’d have a throttle to get home in an emergency. But anymore when it’s much above 100 degrees riding or even walking is just out of the question for me, which means pretty much June through September I’m going to use the car.

[@iTzDritte]

Philly is such a wonderful city for car-free life.

[@MF12123]

I also live car-free in Philly, having moved from California where I had to drive everywhere in heavy traffic. Philly is no NYC or Amsterdam but I don’t plan to get a car ever again if I can avoid it! I’m doubtful the new mayor will help bike infrastructure but at least the PPA is (supposedly) cracking down on people parking in the bike lanes, which is constant.

[@MoneyChanger02]

2:56 Alan, i drive in CC regularly, but not when i can avoid it. I am guilty of this, but its not for speed. I trust you braking your bike more than me braking my car…yes, even if i give you space in the rear. You hitting my rear bumper is better for my car than my car hitting you due to my error. If my mentality of passing is wrong and actually more dangerous for bikers, please let me know. Love your videos regardless and support more bike/transit investment.

[@frafraplanner9277]

I also won't want the cyclist to be stressed that theres a car behind them that they're "slowing down"

[@IndependenceCityMotoring]

FYI I use a kids bike trailer to get huge hauls of groceries (in Philadelphia).

[@AdamFaruqi]

Been living car-free in Los Angeles for the past 12 years. It's been hard but it's definitely getting better. Slowly, and in patches, but it is getting better. We have the most rapidly expanding Metro network in the country.

[@thefutureisnowoldman7653]

That's amazing I would never imagine someone being car free in LA. Please be careful LA drivers are crazy

[@user-ox9yd8cm9s]

the cuyahoga valley national park runs a scenic railroad throughout the park that you can get on in downtown akron. They're trying to extend it into downtown cleveland terminal tower too which would be incredible but for now it cuts off like 10 miles south of cleveland in independance

[@totoroben]

I live in Cleveland. Hello.

[@meowtherainbowx4163]

This is serendipitous timing. Yesterday, I decided to see what would happen if I tried to get to and from my old door-to-door sales job in Huntsville, AL without a car. Long story short, I had to walk 90 minutes to and from the nearest stop, 20 minutes longer if I wanted a route with more sidewalks and less tall grass to wade through. The buses ran only hourly on most lines, so I'd get to the office for a standup meeting over 40 minutes early, struggling to find something to fill all that time, or else be significantly late. The travel times were longer than by car, but if not for everything else, they might've been worth the convenience of not driving and having to pay only $1 per ride. I spend at least that much in gas money alone, at least for longer trips. I was lucky enough that one of the areas where I used to knock doors was further down that same bus line. However, depending on exactly which doors I was visiting within that area, I'd have to walk up to 45 minutes to get there. I'd also have to stop early because the buses only run until 9 pm, meaning that they'd take me back to the central transfer station, but then I'd be stranded. You can probably see why I just stayed home whenever my car was having problems. Mind you, I live in a mixed-use development that attracts people from all over the city and has consistent developments between it and the city center. This place would be perfect for a bus stop, even with the pedestrian-hostile environment in which it exists. I don't blame anyone for owning a car here, and I feel for the few who simply cannot afford or legally drive a car as well as the many more impoverished residents who have to weigh themselves down financially by buying one. I wouldn't say that Huntsville has good bones, but we can do better, even with subtle but wide-reaching changes.

[@MaxRamos8]

Yap same when I had to go to meetings in college, show up super early better than slightly late.

[@meowtherainbowx4163]

@Max Ramos Funnily enough, I went to college in Lexington, KY, which is far from an urbanist paradise but did a lot of things better. The bus line that I used to get from campus to a job in the suburbs ran every 20 minutes. That was still annoying because I would usually not have time to catch the 3:17 bus, but the 3:37 bus was about 5 minutes too late for me to be on time. Compared to Huntsville, though, that's an effective transit system. All I needed was lenience from my employer, really.

