Home » How My Relationship With Cars Changed When I Moved To The Big City

How My Relationship With Cars Changed When I Moved To The Big City

Do I Really Need A Car
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Walkable neighborhoods are a hot-button topic. They often restrict driving, but at the same time, we’re told they’re the solution to so many of our woes.  I’d always lived in the suburbs, so relying on a car was deeply ingrained in my psyche — I loved cars, worshipped them, drove them every day. Then I moved to the big city and suddenly everything changed.

Growing up as a gearhead, I came to resent growing up in the suburbs. I had none of the conveniences of living in the inner city, nor the freedom one gets in a rural area. I watched friends grow up with motorbikes and farm cars, having a ball out in the country where there was nobody to care. Meanwhile, if I ever dared let loose in my own area, I’d end up paying a high price with the local police.

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Part of me always longed to own a big property somewhere far from the big smoke, where I could build my own dirt track and hoon with abandon. But that would be a lonely life, and the other part of me longed to go drinking and dancing with my friends. The latter part won out. Particularly given the fact I couldn’t really afford a big old property in the first place. That decision would ultimately have some profound effects on how I felt about the beloved automobile.

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“What are we doing, Princess Caroline?”

[Ed Note: So many Autopian readers have moved to cities, sometimes for work, sometimes for fun, and they’ve had to reduce their fleets, sometimes to no cars. If this post does anything, I hope it makes it clear that you can absolutely be a car enthusiast without a fleet of cars. -DT]. 

Leaving Home

After decades of living in the suburbs, I finally went downtown. I scored myself a dope little pad with a carpark, because hey, I wasn’t about to give up my dream car. I moved in, settled down, and then something struck me. I’d been living here for a week, and I hadn’t driven once. 

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The magic of the big city had instantly taken hold. If I wanted a quick takeaway meal, no problem. Just stroll down the street and find a place that looked like it met with basic health codes. Groceries, cleaning supplies? The local supermarket was a 10-minute walk away Beers, wine, or spirits? If the local pub didn’t appeal, there was a smattering of bottle shops happy to supply.

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Credit: Joeyy Lee
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Great for getting about on foot. Sub-ideal for getting around by car. Parking is a pain. Credit: Bree Evans

As someone who loves driving, the change was frankly, quite jarring. A month in, and I realized that I’d used it twice in that time. It was now sitting for weeks on end. I begun to wonder if I’d actually need to source some kind of fuel stabilizer given it was hardly moving.

Speaking to my fellow gearheads, they pointed out this was an opportunity. Since I didn’t need a car for day to day errands, I didn’t need to settle for something practical. Get a coupe, a drop top, a super sedan slammed on its guts. The car can just be for fun. 

It’s rad as hell, but I’m barely using it.

I understood this in a logical sense, and my Audi fit the bill nicely. But at the same time, it began to felt a bit silly having the car at all, let alone a nice one. I had all this money tied up in my little turbo sled, but I was barely using the thing.

See, when I was in the suburbs, with a few big roads around, it was different. I was driving on the daily, and there were occasional opportunities to let my car off the chain. Maybe it was booting it up to 50 mph on the local highway, or enjoying nailing the apex on a particular off-ramp. If you had a cool car, you could still enjoy it a little. 

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On my rare local drives, I’ve longed for something better suited to the speed bumps than my utterly low sports car. Sorry, Mazda.

But that falls apart here. See, the walkable neighborhood is great for walking, but not great for cars. There are speed humps everywhere. Drains. Gutters. Driveways into local businesses that promise to tear up your front bumper. On the rare occasion I choose to drive around here, it’s super unfriendly to my sports car. I find myself wishing for something more normal.

Sure, I could treat my car like a toy. A special treat, optimized just for the fun driving. The problem is, to do any of that, I’d have to spend an hour in traffic first to get to the countryside. Once I’m there, that’s great, but the time investment really makes it a rare treat. In these tough economic times, owning a sports car for occasional  jaunts seems a bit foolish. It’s like owning a jetski in downtown Manhattan. When do you really get to use it?

