Christina Goes Carless

A couple posts ago I recounted a frustrating and discouraging bus experience, and while I think it’s important to be completely honest in this blog about my transition to carelessness, I’m concerned I may have given the impression I don’t support or endorse Phoenix’s Valley Metro system. Nothing could be further from the truth. I love Phoenix and frequently tell anyone who asks about being carless how great Phoenix’s public transportation system is.  I defend the city’s transit system ad nauseum online on multiple social media platforms including Quora, Facebook and Nextdoor. I point naysayers towards My Sidewalk forums  asking for user feedback and whenever possible give concrete examples of how that feedback is integrated with the city’s transit plans. So it seems like a post listing everything I respect and like about the city’s public transit system is in order.  Scroll down for the listcicle; keep reading for the context. Why people think it suck...

I've already rhapsodized about the childlike bliss of rediscovering bike riding in a previous post , so I'll try to rein that in this time. But now that the Hubby and I have had our bikes for a couple weeks, suffice it to say I love biking more with every ride, even though I did take a few (well, three to be exact) minor tumbles as I learned to adjust to my Electra Townie Commute 8D 's step-through frame. The Hubby got the Electra Loft 7i , which suits him uncannily well. If you'd like to know more about riding that bike, let me know and I'll have him write a guest post. The Bike As always, allow me to remind readers that I am not a "serious" cyclist, just a girl trying to go carless. I am, however, a conscientious consumer and chronic researcher, so long before we turned in our 2014 Nissan LEAF I had spent countless hours researching bikes that would be best for my urban commuter/errand-running/ we're-serious-picnickers needs. But first,...