Hacker News Reader

I tried living in Chicago with a car and I had my parents drive it back home 9mo later after having never used it past the first 30 days.

Chicago compared to anything not east coast is a life changing experience in terms of transit.

Yes, it's getting harder and more expensive. When I first moved to Chicago in 2004 though, it was cheap ($1100/mo for a 2BR apartment) to live a few stops from the loop off the blue line. That is rapidly changing, but still plenty of cheap transit-friendly locations if you're not super picky.

> I tried living in Chicago without a car

Really depends on where you live and want to be. This is true everywhere (NYC, SF, Seattle, etc.)

I would definitely not put NYC and Chicago in the same category for no-car friendliness.

I spent many years in NYC and only knew 1 person who owned a car.

By contrast, when I lived in Chicago, I was the only person without a car.

I live in Chicago and recently sold my car. I can't imagine living here with a car anymore. My car collected dust, and when I did drive on occasion it was an awful experience. Basically from what I learned driving in Chicago: don't ever use your turn signal and obnoxiously use your horn.

I'll take the train instead.