[@denali637]

As a carless Houstonian, I felt that the "I work from home" caveat was really important. (I do not work from home.) On the weekends, I'm probably 90% bike, 10% light rail, and it's really wonderful. During the week, however, it's about 80% bus and 20% bike, including a very short but very awful stretch by my work. I never want to own a car again, because the costs are so insane, but it would definitely cut my commuting time down by about 70%.

[@TheScourge007]

Stories like that are why I'm so grateful Atlanta has heavy rail even if I have a very love-hate relationship with MARTA. Getting to my office car free? Piece of cake with a bike and the train and its more consistent (and even a bit faster) than trying to drive in. Cities the size and density of a Houston or Dallas REALLY need to get funds from the highways redirected to at least a couple of heavy rail lines. Its a game changer.

[@52_Pickup]

As a car-free Twin Cities resident, this video resonates well. Ebikes supplant the need for cars for much of the year, regular biking, walking and taking public transit helps a lot in the winters. Abundant bike trails and infrastructure matters, and an improving system that is fixing the car dependency of even the suburbs really matters. Even in areas with little to no bike infrastructure, there's still bike racks all over.

[@daveassanowicz186]

My Irish grandmother lived her whole life in northeast Philly. Never owned a car, never learned to drive.

[@The_king567]

Lier

[@papa_woody]

I can confirm, I got rid of my car and rode an ebike everywhere for over 13 months now. With 1500 miles now, ebikes just print money.

[@dandarr5035]

It would be fantastic to have more of this sort of thing, in order to show people what is possible in American Cities. Please make more!

[@enthusiast7659]

We just had a conversation in Troy, NY about the future of small cities at the FOCUS lab. There are a surprising amount of people (myself included) in the Albany-Troy-Schenectady tri-city area in New York that are freely able to live car free. I was thinking, though, that my experience car free is very different from yours, given that we have nothing aside from regional rail in terms of trains, but CDTA (Capital District Transportation Authority) is among the best small-city and regional bus services I've seen anywhere... including living in Europe. I think it would be nice to give a commentary on the reality that it is also able to live a free, fulfilling car-free (or, at least, VERY easily car-light) life in cities like Buffalo, NY or again, the Albany-Troy-Schenectady area, or any of the smaller (

[@MarsonJohansen]

There used to be a lot of tram networks in the area that took people all across the region. All were sadly removed from service; just before major highways like 87, 787, 890, and of course, the Thruway were constructed. I have recently dreamed of what it would take to bring some of these networks back, but unless much of the NYS DOT budget was diverted from road maintenance and construction to these long-run capital projects, I think it would remain just a dream. Interesting history; one of the portals for the Schenectady Railroad was briefly revealed during the reconstruction of Glenridge Road in Rexford. That line went from Schenectady over the Mohawk River, all the way to Saratoga Springs via Alpus, Ballston Lake, and Ballston Spa. The route mainly followed the current CSX/Amtrak ROW except for Ballston Spa, where it made a very interesting S curve through the village to negotiate the valley made by Kayaderosserass Creek and Gordon creek. The irony of all the railroad infrastructure buried in the sands of time in the city that used to "Light and Haul" the world is not lost on me.

[@qjtvaddict]

????

[@coolboss999]

Add Syracuse to that list! Hopefully with the I-81 Viaduct Project it will get better and become more of a car free city 🤗

[@1981menso]

I rode my bike to work yesterday, only painted lines most of the way; in some places there are NO bike lanes. Had a car zoom past me going over 60mph, just inches from me. It's dangerous not driving a car and I hate that fact.

[@TheAmericanCatholic]

At 60 mph or 100km/h getting hit frona. Car at that speed is instantly lethal.

[@adonisfernandez3425]

This is the kind of videos that most people like to see if they were filmed in Japan but may found boring if filmed elsewhere. But you can have this kind of life in a lot of places... I loved it.