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I like to let the Audi run, when I can.

I’ve found the key is to make the most of car journeys when I need to do them. Maybe the weekend is a good time to visit some far-flung burger joint or dispensary of fried chicken. I’ve got friends in the suburbs, too, and driving is often quicker than chaining together the buses. In these cases, I relish leaning into the throttle where it’s prudent and hearing the engine come on boost. Pshhhhhht. It’s now a special luxury, rather than a part of my day to day.

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Neatlife

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Living in a walkable neighborhood is a great lifestyle, just not for cars.

The real thing that dawned on me, though? I simply don’t need a car anymore. There’s nothing in my life that really demands one. It’s a nice to have for some trips into the broader suburbs, but there’s nothing I couldn’t do instead with trains, buses, or the occasional Uber. I could easily get by with no car at all, and for an automotive obsessive, that came as kind of a shock.

Still, for now I maintain a vehicle, because my Audi is a peach. I do love it, I just worry I’m not getting it the exercise it deserves…

The Pressure

It’s also worth talking about what it’s like being a gearhead. It’s a proud culture to be a part of, but it can come with a certain level of pressure, too. The young corporate ladder-climber might feel the pressure to buy a fancy home, throw opulent parties, and buy an expensive luxury car. It’s easy to fall into a similar trap as a car enthusiast.

I’ve fell victim to this pressure at times. Particularly as an automotive writer, you can feel out of place if you don’t own a whole fleet of interesting cars. When your fellow writers are out there driving and restoring all kinds of hot metal, you can feel like you don’t measure up if you’re not doing the same. Meanwhile, for me, as an auto writer, to consider abandoning cars entirely? It just feels like a move you don’t dare to make.

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Quickd
My Miata was the one car I really invested in. I did wheels, tires, coilovers, even a set of headers. But I never got close to any of my real goals—ECU upgrades, engine swaps, a turbo…

Personally, I’ve felt the biggest disconnect when it comes to what I do with cars. For me, I see what others are doing, and I feel like I haven’t done enough modding, nor enough racing. I’ve longed to build something truly special, something fast, capable, and unique. I’ve longed to take it to the racetrack to lay down ever decreasing laptimes. I feel like if I don’t put together some kind of engine-swapped brown manual unicorn with my own two hands, I’ve failed.

Circumstance has denied me the opportunity, or is it a lack of will? I’ve certainly owned multiple cars at once, including a number of interesting ones. But I’ve never had a godly fleet, nor anything particularly fast or weapon-like. At best, I’ve owned three cars at once, at that felt like too many. I was bleeding insurance payments and registration every month! Many a time, I’ve looked at my cars, and felt like I should be doing more with them.

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I’ve bought a number of enthusiast cars over the years. Ultimately, though, I’ve been unable or reluctant to really invest in them, and I inevitably sell them a few years down the line unmodified. 

That’s not to say I don’t consider myself an gearhead. More and more, I’m trying to frame being a car enthusiast as exploring what you actually like about cars, on your own terms, and within your own means. You don’t have to own a Ferrari or enter the Paris-Dakar. You don’t have to build Ladas from rust in your back yard. You can take part in the hobby in whatever way suits you and your lifestyle.

That pressure doesn’t really exist though. It’s external nonsense that you don’t have to believe in. All I know is that I love talking design, I love talking engineering, and I take every chance I can get to drive something new. Now that I’m living somewhere where I can’t keep a big fleet, I’m trying to make that the center of my own gearhead narrative.

A Change In Priorities

If anything, this experience has brought my love for cars into finer focus. I have a better understanding of what I want. I have always enjoyed sports cars on the road, particularly when I can wind them out in the hills. But I realize it’s now it’s always been a spoiled joy—and one I’m not really interested in driving hours to take part in.

