Car-Free Apartment Hunting

politicalgeek — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 21:22:33 +0000

Today begins my search for a new apartment to assist the car-free lifestyle in the fall. The basic plan is to find something close to everything, making this effort much more “doable”. As I posted previously, this is not a cold turkey effort, but rather a gradual exercise in conditioning myself to include cycling as a part of my transportation options. I should be in better shape come fall as I slowly add the days I cycle vs. drive.

I decided the Victorian Village/Short North area would work best for my purposes. I work downtown, so I have an easy gateway there through a number of roads and the Olentangy bike path. Giant Eagle, Kroger and the North Market are all easy biking distance, Columbus State (my current school) would be my furthest ride, approximately 3-4 miles and the Ohio State campus provides access to the Zip Car car share network, for those days I may need a vehicle.

If I was searching for an apartment with the intention of keeping a car available, concerns such as parking and free way access would be my top concern. Without the car, the priorities become: safe route options, convenience to necessities, and storage for said bikes. I found one beautiful looking apartment north of OSU campus in a decent area. Unfortunately the only grocery store is .5 mile away, through a very busy and congested roadway. Trying to cycle with a trailer load of groceries would become very difficult with bus traffic and other vehicles. I actually spent 5-10 minutes looking at google maps to find a route that would allow me to go south, through parts of campus, to the Victorian Village Giant Eagle to get groceries, either on my way back from work, or on a day off. The only selling point on this north campus apartment is the ease of access to the Olentangy bike path.

In the meantime, I have several to look at in the Victorian Village area, before I may go north.

My own bit of non-comformity, randomn eccentricity and outright weirdness…

politicalgeek — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 23:24:01 +0000

As I drove by the gas station the other day, I realized how utterly stupid driving is. Between gas costs, insurance and maintenance, auto ownership is fast becoming a study in ridiculousness. When I lived closer to campus, I decided to visit my local bike co-op and see what they had. I came away with a decent, used bike, mounted some racks from ebay on it and enjoyed riding around campus. A knee injury sidelined riding, a move to a new apartment surrounded by freeways and unfriendly to biking, along with a broken bike left me with only one option-driving.

With the rise of gas prices, the completion of an easy access bike path and my own desire to get in shape and stop being raped at the gas pumps led me once again to my local co-op. This time a much nicer bike followed me home. I was able to get out on the path yesterday and realized how out of shape I was. Plans to commute 6-7 miles to campus in the next few weeks will be sidelined as I work to build my personal fitness up to actually enjoy the ride.

So my goals at this point:

1) Back into shape to enjoy cycling on a near daily level

2) Get permission to cut across the no trespassing bridge into the backyard of my one job (just a short trip a little over a mile) so I can cut some driving out of my week and build my fitness back up

3) Possibly begin commuting to class in 5-6 weeks (6-7 miles) to cut 2 days of driving out of my week, as well as at least 1 day a week to my other job (6-7 miles)

4) By summer, use the bike to commute to both jobs, 6 days a week

5) Find a new apartment closer to campus, work, grocery, bars and coffee shops and be car free by September

Life On Two Wheels

Car-Free Apartment Hunting

My own bit of non-comformity, randomn eccentricity and outright weirdness…