[@tcniatcniatcnia]

I guess so, a lot of people have a fascination for Japan, I guess rightfully so. They have a lot of great cities and towns. But so does a lot of other countries. Glad to see more people mentioning Philly though. If I lived in the US then Philly would probably be my choice

[@markrichards6863]

I've lived car free in Boston, San Francisco, and NYC for 45 years. There was three years in Connecticut when I needed a car. Connecticut was horrible, boring strip marks, no sidewalks, cookie cutter suburban homes. I could never live in an environment like that again. You're right about 30th street. After Grand Central Terminal in NYC, it's a solid second place. DC Union Station is third. Then the rest are all lumped together.

[@Hiei2k7]

Oh believe me, I know about grocery shopping on a bike, but mine's a little more freighty than this one. I own a Yuba Spicy Curry with the wide rack, side bags, and 2 sets of side boards - one for the wide rack and one for the sides at the bottom. Weight rated to 440 and has a Bosch mid drive motor on it. I've pulled home 2 weeks worth of shopping on it, as well as heavy cat food and litter, heavy pool chemicals, and a propane tank. It has 10 speed gearing and a 20" rear to help with the weight push off. I love it.

[@allanflippin2453]

Just one more lane bro! Your problem with the river trail in Philly reminds me of pre-pandemic days when I had to commute to Silicon Valley. The company's office had a nice trail nearby, but I found it couldn't be used for cycling during lunch. Many groups of tech workers (several companies are nearby) have a lunch ritual where they go out with a half dozen of their BFFs and take a slow stroll on the trail. While they do this, ALL members of the group walk side-by-side, taking up the entire trail. During their blissful stroll, these bros don't pay any attention to the possibility that a bicycle might also be on the trail. I tried ringing a bell, didn't work. I could yell, but that's not my style. I had to give up lunch-time cycling at that place. I'm thankful I no longer have to go there.

[@spatialfeelings]

Shoreline or Stevens Creek? Lol

[@allanflippin2453]

@@spatialfeelingsNeither one. I see there's a plague of this kind of activity! I'm talking about the San Tomas Aquino Creek trail between Scott Blvd and Tasman. The 101 underpass is the worst, with no lighting, no guard rail and not much extra space for tech bro strolls :D

[@Aerational]

You were determined to catch that car admit it xD

[@SiriusXAim]

And yet London UK keeps banning E bikes and E scooters. Basically forcing people into more transit dependency.

[@HeckaLives]

8:02 This shot right here made me say "oh my god it's gorgeous", out loud. I am privileged to live a car free lifestyle, outside the US, and I know beautiful human centric infrastructure when I see it.

[@Man2quilla]

Damn, that's a good looking train station

[@bruh-vt4th]

This is good to know that I can live in Philly car free! This coming school year I will start school at UPenn majoring in Urban Studies, eventually to become an urban designer/planner. I chose to apply to Penn because it’s a great school in one of most urbanist cities in America. Hope I’ll run into you walking down the street one day in Center City!

[@hovsco]

It is so cool to see that you don't need a car to live in the US 😁Appreciate your support with HovCart!

[@PlasticCyborg]

I absolutely love this video style. I'd love to see more of it. As someone who lives near Philadelphia and has experienced some of what the city has to offer, I would love to see more videos like this. I'm hoping this feedback is encouraging for a future of this video type on your channel. It really helps to give someone an idea of how they can live in an urban development without the need of a car.

[@freekill123100]

as a mountian biker and someone that dose like to bike to work when the weather is good. E bikes are the future of bikes. Especially now sense you can finance them. Though I would argue that a sub 50cc scooter or a 300cc motorcycle will get the job done assuming you are paying about 3k ish for an E bike.

[@SeaBassTian]

Great video! I live car free in a medium sized southern city and I love it! The city is affordable enough that I can afford to live right in the city center. My office is merely a 10 minute walk away in the central office district. There's a mediocre BRT line and a fairly extensive but network that I use for errands and leisure activities. Also: the city is small enough that if I miss the bus, I can easily bike or scooter (or even walk) to my destination. I feel truly blessed!

