In my early 20s, living in Cincinnati, I used to hate the stress of being tethered to car maintenance and ownership. So I moved into “The City” (Chicago, then SF) and got rid of my car. Well, that worked great in my able bodied youth days.
At some point in my early 30s, frustration with having complete dependence on someone else (MUNI/BART, Uber, Lyft) or worrying about having rentals available to get me from point A to point B became too much of a burden; too much of a time suck. At some point spending an hour a day total on transportation aggravation made the suburbs look appetizing. I told myself I would never settle for that commute again.
Staying in the city, I bought a car. I still hate maintaining cars, and EVs don’t require very much long term maintenance. Going EV simplified getting a car.
Renting in western San Francisco, everybody has a garage. It’s all suburbanesque mid century tract housing. Parking at home is not a problem.
What is? A 30 minute walk to Forest Hill station or :15 minute bus ride to Forest Hill station. By driving myself, In 15 minutes I could be in Civic Center without having somebody from Stockton get lost In SF In their rental Nissan Sentra with loud sales bro taking a conference call in a Uber Pool.
I can say the convenience of living in the city with a car is unparalleled. In (especially western) San Francisco, the transportation infrastructure is geared toward driving.
Hearing that BART stops at 9 PM now reinforces the practicality of my decision.