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On public roads, you’re forever pulling your punches. You’re rolling off the throttle just as things get exciting because of the speed limit. You’re terrified that there’ll be a cop car waiting to bust “boy racers” round the next bend, whether you’re going hard or not. And, if you have any kind of a soul, you’re behaving yourself because it’s entirely inappropriate to put yourself or others at risk for your own selfish thrills. 

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I had a great time doing hills runs with the boys back in the day. Still, quite a few ended with somebody getting a serious fine or a defect notice.

Maybe it’s the draconian traffic enforcement in Australia, or maybe it’s just part of growing up. But the whole idea of fast road cars is kind of dead to me. Call me disillusioned, but what are they even for?

All this has made me realize what I really want out of cars: I wanna race, and I wanna go fast. Proper fast. Forget public roads, cops, traffic lights and stop signs. It’s on the racetrack where cars get real.

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The last time I went on a track day, my old Miata had maybe 100 horsepower. But I met every last one of those fucking valiant old stallions and we roared around the circuit together. That felt good. That felt free.

I’m over driving on the streets. It’s stunt cocaine. It’s coffee without the caffeine. You could park a BMW M2 in my garage next week and I’d have to ask what you expected me to do with it. “It does zero to 60 mph in under four seconds!” you’d say. “That’s a vanishingly short time to lose your license,” I’d respond.

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BMW lent me an M2 last year, which was rad. But I was also keenly aware that there wasn’t much I could legally do with 456 horsepower on a public road.

But give me a cheap-ass race car and a trailer and a truck to tow it, and I’d be out there shredding tires and actually living for once. None of that nonsense about holding back on public roads, with the car hinting at some vague potential. I’d be paying visits to the redline on the regular, getting my money’s worth out of the rubber.

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Many things preclude me chasing that dream right now. Race cars aren’t cheap, built or bought. I have nowhere to park a truck, or a trailer, or store many stacks of race rubber. But I know now that I won’t be satisfied until I do this. I’ve gotten to my mid-30s and I’ve honestly never done more than a few basic track days. I’ve never raced wheel to wheel outside a go kart track. I’ve never done one of Australia’s glorious tarmac rallies. So much that I’ve dreamed of has been ignored for so long.  

I don’t know where I’ll get the money, or the time, or the opportunity. But before I leave this Earth, I want to do some real fucking car stuff. I’m sick of being a spectator. It’s gotta be me out there. 

Ultimately, I don’t need a car anymore—but I want one. It just so happens I want one with lots of power, lots of grip, and a certified roll cage so I can get serious on track with this thing. Maybe I truly can make the stars align. We will see. 

Image credits: Lewin Day, Bree Evans via Unsplash license, Joeyy Lee via Unsplash license

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MrLM002
MrLM002
1 month ago

I know the feeling, and I’m living in a fairly rural area, though the city I’m in was built to be mostly walkable due to it predating the automobile by a fair bit.

When I moved here I chose not to bring any of my cars, as my time here will only be for a few years, my rental doesn’t have a garage, and I don’t need a car to get around here. I recently got a bicycle because walking to the bus stop wasn’t burning enough calories so I decided to skip the bus and bike when I need to go out.

Getting a good bike host and modding it to your specs helps with the gearhead modding urge.

The Dude
The Dude
1 month ago

Since I didn’t need a car for day to day errands, I didn’t need to settle for something practical. Get a coupe, a drop top, a super sedan slammed on its guts. The car can just be for fun.”

Precisely why I ended up with a convertible since I WFH and only drive a couple hundred miles a month. Sure, it’s justifiable in So Cal, but it’s a not-so-great family car despite having decent room (compared to other convertibles) in the back seats. But we have a van for family duty.

So although my situation is a bit different, I can relate, and this is indeed a great opportunity to get something impractical.

