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by secretsatan 1214 days ago
I haven't owned a car for at least 15 years since I moved to Switzerland, don't miss it at all. I do occasionally need a car, so I'm a member of a car sharing scheme, they always have cars nearby, I pay a low yearly feee and a low rate per time and kms used, easy to book with an app, probably cost me the same for a year as a parking space for a month.

For an occasional weekend away I might get a car from a regular hire company as they workout cheaper for longer distance.

I suppose I never drove that much before in the UK, never really had to commute as I always try and live within walking distance to work, although I would sometimes drive if it was bad weather, but that was because public transport wasn't really an option for that, the buses were frequently backed up in the rush hour traffic and all would arrive at once instead of being evenly staggered, meaning long waits in the rain where it would have been quicker to walk anyway.

2 comments

I have an 8-unit apartment building in small New England town. I'm seriously considering getting a car as a building amenity. The car would be reserved and shared amongst the tenants.
You might be able to just partner with one of the existing providers in this space, like Zipcar, and let them handle the logistics: https://www.zipcar.com/business/residential
I have reached out to manufacturers that offer the ability to pay a fixed amount for access to cars. Last I checked they were all individual focused products. Zipcar could work but I find the more relationships I have the more paperwork. I would control all aspects and simply add it to the keycard for tracking. If I introduce a third party it removes human judgement from the individuals involved in the relationship. I have no interest outsourcing my relationships to corporations lawyers to the extent possible. It definitely will make sense for some people but I happen to be a lunatic.

They are addressing a large scale building. I will only have 8 people and can get as many cars as 8 people are willing to pay for.

You sound like the kind of fabled landlord that is a pleasure to work with. Keep it up.
The biggest problem I see with the modern world is that too many relationships are working at the wrong scale, or are asymmetrical.

Anyone looking for a mixed-use studio apartment with a fiber line get in touch. If you like to walk in the woods and internet access this is a great building.

We are practically net-zero and survived that -15 F cold snap on heat pumps.

view.cogs.com

>I do occasionally need a car, so I'm a member of a car sharing scheme, they always have cars nearby

This is something I wish were more common in the US. I'm in a relatively high-density suburb of one of the largest US cities and they're practically nonexistent here, and even in the city are hard to come by.

The economics don’t work out in places where almost everyone has a car. And in places where other options are scarce, everyone owns a car. (Works the same for public transit)