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We have joined the cult of the minivan.
Going car-free back in Canada was a possibility and one we discussed at length. For most of our day to day life in Vancouver a car isn’t needed. Almost everything is in walking distance to us.
Almost.
One big thing isn’t close to us: our son’s public school is a 40 minute adult speed/1 hour 15 minute kid speed walk from our home. Before we moved back I scoured transit routes and walking routes and tried to come up with some alternatives that would allow us to not have a car. The top contender was to bike but I am a fair weather biker so this would rule out biking in the winter a lot. Time is a now a consideration for us as I am working and do most of the pick ups and drop offs. Door to door with getting a bike out of our parking garage, cycling would still be 40 minutes each way. Taking the bus is an hour each way. I would lose more than 20 hours a week of work time to the school commute if we did all of it by transit.
With the school situation and family farther afield, family that we were hoping to see more of now that we were back in Canada, we bought a minivan this summer. I have to say, it’s been convenient. If you’ve tried to get three car seats across in a small sedan, you’ll appreciate our joy at finally having easy access to that middle seat and a few more inches to fit car seats. We get out to see family a few times a month and I know that having a car for that makes it easier. We can go spur of the moment and don’t have to worry about booking a car-share minivan last minute and leaving enough time to install car seats.
I like our minivan but I love getting around without a car. While we use the car regularly for the school run, I try a few times a week to do a combo of walking/bus/scooter. Yes, that means scooter for me as well as my son. I was enjoying my son’s kick scooter so much that I got one for myself to add to our non-car commute/fun/getting around options. Adult kick scooters are really, really fun and a great workout. As a condo dweller kick scooters are a time saver because we can store them in our condo (bikes have to be stored in a room in our parking garage). Also, people see me on my kick scooter, all six feet of me with my discount neon green helmet that matches the kids, and smile or even laugh a bit or shake their heads. I don’t mind. My kids love that we can scoot around together and I think it’s keeping my brain young.
Could we be car-free again?
5kids1condo recently said goodbye to their minivan. That’s a five kid family that commutes by transit to school and back every other week. It’s not a simple commute either. It’s a bold move for them and I’m interested to hear how it goes.
We could potentially go car-free again in a year and a half when our school commute becomes a fifteen minute walk. Our life seems to change a lot on the regular with work situations and such so I’m curious what our life/work landscape will look like at that time. Will we be itching to sell the minivan, start renting our parking spot out and make use of ZipCar and rentals when needed? Our last foray into car-free life was spurred on by trying to get out of debt. We’re no longer in non-mortgage debt so the push could be savings or lowering our spending our simply wanting to avoid the stress of car ownership.
For now we are trying to live car-lite. Use the car when it makes sense for time constraints and the weather, use alternatives, like walking, scooting and transit, when we can.
Any three or more kid families get away with not having a minivan? One set in our family has managed three kids without a minivan and just five-seater vehicles.
BTW, the no car experiment is still going well. The nanny or I bus with the kids to and from school daily. What’s great is that eventually they won’t need us to bus with them – that’s the idea, that this is a temporary move designed to teach them to be independently mobile. At which point their world opens up dramatically. I don’t want to be my kids’ chauffeur!
I bought my husband that scooter for his birthday this year. One of us and the two boys (3 and 5) scoot to and from preschool now 🙂
I look forward to being car-free (or at least only using the car for ~20% of our outings). We are 1 car and 2 adults for now. Husband doesn’t even have a license!
I drive to work – 5.5 miles is jussssst far enough that it really sucks in the winter. Also very hilly. 🙁
Perhaps when he finds a full-time position, well move closer to wherever that is, so he can continue using the bus or walk. And we’ll see if I continue working where I am!
I love love love the goal of being car-free with children. If we stay where we are, we are a perfect distance from a couple schools to bike! Even in winter, 2 miles is doable!
I have dreams of one day becoming just a one car family. It is tough for us. We live in a small city outside of Edmonton with a poor transit system. Cold weather makes it a must right there for me to have something to tote our 4 kids around in during those really cold days. Hubby also works 4o minutes away with public transit being a 2 hour commute. Some days I wish we were into minimalism before we bought our house etc. We are working hard at doing our best. With all 4 kids finally at the same school we adopted a walking to school policy, we tested last year out on our oldest two finally mature enough to walk the 20 minutes alone. We’ve even encourage a few neighbors to join in. Barring really cold day -10 and colder with windchill we will walk. So far it has been great. We have always done lots of walking etc around town when we can so it is something even our 5 year old twins enjoy. Good for all you families working at being car free. I hope one day to boast something the same but am glad for the walking we do put forth.
We are now down to one vehicle (small SUV) from when I first met you and we had three! Hubby walks to work and for the most part, the vehicle only gets used twice per week – for gymnastics and outdoor preschool (both of which are too time-consuming to access by combination of walking and public transit). Other than that, we typically get around with the 4 yo riding his bike, and me either pushing baby in the stroller, or riding my bike with him in a toddler seat.
The eldest has been biking most places around downtown since age two, first on his balance bike, and for the past year, on a regular two-wheeler. But I am also realizing, as I’ve been trying to encourage the 22-month-old to begin using the Strider, that my eldest is somewhat exceptional in his ability, endurance and safety, and I’m honestly not sure I can replicate this with the second at a similar age. So I guess the stroller will be our primary “car” for a while longer yet.
Also wanted to add that I loved reading the post at 5kids1condo about their transit experiment, and teaching children independence. I very much agree with his point of view, and I hope to have my own kids navigating the city on their own from a relatively young age (in fact, I’m certain that O already could, were it not for the fact that I’d get in a heck of a lot of trouble, lol).