EmotionalSupportBMW
EmotionalSupportBMW
1 month ago

Have you considered getting into racing the bicycles? I’ve raced alot stuff- cars, sail boats for a minute, running, even did a kayak race once. And nothing meets low cost, while also being able to get super weird than the bike. Is it cheap, not really. Is it cheaper than a car, hell yeah. You can get the F1 equivalent bike and go test your luck in crits all season long for the price of a mildly built Miata. Yeah, you have to get good on the bike. Its good for that health though. Expect when you hit the ground, which happens sometimes. It looks like you happen to be in Melbourne, which happens to have one of the largest racing scenes on Earth right there!

Ted Schwartz
Ted Schwartz
1 month ago

I’ve been a car enthusiast all of my life, but there was a time, many years ago, that I owned no cars.
I was a soldier, stationed in Stuttgart, Germany, and between the conveniences of living in a big city with actually good public transit, and the sheer costs involved, I chose to spend two years without a car, save money, and ride a bike everywhere.
I had friends with cars, and could usually borrow one if I needed, but rarely did. The bike and the trains worked well and I managed quite well.

So, yes, you can still love cars and not own one.

Rad Barchetta
Rad Barchetta
1 month ago

You can love music without being a musician.
You can love books without being a writer.
You can love horses without owning a horse or ever having ridden one.

There’s no reason you can’t love cars just because you can’t own one.

Manuel Verissimo
Manuel Verissimo
1 month ago

Nice piece mate! I can feel your pain, I used to live in a big(ish) city before, and I yearned for the true gearhead life, so I started restoring my beloved heap. It was a bitch, I had to rent a place outside of the city, get the tools, the skills, and put the time in with an entire hour wasted each day to just get there. It was suboptimal to say the least, but the car runs now!

I’ve moved out of the city to find some quiet so cars fit nicely with my life right now, and I’m grateful for that turn of events.

Have you considered getting a motorcycle? I recently got my small bike licence and I feel like that would solve a few of your issues. It’s easy to park, it’s fun while driving slow (my SO’s CB125 ain’t fast anyway), very speed bump capable and quite cheap to buy, maintain and insure.

Last edited 1 month ago by Manuel Verissimo
Manuel Verissimo
Manuel Verissimo
1 month ago
Reply to  Lewin Day

I see what you mean, being the bodywork of the vehicle sucks, but honestly once riding I feel like it’s worth the risk.

I also own a convertible which felt like a good compromise but sitting atop the engine is something else!

Last edited 1 month ago by Manuel Verissimo
Nicholas Bianski
Nicholas Bianski
1 month ago

I suck with words, so I tell stories to make a point. Bear with me here.

I’m 35 and spent the first 19 years of my work life climbing the corporate ladder. And you know what? I found it an absolutely miserable experience that was never worth the money. I turned down a promotion that would have doubled my salary and let me go buy the brand new 911 I wanted because it would have been longer hours and more stress at a place I already resented and wanted to leave. No amount of happiness that car could bring me would make up for putting up with more corporate bullshit. I think that gets lost sometimes: some of us just aren’t cut out for that life. I work at the bottom rung of a family business now that still pays more than enough to be comfortable and I’m much happier there with my Mazda 3 turbo than I would be at the previous employer with that 911… though if I had space for more than one car, I could go get a pretty nice used one right now. Until I get moved in with my future wife outside of the city, I’m stuck with one car.

I’ve gotten a lot of shit over that take in other places, but my experiences there also changed my relationship with cars. I no longer aspire to the supercars I once did because I don’t find the grind to be worth it. No Ferarri or Lamborghini will make up for hating myself every day I wake up for work. Fact of the matter is while it’ll never be a Porsche, I’ve never had more fun than with this 3. Sometimes it just makes me laugh uncontrollably and I can’t stop smiling while driving it. And I still get to wake up and be happy to go talk to the guys at work.

If you truly do love living in the city, you’ll find a way to get that racecar. And I look forward to you taking us along for the ride.

NosrednaNod
NosrednaNod
1 month ago

I can order tacos on my phone and in 10 minutes be eating tacos. I, however, cannot own a USAC Silver Crown car and all the kit needed to race it.

I know your pain.