[@collectivelyimprovingtrans2460]

“One more lane” but for walking and biking is okay, it’ll be more popular and inspire a shift in attitude!

[@johnborden6308]

Incidentally I live car-free in Albuquerque and bike everywhere, been doing it for 3 years now. Really isn't on anyone's list of usual suspects for bike-friendly places to live, but it has an incredible amount of infrastructure. It is kind of sprawled out and hilly, but an e-bike can fix that. You don't have to move to a big expensive city in order to live a car-free lifestyle. You can do it while living in one of the cheapest cities in the country.

[@cumpootuhruser9355]

I've also been living car-free in Albuquerque for multiple years. I moved here from the Chicago suburbs and at first I was impressed by the bike infrastructure, but then realized it's still mostly painted white lines, and my appreciation for the bike infrastructure was mostly relative to having never seen bike infrastructure in my life. I love living car-free in Albuquerque and can definitely say I think it's pretty practical. Though I wouldn't go so far as to describe the infrastructure as "incredible". I love the channel trail network, which is a great multi-use pathway network that actually takes me to useful places (including a local bike shop that I frequent). But my ride to work takes me through a combination of door zones and painted bike gutters along Central. It's definitely a mixed bag.

[@wastucar8127]

Philadelphia be tempting!

[@gundampharmacist7348]

It’s a shame that bikes such as the Hovcart are so expensive; when I lived in Japan an e-bike was about half the price and could haul just as much, more if you got basket extensions and the like for the rear. I wish I could’ve taken that bike with me when I had to leave.

[@SharienGaming]

theres also pretty affordable bags you can put on the back of your bike that have considerable capacity (dont need anything special, you can hook two of them into a typical bikes rack)

[@1981menso]

It's 2k, which is not cheap, but the 60k maintenance on a car runs about the same price.

[@danmorris8714]

It may be that expensive, but it's a one time cost for the most part. Keeping a bike maintained is fairly cheap once you look into it, unlike a car

[@calvinyahn2840]

@@danmorris8714 It's also a bit easier to steal bikes than it is to steal cars so I mostly use the bike share.

[@danmorris8714]

@Calvin Yahn if everyone has a bike, there should be no need to steal. Bike shares and rentals are good too

[@frafraplanner9277]

1:04 Thats smart of Philly to put stop signs on the left side of the road. In Portland, we have parked cars and plants blocking stop signs in our narrow backstreets because, and aince PBOT wont use stop lines or left side stop signs, people accidentally run them

[@khulhucthulhu9952]

this cargobike looks more like the type of motorbikes you see in pictures from overcrowded streets in southeast asia than what I'm used to being called a cargobike lmao

[@indenturedLemon]

yeah in southeast asia, e-bikes aren't popular because they cost about the same as those mopeds anyway 😓

[@joeturner9692]

"You can't go grocery shopping without a car" is a catch-22. Because if you live close enough to food stores to walk, you can go multiple times per week and only need to buy as much as you can carry.

[@mardiffv.8775]

Or if the supermarket is up to 3 miles away, you can use your bike too. I live very close to my supermarket, only 550 yards away. But I rather cycle then walk, so by bike acts like my personal trolley. Work smarter, not harder.

[@joeturner9692]

@@mardiffv.8775 Food shopping isn't "work" for me.

[@mardiffv.8775]

@@joeturner9692 Good to hear that food shopping is a piece of cake.

[@joeturner9692]

@@mardiffv.8775 It really is. The highlight of my week.

[@mardiffv.8775]

@@joeturner9692 Woooow, thank you.

[@ogjk]

I second you on the gym thing. I used to have a gym membership and went religiously at 6 every morning. Then I wised up got my own equipment and work out at home. Yes less variety however I now save 30 min of driving every gym day and never have to wait on anything anymore.

