carless in Phoenix | This Could Be Phoenix
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carless in Phoenix Tag

A few weeks ago, we asked for your opinions on our Facebook page: What's the worst thing about parking in Downtown Phoenix? You gave us various different responses, and were extremely helpful in understanding the community's perception of what it's like to park in Downtown Phoenix. Let's face it: Parking is a touchy subject that lies at the center of a clash of lifestyles. It's a complex issue, and we get that. As part of our exploration into the topic of parking, we'll attempt to understand and explain some of its many facets in future blog posts. We want to do this thoroughly and factually so that we (and hopefully you!) can fully understand the problems our city is facing.

It's no myth that Phoenix is a car-centric city. With streets in the heart of our city as wide as 8 lanes, it can often feel like owning and driving a car is the only way to get around. Have you tried walking down Indian School road lately? The very street itself doesn't encourage anything but traveling on top of four wheels with a tank full of gas. And that's not the only street that can tell the same story. When I moved back to Phoenix 3 years ago, I moved closer to the light rail in order to be able to diminish as many car trips as I could, but the reality of Phoenix, and the convenience factor of having a car on our city streets (in addition to the fact I had no auto payments) left me with no other logical choice but to keep my car. I always loved the idea of living in a city where I didn't have to own a car, but Phoenix wasn't really that city. That is, Phoenix didn't become that type of city until the decision was made for me. My car was stolen in November of 2013, and that was impetus enough for me to try a car-less lifestyle in seemingly one of the most un-friendly cities for such a lifestyle. You can read more about the story of my decisions and how I'm making car-free work for me in Phoenix on my recent blog post: "How I Live and Work without a Car in Phoenix, Arizona."