Manuel Verissimo
Manuel Verissimo
1 month ago
Reply to  Lewin Day

I learned how to cook and moved out of he city. That works too 😉

EXL500
EXL500
1 month ago

I moved to Manhattan when I was 24. I couldn’t afford a car, nor almost an apartment. I left 35 years later. In the interim I made some money and rented cars when needed, either locally or at the other end of a flight. Walkability is a wonderful thing.

When I retired, I moved to a walkable town where I could finally get a nice car. I’m enjoying the option of using it or not, whether a few miles or thousands.

Slow Joe Crow
Slow Joe Crow
1 month ago

I live in the sort of suburbs and also rarely drive. I work from home, and do some errands by bicycle. On the plus side I live far enough out in the sticks that fun roads are a few minutes out of town.
Have you considered a kei car or very small motorcycle? One of the great attractions of something like an old Honda MB5 is,that you are,WFO at 30 mph so every trip is an adventure

Slow Joe Crow
Slow Joe Crow
1 month ago
Reply to  Lewin Day

I understand the 50cc ones are slow fun

DolanDuk
DolanDuk
1 month ago

We live in a dense downtown neighborhood. We don’t “need” a car for anything. Groceries, work, everything is doable by walking/biking/transit.
But we also like doing a lot of outdoor activities so we have 1 car that we mostly use on weekends and holidays to get out of the city.

Mechjaz
Mechjaz
1 month ago

I’m not in a walkable place (either my house itself or the city itself for the most part), but the roads are terrible and have beat the living shit out of my Z4. I cracked two rims within a year (timeline ambiguous – the first showed up as a slow slow leak). Driving the truck makes the problem worse, but at least doesn’t crack my steelies with 6 inches of sidewall besides. With everyone else in mega trucks and negative dollars for infrastructure, it’s working hard to devour the joy that is d driving the Z4 or anything fast and low and fun. I daily a motorcycle, at least.

Saul Goodman
Saul Goodman
1 month ago
Reply to  Mechjaz

I live in a rural-er place that also has really horrible roads. Just two days ago, a freshly repaved road ended up cracking. Now on one lane there’s two depressions in the road and one big spike, like a mountain and two valleys. How did I find out? By taking my beloved 350Z, which just had some work done, over the road and hearing it bottom out on the spike/mountain which is hard to spot. Thankfully the skid plates/underside protection I installed help protect the oil pan. Scared the shit out of me though. Now I’m driving like a grandma over any bump or pothole!

Eggsalad
Eggsalad
1 month ago

It’s interesting for me to learn about life in other parts of the world. In the US, living in a “walkable city” is easily 10x the cost of living in the middle of nowhere with 10 acres and a dwelling.

Citrus
Citrus
1 month ago
Reply to  Eggsalad

The funny thing is where I live – Saskatchewan – we’re so conditioned to want a big yard and crap that the most walkable area of my city is actually totally reasonably priced. The yards are small! The streets are narrow! The neighborhood is full of eccentrics!

But since that’s everything I like it’s exactly the area of the city where I want to live. Though I still need a car, a one-car household is totally reasonable – and the current plan going forward.

EXL500
EXL500
1 month ago
Reply to  Eggsalad

True.

Kleinlowe
Kleinlowe
1 month ago
Reply to  Eggsalad

There’s two places worth living; one is far enough out in nowhere that you can light off fireworks at 3am without disturbing anyone, the other is close enough in that you can walk to the grocery store. The ideal solution is to have a place in both. We need to stop seeing it as one vs the other and realize the problem is the middle places where you need a car to get anywhere but still have too many neighbors to actually have fun with it.

Ok_Im_here
Ok_Im_here
1 month ago
Reply to  Eggsalad

Living in the middle of nowhere has a cost, too… a very real one in terms of access to anything including good schools, good jobs, and interesting things to do. If you have to drive far to get anywhere then the wear and tear on your vehicle, the loss of exercise time, and the loss of time in general have real value. In the US it’s been calculated to something like a few thousand $$ per mile of commute time per year.

