A car is often essential in the US but while owning a vehicle is better than not for life satisfaction, a study has found, having to drive too much sends happiness plummeting
It’s definitely true. There are so few places that are really walkable in the US and the demand is quite high… once you live that way, it’s hard to go back.
We really need to build more walkable areas, but it’s difficult for a lot of (mostly-nonsensical) reasons.
The only thing to keep in mind, however, is that the math changes significantly when you remove cars from the equation. Our rent is higher than somewhere less walkable, but it’s also roughly equivalent to the full price of owning two cars. So comparatively, we save a bunch of money despite higher rent.
It’s definitely true. There are so few places that are really walkable in the US and the demand is quite high… once you live that way, it’s hard to go back.
We really need to build more walkable areas, but it’s difficult for a lot of (mostly-nonsensical) reasons.
The only thing to keep in mind, however, is that the math changes significantly when you remove cars from the equation. Our rent is higher than somewhere less walkable, but it’s also roughly equivalent to the full price of owning two cars. So comparatively, we save a bunch of money despite higher rent.