Ditching the Car for a Reusable Bag

I’ve lived in Washington State for the better part of my life, moving from the frozen tundra of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, to beautiful Bainbridge Island at the tender age of 14.  I was so excited to live anywhere that didn’t have snow, and gladly traded it for the grey days of Seattle.  From there, I went on to Washington State University and, after graduation, to San Francisco.  It wasn’t long before I heard the Pacific Northwest calling my name and returned home to Seattle.

Until this time, I had been reliant on a vehicle.  You can’t get around a secluded island or ice covered town with ease by walking.  I even found myself relying on it in SF – crazy because BART is such a great public transit system.  My car, nicknamed “Lulu the Malibu”, had been with me through the college years and my brief stint in California.  It was shortly after my move home that I sold her.  I had money in my pocket and I felt liberated!  That is, until I realized that I had sold my car and was living back home on Bainbridge Island.  I was living a repeat of high school.

The only logical remedy to this problem was to move into the big city.  Since moving to Seattle, I have lived in both the Capitol Hill and Queen Anne areas.  Each place has provided me with close proximity to grocery stores, gyms, parks, bus routes, and nightlife.

Like Jimmy, the biggest changes for me all revolve around grocery shopping.  I routinely forget those re-useable bags in my kitchen drawers and end up paying for the paper bags that break half way home.  On the days I do remember them, I end up buying the heavy stuff – milk, flour, spaghetti squash – the stuff I seem to live without on regular weeks but find oh-so-necessary when I have the proper carrying vessels.  Either way, walking home from the store ends up being a bit of a battle. A battle I plan to win one day.

In the next few weeks, I’ll let you in on how I made the switch to a walkable lifestyle and how I’m still working on that transition. 

From The Emerald Coast to The Emerald City

Time spent in your car can be absolute hell on wheels or floating bliss, depending upon the traffic. The worst jam I ever experienced came on a road trip with my mom to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. For miles and miles we crawled into the tourist mecca, lined with pancake houses, knick knack huts and ski chalets.

Most people expect heavy traffic when on vacation. However, if everyone where you live is obliged to drive everywhere all the time in your hometown, the resulting congestion can seem analogous to  moving parking lots filled with out-of-townees. In my hometown of Crestview, Florida and college town of Tallahassee, Florida, I had to drive everywhere. When I did choose to walk, the distances to the grocery stores and other daily destinations were often too far. In Florida, the humidity breeds discontent throughout most of the year.

After learning about the Congress For The New Urbanism, and their advocacy of walkable living, I began to research places I might live that embraced car-free lifestyles. In the past I had visited some model communities that strive towards walkability, such as Seaside, but I found them gentrified and white-washed.

In addition to living a walkable life, I wanted to gain a new perspective, in a new culture. I felt the Pacific Northwest offered walkability (with great transit systems), better politics and moderate weather. Additionally, Seattle Pacific University offered a swell MBA program, for which I'd been searching.

Since moving to Seattle, I've taken residence in both the Wallingford and Phinney Ridge neighborhoods. Before I'd only lived in "neighborhoods," housing developments separated from any retail or nightlife nearby.

Now, instead of having to spend money on gas, which pollutes the air, I can walk to most of whatever I need in life. When I can't, I take the bus to whatever I need, which is affordable and more friendly to the environment. Additionally, I get to see a lot of new and ongoing sights daily. The cats in the neighborhood greet me on my way to work and I get some morning exercise walking up a hill every morning.

One of the biggest changes has been a lack of the same chains I was used to back home: Cracker Barrel, Chili's, Longhorn, Publix, Wal-Mart (the list goes on forever). However, I don't miss them all that much because the quality of the food and products in my local retail matches or exceeds that of big box stores and national chains. Also, I've had to change from buying tons of groceries at once to a few items every day or two (whatever I can carry in my canvas bags). Again, not a headache, because I usually don't know what I want more than two days out anyhow.

In the coming weeks you'll hear more of my tales making the switch to a walkable life, but for now, I hope this serves as a brief overview. Please stay tuned in the next few days for Kirsten's post on her transformation to walkable living as well. After that we'll be covering how to get around in Seattle by walking and using public transit.

-Jimmy