Eggsalad
Eggsalad
1 month ago
Reply to  Lewin Day

So where do people who only make AUD30k live? In vans?

Craig Simpson
Craig Simpson
1 month ago
Reply to  Eggsalad

Probably on the street. Sadly.

Cost of Living and specifically Housing affordability is a huge issue in Australia and getting worse, partly because changing policy to make it better will probably make huge losers out of those that have already sunk a lot of money in securing housing (and yes we have a rich landlord class and those that can rely on the bank of Mum and Dad, but most people are just trying to do their best and secure housing).
For reference (and forgive any errors from my quick google)

  • AU$47,626 is the annual minimum wage
  • Median household income was AU$92,040 (2021 census)
  • Poverty line is 50% of median income.
  • Average Sydney house price in December 2023 was AU$1,627,625.
  • Average apartment price is just over AU$1,000,000

And keep in mind that’s a city of 5.3 million people so runs the gamut of harbourside mansions as well as less salubrious places out in the boondocks.

Rent is ridiculous as well. So a lot of people do the share house/apartment thing for far longer than they might like.

I’m one of the fortunate ones that managed to scrape into a house reasonably young and get a foothold through luck, hard work and sacrifice, but that’s no guarantee. My sister in her 50s rents and my kids will seriously struggle to buy, so I tell them to move to a regional city where they have some chance. My son already pays a huge rent for what is basically a converted container plonked in a backyard 40km from the CBD.

It’s a great country and a fantastic place to live, but there is a (literal) price to pay.

Shooting Brake
Shooting Brake
1 month ago

A great article and perspective, always best to pursue a hobby in the way it most speaks to you, that’s what it’s for after all. If you really want to do race car stuff but don’t have tons of cash I’d suggest focusing on the lots of grip and roll cage/safety stuff you mentioned and not worry too much about the lots of power. But go for what you’ll enjoy. Plus I don’t know anything about grassroots racing down under so you probably ignore me mostly, haha. I just recently started auto crossing after wanting to for years and hope to do some track days next year, but my car heart will always belong to twisty back roads and a great driving (but not fast or grippy by the numbers) car.

Canopysaurus
Canopysaurus
1 month ago

I would offer caution about making any large changes. You’re still in the honeymoon phase of big city living. The glow will wear off and then you’ll see if you’re really a city guy. For me, the answer was no. Forget the local bars, restaurants and stores. Screw sharing walls with neighbors or putting up with the constant noise of street repairs or building construction. Not to mention being exposed to every virus and bacteria in existence while commuting by bus, train or Uber. Sometimes you just gotta crank the stereo to 11, watch Top Gun at top volume. Can’t do that in the city. Air pollution, noise pollution, light pollution (where’d the stars go?), it doesn’t end. The psychic pressures of people always around somewhere close. I dumped the city for a long work commute and every day I could feel the tension ease from my body the farther I away I got from the city. So what if there’s only one bar, or one grocery. How many do I need? Anyway, all I’m saying is give the city thing time. If you still love it in a couple of years, that’s when you make big lifestyle changes. If, on the other hand, you miss privacy, peace and quiet, space, breathable air and, perhaps, distance from your closest neighbor, you may find yourself rethinking rural or at least exurban living. In the end, it’s not about cars, it’s about you, so slow your roll until you know.

Jack Trade
Jack Trade
1 month ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

Good points all! To connect to vehicles even, a big city downside is that the people who thrive on attention-seeking will be drawn to areas where there’s the most attention to seek; as in, where you live. Seemingly everyone with a high-decibel exhaust or entertainment system will be driving around on your street at all hours of the day and night.

Also, even though they’re ancient at this point, people are seemingly still installing those terrible hair trigger aftermarket alarm systems that cycle through 4 different alarm sounds in a loop.