[@davidsixtwo]

Living low car in NYC, the car gets used every 2-3 weeks and is totally not necessary. I take Metro-North up the Hudson Valley for outdoor stuff, grocery shop with the subway/bus, use citibike. It's just normal life here.

[@lordmasenko]

I really enjoyed this video Alan, and I think a lot of other want to see more of this type of content as well!!

[@shughes57]

My first experience in carfree living was in Glenside. Uber wasn't a thing quite yet so I got around using SEPTA. Kinda weird seeing my old regional line in one of your videos. Cheers dude, love your content.

[@ballandpaddle]

I'm not lucky enough to live somewhere I can be 100% car-free, but I've still been able to be 90% with an e-bike. For me, it changed the game. I can get to work without breaking a sweat, go everywhere in town, and thanks to an intra-city path, even make it to the next town over purely on bike, about a 40-mile round trip. So much more enjoyable than driving, and having the electric assist means I can just keep going and going without getting sweaty and tired. If you've never tried an e-bike, I strongly recommend it. Did I mention zero gas, no oil changes, no license and registration fees, and almost zero maintenance? In the last 2000 miles, I had to spend $20 on a coupe pairs of brake pads, and that's it. Easy to install them myself. Maybe about $4.50 of recharges in that many miles.

[@cooperino]

i love these videos of you showing what it's like to live car-free. as someone who is stuck living in car centric suburbs these videos are the only barrier between me and insanity

[@OneOneTwo112]

DC resident here! The nation's capital is a great place to live car-free and I've really enjoyed my time here over the past few years getting around by either walking or using the awesome Washington Metro. I tend to use a vertical cart for groceries since my closest grocery store is within walking distance but using a cargo bike for groceries sounds really cool, I might look into that after watching this. I purposefully promised myself that I would never live in an area that requires a car because I hate, HATE driving. It stresses me out to no end and I much prefer walking/using public transit. I appreciated the video a lot because it's interesting seeing how other people live car-free in other cities :).

[@electric7487]

_Cries in Metro Detroit_

[@otterotterotter]

I have found living car-free to be fantastic and a major money saver (I've compared expenses to friends who own cars, when I lived in SF and was paying $1300 a month in rent, my expenses of rent + transit usage were lower than my friend, also in the Bay Area, paying less in rent + car related expenses on a paid off car, excluding depreciation, with a lower cost rental) Its an interesting conversation when I go outside my social bubbles because at least some co-workers have always been surprised by it (plus the fact I've never owned a TV or sofa lol). I also find a huge thing for many people who drive everywhere is they're not dressed for the weather, which makes any time more than walking from your parking space to the store/office/whatever miserable if its not a moderate temperature and find this majorly overlooked for many people, I think you can have a much better experience if you have the right jacket/other gear for the weather when taking transit!

[@ursonate]

I am a 50+ year old person who has never owned a car. I almost got one about 15 or so years ago when I was living in texas, but decided to pay down my debt instead. There are some frustrations with public transit, but generally it's been great. This pace of life enables me to understand my environment in much greater detail.

[@adnamamedia]

I live car free in Philly too! It truly is a blissful lifestyle. Biking, especially on an electric one, is by far the fastest, cheapest, and most convenient way of getting around. I don't know if I'll ever be able to go back to living in a city where I have to drive Also... I feel like you live extremely close to me 😳 I'm surprised we haven't run into each other before. You included a number of shots uncomfortably close to where I live and you even go to the same grocery store!

[@kaekae4010]

I have ever thought a video about living a normal day-to-day life without a car, but it would be so normal for my country that it would be ridiculous. Nice city, nice walk along the river. Thanks for your videos. (beautiful trains)

[@cuteswan]

To be fair, Drivers Who MUST Get Ahead of Bikes sometimes are just concerned about hitting them or having to constantly negotiate them and other traffic. When I drove I always tried to give cyclists plenty of space, and sometimes road design and other cars made that difficult. Hmm, maybe I'll pay Philadelphia a visit for a few days to indulge in my own waking tour.