Re kids develop at different ages: our middle child was competent on his scooter at 18 months. Oldest it was more like 4.
That is some serious car shedding. Well done!
We made it for over a year living in Brooklyn with three kids and a Honda Accord, which we drove 2-6x a month. Diono car seats fit three across the back.
Now we’re in the suburbs, just had our 4th and love the minivan.
I hear “I am a fair weather biker” a lot. And I was one myself, but it really all comes down to what you are used to. When we moved and I couldn’t stand the stress of car owning combined with the guilt of driving a pathetic 4 km by car every day (my money and the environment deserved better), I started to go by bike. The first rainy days were bad and I had to really fight through the discomfort. But after a week or so it wasn’t that bad anymore. Now I even have fun biking through the rain and even snow, even for longer distances (and for 3 years now!). With the right gear and a bit of childish fun speeding through puddles, I really enjoy it now and don’t even think about taking any other kind of transport for anything up to at least 10 km. Little kids go in a bike trailer and later they’ll have their own bikes. It’s the kind of fun you describe with your scooters, it keeps you young and happy. (Also, I learned to love being the one freak family without a car – my husband doesn’t even have a license!)
Regards from Germany xx
Hi Jenny, Wow! Go you. Maybe I’ll become an all-weather biker someday. I do know of a few families that make it work for a lot of the year. Cheers, Rachel
Public transportation isn’t an option around here. My husband lives close enough that he can bike to work (weather permitting), and with us homeschooling, we try to only use the car (yes, it’s a minivan–there’s 3 kids, plus cousins/friends sometimes) a few times per week. Of course, around here we’re the weirdos for only having ONE CAR instead of two!
When our youngest was almost 8 months old our van was totaled in a head on collision. At the time we had 2 in carseats and an 11 year old. We decided not to replace our minivan at that time and stick with our small 5 seat Saturn Ion2. We kept that car until our oldest was 5’9. A tall teenager in the backseat with two carseats isn’t comfortable for anyone in the car. We upgraded to a crossover and after 14 months decided it wasn’t working for us so we got a minivan again. There is more interior space in the van and it’s easier for our now 6’1″ 15 year old to get in and out of the vehicle. We rarely use the minivan, it sits in the drive way most of the time and we walk to where we need to go. It’s nice to have for longer road trips when we go visit family which is 2-3 times a year or when we want to get out of town to go on hikes.
We have a Mazda 5- a mini minivan. I think it looks like we are piling out of a clown car, now that we are a family of six. I have gotten many, many questions about how we all fit in there, since the baby came along a year ago. And- I will say- it is tight. It is a tight fit on a day to day basis and just plain ridiculous on road trips, when we have stuff with us.
But it fits in my 90/10 rule, because it works really really well for us 90% of the time. And I am sure European drivers wouldn’t bat an eye at our van. It is comparable to what my family drove around Europe when I was in elementary school (and I am one of four kids). It is just really small here by American standards.
I like the idea of car-lite, but often worry about the weather too much, and talk myself out of walking.
That’s what I try to focus on, also: what works most of the time?
90/10 all the way. I like those mini minivans but with a rear facing car seat and two drivers at 6 ft and 6’5″ we needed full-size (the tax of the tall!!). Good for you guys!
We are driving more over the winter and I’m doing scoot/walk/bus pick ups when it works. I am trying to enjoy/accept the now and not focus too much on the end date to this when the new school will open.
Really enjoy your blog and writing, Katherine. 🙂
“Tax of the Tall” Hee hee. We’re not as tall as you, but my husband and I learned that many older, cottage-style houses and small cars just aren’t going to work for us. When we were always toting a lot of baby gear & toys, I REALLY wanted a minivan but it never happened and now I don’t want to up to more expensive (including ongoing cost of of gas mileage, insurance, tires, etc.) for just the 4 of us. But we always need at least the sedan size, the economy size cars are just to cramped for us. And with the “charming” older houses, the ceilings are too close, the treads on the stairs seem too small for our big feet, and the bedrooms needs to fit at least a queen-size mattress.
I’m a big fan of car lite. I’ve owned one car my entire adult life – it’s a 1990 Honda Civic that was given to me new back when I graduated from college. It has under 90K miles on it – and it’s been driven across the country several times!
It would absolutely be possible to get by without a car, but I’m just not sure it would be worth the hassle. I really like the luxury of being able to haul things when I need to, to have an easy way to get the cats to the vet, and being able to drive to the occasional after dark social engagement. I still prefer walking or biking when it makes sense, but there are times when I don’t feel well, or when the situation is just too complicated. And hauling a cat to the vet on a bike… well, let’s just say that’s not something I’m gonna attempt any time soon!
I’ve driven about 500 miles so far this year, and that’s about standard for me now that I work from home. I know it’s a luxury, but it’s one that I am loathe to give up! The only problem with my system is that the battery tends to go dead – but a simply battery charger has solved that problem!
I’m adamant that if we have a third we will stick with our Honda Accord.
How do you get the little ones around on scooter. I guess middle boy uses a scooter, but do you wear the baby?
Do it! There are car seat configurations that can work.
Scooters: someone else has the baby if I am scooting (husband has kids, baby is at childcare, husband is walking him in stroller while I scoot with other two). I wouldn’t wear him while scooting. Feels a bit dangerous. But we should be able to bring a scooter for him to the park next summer. Our middle child was able to do some good scooting starting at 18 months.
Sounds great! It is amazing how fast second children pick up on things that their older siblings didn’t attempt until much older.