Last edited 1 month ago by Jack Trade
Canopysaurus
Canopysaurus
1 month ago
Reply to  Jack Trade

Whatever little wisdom I may have acquired in life was hard won. The hardest think about having patience when you’re young is that you want everything now. The hardest thing about having patience when you’re much older is that now is all you have left. It’s the those in between years where you have the experience of an enough years and the luxury of a lot of time left to exercise patience and good judgement when making life decisions. Gotta take advantage that time.

Jack Trade
Jack Trade
1 month ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

Indeed…it’s said life makes sense when you look backward on it, but the catch is you have to live it forward. Like with our vehicles perhaps, every thing is happening in a specific instance, yet how it adds up is what determines if the check engine light comes on.

Mechjaz
Mechjaz
1 month ago
Reply to  Jack Trade

Like those horrible little battery powered “laser” guns that had six different sounds they’d cycle through, the seventh being a fractional sample from the other six to play in rapid succession.

Whoever invented that was not a parent, and probably much hated my mind own parents. We always seemed to be so short on batteries…

Citrus
Citrus
1 month ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

I think it’s always good to find the place where life works, but my God you could not pay me enough to live rural again. I absolutely adore the vibrancy and life in the eccentric little neighborhood where I live, I love my weird neighbors, I like walking past fun specialty shops and stuff when I go to get the excellent little ice cream store.

I don’t think it’s really fair to be pessimistic about whether or not someone will like the life changes. If we swapped places for a weekend, I think we would know pretty quickly that we would hate it.

Canopysaurus
Canopysaurus
1 month ago
Reply to  Citrus

Vive la difference.

PresterJohn
PresterJohn
1 month ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

Well put. Also, enjoyment of the city can depend on what stage of life you’re in. After I had kids, the benefits of the city waned significantly as I no longer had the time or frankly the inclination to bar hop with friends. Instead, I look back fondly on that time as a different stage in life. I find relaxing exurban living with a nice yard to be exactly what I need now. As a bonus it makes it easier to keep multiple cars!

Canopysaurus
Canopysaurus
1 month ago
Reply to  PresterJohn

Agree, age (and the city) can make a huge difference with regard to enjoyment. No matter where you live, make the most of it and you can’t go wrong.

Tinctorium
Tinctorium
1 month ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

ironically, many of the characteristics of cities you complain about are a direct result of cities capitulating to suburban car owners. Cities aren’t noisy, cars are.

Tarragon
Tarragon
1 month ago

Do you have some sort of autocross events in your area?

These days I own a single family sedan and I do mean family, booster seats live in the back seat.

I’ve started going to autocross events in my area. The sedan is not really appropriate vehicle for autocross and I’m not a great driver. At this point I’m still coming in the bottom quarter of the novice group.

I’m regularly having more fun with this family hauler hitting autocross event than I did when I owned 3 or 4 cars at a time and only drove on the street. And that list includes an rx-7, a Del Sol, a Mazda 3, even a Geo Storm I’d kinda like to have any of them again for auto crossing. But for now I don’t have the budget the budget. (I’m not sure I’d fit in any of them with a helmet)

The cost is low, an SCCA membership and a small per-event fee. The time requirement is volunteer time during the events.

If you can, give it a try

Tarragon
Tarragon
1 month ago
Reply to  Lewin Day

Different country, different rules. Around here, SCCA autocross allows convertibles without adding… well,nything. In my area Miatas are easily the most prevalent car, Porsche Boxsters are pretty common too.

Jack Trade
Jack Trade
1 month ago

I live in the city. I’m typing this from my apartment right now; other comments are done while I sit on the train or bus going to and from work. I often don’t drive for days at a time. My wrenching is done in the parking lot of my building, kinda under the radar since it’s technically not allowed; my toolboxes and workspace stuff is a MacGyver-ed setup designed for this.

So unlike a lot of people here, a steel-ily focused, dashing enthusiast standing around a partially disassembled 427 FE engine knowingly gazing at all her internals with complete confidence I can put it all together, I’m assuredly not.

More like a “damnit…did I grab the wrong filter wrench AGAIN? Do I have to go back up to my apartment to get the other one b/c I didn’t think to test both out before I came down here?!” kinda guy.