[@gcvrsa]

BS. If you are truly concerned about hitting a bicyclist, then all you have to do to avoid that is slow down. The fact that you are in a car does NOT give you priority access to the road over a bicyclist.

[@cuteswan]

@@gcvrsa How did you manage to get such a wrong interpretation out of what I wrote? What I said was that I try to keep some distance *FOR THEIR SAFETY.* Did you think I meant that I gun it and sideswipe every bicylist I see? That's just stupid.

[@brandonking1737]

I also like to ride my bike to the gym. The best part is I get my cardio and most of my warmup out of the way during the commute. The worst part is that I live uphill from my gym and I only own an acoustic bike, so it makes the ride home difficult after leg day when my quads are already jelly from squats and leg extensions

[@Gt07mk]

"what kind of club did you think we were going to?" me in the corner secretly hoping for a late night boxcar rave

[@manlykilt]

Think of all the dumb things you can buy for not having to pay for a car! In my car-optional neighborhood, staring at my ridiculous sea of monitors and high end speakers, having given up driving ten years ago: Yep.

[@TheLegoPerson]

This was a cool video! As someone considering a move to Philadelphia in the future, it would be fun to see more content like this

[@phillygrunt2154]

Philly is the best. I’m born and raised here my entire life, I’ve traveled and lived elsewhere during the military but I couldn’t ever leave here again. I’m trying to convince my wife to live more car free

[@tonywalters7298]

Peak car centric is to drive one's car to the gym only to ride on a stationary bicycle

[@edwardbrown3721]

I'm not an American but NEEDING a car is something I never thought about as possible, and I don't live in Europe, I live in Montevideo, Uruguay, even the most car hole suburb here has a small general store every like 500m(although admittedly they're not very good) and people walk around for stuff, only getting on their cars to commute to the centre

[@alistairlee7604]

If you go to DC, it's surprising to live either car-free or car-lite for a lot of people.

[@97nelsn]

When I went to DC in 2021, I used the GetAround app to rent a car from someone in DC who used his car only when he needed things in the suburbs. Most of the time the car is in the neighborhood for others to use for day trips while the owner makes money lending it to others. I went thrifting in the DC suburbs and parked the car back in the neighborhood where I picked it up. Then, I met up with friends taking the bus to CityCenter DC from H Street.

[@alistairlee7604]

@@97nelsn Sometimes, if I needed something large to move, I rent a car too. In short, there are a good amount of people who are car-lite not only in DC but some DC suburbs as well.

[@JeffersonLeeEng]

I'd consider Indego bikeshare in Philly as an alternative for a car free lifestyle, but their pricing structure leaves a lot to be desired (especially since they raised prices a few times in the past couple of years). I also wish they had bike stations in the chestnut hill/mount airy area.

[@TheAmericanCatholic]

Your better off owning your own e bicycle with replaceable batteries

[@pavld335]

I've lived car free for most of my adult life. I don't even think twice about it. If I ever need to go somewhere I can't take my bike, or transit - I'll just use rideshare and that rarely rarely ever happens.

[@scottydude456]

I’m a New Yorker and I really enjoy going to Philly. It’s the closest place I’ve been that really makes me feel at home

[@ob0273]

I really enjoyed this video! You might try making more of these.

[@xiezicong]

I'd happily watch more videos of a day in the life car-free

[@definitelynotacrab7651]

That trail was beautiful, the bridge overhead was such a cool, almost high fantasy type setting

[@brycebundens6866]

I love Philly, we lived there for a long time! It is walkable and somewhat bikeable. However, living in Washington DC is a whole new level of urbanism!!!

[@VictorYepello]

I'm lucky enough to live in one of those towns that being car-free is possible. Thank you Palm Springs, CA

[@Noisy_Cricket]

A small clarification: Drivers want to be in front of bikes mostly because they don't want any chance of hitting you. Same reason we don't like to be beside semis- just with an inverted danger vector. Your speed is somewhat of a secondary concern. Sincerely, a driver.

