Would my life be better without a car?

We own no fewer than four cars, but we’ve been toying around with this question for months anyway. The more I think about this, the more I’m convinced I am that there is no group of people for whom this question—Would my life be better without a car?—is more relevant than suburban mothers with young children.

Here’s why. I’m not going to call suburban life “beige,” like I did when I was seventeen and knew everything. I could call it “luxurious,” with its abundance of private indoor space, and I certainly should call it “expensive,” because it is. I’m remarkably fortunate that we can afford it. But I’m not going to call suburban life “convenient.” And that has everything to do with the prevalence of cars.

This is a (slightly) more personal post and a family update of the ilk I send to paid subscribers monthly. I have so much fun with these updates, and I’d love to share them with you! I wrote about something quite similar last August, and it is still free: “You Never Take Us Anywhere!”

If this topic sounds like it would be encouraging or helpful to you, but another monthly subscription is just not in the cards, please send me a message [or reply to this email] and I will send you a comp’d subscription. Same deal with “buying me a coffee”/supporting the newsletter here.