But I still think of myself as an enthusiast, if only b/c what excites me about vehicles is my connection with them. And that’s what I love about greater autopia.

I’m always seeking to make that bond stronger, and this place & all its stories of everyone’s – authors and commenters – vehicles, fleets, wrenching bouts, and experiences, epic or mundane, it all enriches me as I pursue my goal.

Aristotle wrote that if you want to be a good harp player, not only do you have to actually play the harp, but you have to find someone who’s already a good one and then…do as they do. There’s a lot of good harpists here.

Totally not a robot
Totally not a robot
1 month ago
Reply to  Jack Trade

Same here. I live in an apartment in a downtown city. My car lives at my parents’ place some 30 miles away because it doesn’t fit in my apartment parking garage. I take the train to work every day and I haven’t driven a car for three weeks. But I still enjoy talking and thinking about cars, even if I make 90% of my comments here while I’m sitting on public transit.

Jack Trade
Jack Trade
1 month ago

I’ll admit that I frequently watch the driver and think that I’d like to drive the bus…

Chronometric
Chronometric
1 month ago

Join a Lemons team or whatever the Aussie equivalent might be. Let someone else own and prepare the car but pay your fair share and contribute in the best ways you can (you could program an ECU or install a data system and analyze the teams performance).

As long as you get on a team with fun people, you can hang out at the track, do some impromptu wrenching, create memories, live out your speed racer fantasies, and go home to the city.

Abdominal Snoman
Abdominal Snoman
1 month ago
Reply to  Chronometric

Yes. Between my two cars I now probably drive 1,500 miles a year, and all but about 50-75 of that is getting to and from the race cars to work on them or getting to and from the race tracks. Other than that I probably do about 2,000 miles on a race track per year. Don’t get into the same trap though as us where we now have 4 lemons race cars but 1.75 race cars of available drivers… Speaking of, does the Autopian want a properly good lemons car to take over care and feeding of but we get to consult and arive and drive it? 🙂

Widgetsltd
Widgetsltd
1 month ago
Reply to  Chronometric

Yes, this. I was the captain for an amateur endurance racing team for years. I greatly valued a couple of my regular drivers who lived hundreds of miles away. These guys would fly in for races, drive the car well, not break the car, and they would pay their share of the expenses. I did not mind prepping and maintaining the car myself, knowing that those guys were trustworthy. We even won some races! The fact that Lewis has engineering skills means that he can certainly contribute to the team. Find some like-minded individuals, buy some driver gear, and get out there!

VS 57
VS 57
1 month ago

…we now return to Seinfeld, continually in progress…

Hoonicus
Hoonicus
1 month ago

Very well said, and I mean that. Just between David and yourself, I don’t know how much more wholesome maturing I can take without hurling.

Rad Barchetta
Rad Barchetta
1 month ago

Three words:
Arrive and Drive

Davidsaur
Davidsaur
1 month ago

GOD. DAMN. I love the Autopian. This is exactly the kind of unique, thinky, real take that the world needs.

LongCoolLincoln
LongCoolLincoln
1 month ago

This is awesome, man. Find what makes you happy. I live in the city, too, and mostly ride my bike, and not HAVING to drive my car, but GETTING to drive it, is a much better way for me to enjoy it.

JaredTheGeek
JaredTheGeek
1 month ago

You don’t have to be an artist to enjoy art or a chef to enjoy good food. You can enjoy cars the same way. Going to car shows and events while your life doesn’t necessarily accommodate your dream car and it’s fine.

You are right the “enthusiasts” love to be exclusionary for a myriad of made up reasons. I get told I’m not an enthusiast because I daily and electric and think it’s fun. I’ve likely built and driven more muscle cars and crap boxes than most but now I want to explore what also tickles my geekiness.

Last edited 1 month ago by JaredTheGeek
Ostronomer
Ostronomer
1 month ago

Somehow this was the perfect, life-affirming article to enjoy with my morning coffee–thank you!

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