[@valuedcustomer94384]

Yeah his take on why people do it is definitely biased.

[@mrm7058]

What I see in your video is, Philadelphia still has a lot to do to become as bike friendly as the Netherlands.(For example)

[@OgreKev]

Yes, please more Philly phootage! I worked at 30th Street from 2004 until I left for Texas in 2018. I'll be granting you some of that sweet, sweet watch time just going back and rewatching the Philly views.

[@holygooff]

I live car free in a city in NW Europe. It's very doable, but I have to admit that I miss a car to go to a quiet spot or find nature. Basically, tehre hardly isn't any open space, let alone nature left in a wide area aroud me. The small areas that are left are always super crowded, so the experience there isn't great. I really really miss nature and it drives me insane that I can't get to it. In the US at least there is much more open space, so I assume that you can get there if you take a bike from the city or drives the suburban trains as far as you can. Philadelphia looks very good by the way. I wish you would show it more often. It's a very unkwon city, but that seeems totally undeserved. It could be my kind of place if I would hypothetically live in the US.

[@tcniatcniatcnia]

Are there any short term car rentals in your city? I know some places have a service that lets you rent cars by the hour. Would maybe let you still live carfree + experience nature?

[@frafraplanner9277]

Most American cities are way to massive to bike out of, and have a literally useless suburban rail network. It's something we need to seriously work on

[@tcniatcniatcnia]

@@frafraplanner9277 That's only because of Suburban sprawl. A good example is Indianapolis, A sprawl of 8000 squared miles yet 2.1m people live in it. There are countless European, Asian and even American cities that have 2-10 times the population of Indianapolis while being considerably smaller in size.

[@holygooff]

@@tcniatcniatcnia Car rent by the hour is something I've never heard about. You can rent a car though and I do that a few times per year.

[@holygooff]

@@frafraplanner9277 How far would it on average be from the city to open space/countryside?

[@Zm4rf]

just live next to a university somewhere-those areas tend to be pretty walkable

[@Piterdeveirs333]

I wish there was more public transit from Mt Holly to Philly

[@doejersey]

As someone who lives outside Philly it’s nice seeing that the city is still better than the suburbs. Dang you working in person!

[@kittland]

This was a really cool sorta video. I really like your other content but more stuff like this would be a lovely addition to the usual

[@user-if7uo3re2s]

Really appreciate your channel and a PA centric video is always great. What do you think are the odds of a SEPTA line running to Allentown or Bethlehem PA? I know there's a ton of disused railyards and a lot of people who commute down to Philly.

[@Ol.i.Adeema]

I been looking for more vids like this from u loved it. Giving a taste of an urban experience or ways for us to uplift that experience

[@geisaune793]

This was a really cool video. I really think you could lift a significant number of people out of poverty simply by building cities so that low-income people don't need cars that they can't really afford anyway. I live in the midwest so my walkability/bikability/transit options are definitely limited unless I want to move to Chicago. However, I do live in a midsized, midwestern college town, which like many other midwestern college towns, is an oasis of progressiveness in the middle of about 100 miles of red farmland. They do seem to be trying to make the city more walkable, although progress is slow. One upside is that there are lots walking/biking trails throughout the city that are really nice. Many of them already connect neighborhoods to downtown and the university. Some connect neighborhoods together or to parks. There are parts on some trails where, like the clips in your video, it's hard to believe that you're actually in the middle of an urban area. The long term plan is to eventually connect all the separate trails into one large network that circles and passes through the city.

[@hey4077]

lol you should have taken the bike lanes on Kensington Ave... Jokes aside I think Philly has a lot of potential to become a bike/walk friendly city. Also I think what makes the city beautiful is its history, both American history but also regarding transportation. Philly's subway opened in 1907!! making it one of the oldest subway systems worldwide (part of today's Market-Frankford line). Also you guys still operate trolleys which is awesome

[@buehlerbilly]

In general the northeast cities are pretty easy to get around without a car. I'd say Boston is the easiest to get around without a car out of all of them. In NYC its actually detrimental to own a vehicle, and you can get away with living on Long Island without a car if you're comfortable with busses.

[@SamNYC2000]

I like the Philly-based content - it's always been on my list of possible places to live (car-free here too)

[@technojunkie123]

Would definitely love more Philly content! It’s a city I’m mulling moving to and it’d be great to learn more about how to live their car free

[@Wafflinson]

I generally agree with you and the message of your video. .... but anyone who thinks what you recorded counts as "wilderness" doesn't have one iota of a clue what wilderness is.

[@Jeshiae]

Given sprawl in America, very few people actually live near true "wilderness" and few people regularly go there. So what I'm saying is that the term has a range of meanings... it's not just the middle of the forest.

[@Wafflinson]

@@Jeshiae No... it has one meaning. Just because people use it incorrectly doesn't make that its definition. If you can easily find a place in nature where you are consistently alone it isn't wilderness.... and there is definitely no such thing as "wilderness" in a city. I love urban parks and wild places, but pretending that there are equivalent or even comparable to real nature is just a lie told to push a narrative about cars.

[@jetsons101]

This was a quite the enjoyable watch, that park/bike path looks great. Always had a dream to live in Gettysburg......

[@uncannysnake]

I will ALWAYS try to get in front of a bike ASAP. I am incredibly scared of running them over by some mistake. All I can do to harm them when in front is braking too much and lets be real, a bike brakes better than a car

[@no_name4796]

i also feel like i would put pressure on the biker if i were to go at his speed and stay 3 meters behind him. i mean i won't do it if unnessesary like in slow street, but otherwise i don't like staying behind a cyclist ass, because i feel like i am pressuring him

[@kevin0carl]

I usually pass regular bikes, but I don’t think I’d pass an ebike. If they’re going 20 I’d have to go over the speed limit to pass. It just seems safer to give them following distance than to go super fast just to possibly slow them down.

[@Frostbiker]

It all depends on how much distance you leave us while you pass. When you are on a bike, when a pothole is deep enough it can make you lose control of the bike and make you crash, so you may need to swerve, and if a car is passing too close to you at that time, things can get dicey. Also, if we are approaching a stop sign as you pass the bike, you often force the cyclist to make a full stop as well, which puts us in danger. Here's why: on a bike the safest way to approach a stop sign is to slow down and treat it as a yield sign, which allows you to maintain your momentum and reduces the amount of time you stay at an intersection, which is the most dangerous place to be on a bike. Cyclists typically ride the way they do because it's the safest way to do things on a bike.

[@rainbowevil]

Maybe you both just need to leave a little bit more space between you and the bike in front? As if “I’m scared I’ll run the cyclist over” is a valid excuse for overtaking them ASAP lol. And if you leave more space, it’s also less pressuring. Notice how when someone tailgates you when you’re driving, that’s the thing that creates pressure on you, not just someone driving behind you.

[@uncannysnake]

@@rainbowevil Call it paranoid, but for example a stuck throttle can happen anytime, that is what I am scared of, just a random fault revving up my engine. My car wants to go forward. And error on my part or a car fault could make it go too fast and not stop. If I am in front of the bike my rogue car will speed away from it, not towards it

[@the_yesnt1358]

Love the Philly content, I'm an Aussie in Melbourne.

[@donkeytits1]

Eh another one!

[@dswp7155]

Keep up content like this please! I live in philly and always learn something new from your videos

[@Paul-hw4dg]

I sold my car last year. Now I bike and motorcycle my way around my very rural area in south Georgia (the state).

[@ArCKonan]

2:54 Happens to me so much, riding in the UK too, and I swear it's an ego thing, as they're in a range rover or BMW usually.