Is it really practical to live without a car?  Chris Balish says it is.  In fact, not only does he think it is possible, but it will improve your life.  How to Live Well without Owning a Car addresses some of the central issues that arise in making such a change.  Mostly it sets out the practical issues such as how to use mass transit, carpools, motorcycles, scooters, and bicycles.  Balish, residing in St. Louis, MO, explains how his own social life got better once he sold his own SUV.  He also argues that the automobile industry has created the illusion that cars are part of a good life, so one of the biggest obstacles to people giving up their cars is psychological.  Cars have become part of people's identities, and they feel that their friends, family, and workmates will look down on them if they don't have a car.

The book is crammed full of personal stories of people who have successfully made the transition to end their car-addictions, and so saved themselves thousands of dollars and hours of frustration dealing with garages and insurance companies.  It has 28 short and lively chapters, which make their case using plenty of facts and statistics.  These not only make a strong case for the benefits of a car-less life, and they also advocate for a reversal in our current valuations of car-owning, according to which those without cars should be seen as the smart and responsible people, and the car-users should be seen as irresponsible and self-defeating. 

I was already convinced of the value of life without a car before reading Balish's book, and I'm not sure that anyone I know who relies on a car would be convinced by him to radically change their lives.  However, there are some who may have considered trying to rely on their cars less, and How to Live Well without Owning a Car may provide them enough information and suggestions to take the extra step and liberate themselves from their cars. 

Balish focuses very much on individual life, and while his ideas may be right, he is likely to be no more successful than other books that tell people how to improve their lives by making radical changes: exercising more, eating better, stopping their self-defeating behavior.  There are hundreds of such books, and yet modern Americans just become less healthy.  Balish's ideas need to be supplemented with more social approaches that make it easier to do without a car: investing more in mass transit, encouraging employers to allow employees to work from home, creating communities in which people can live near to their workplaces, walk to local stores, and make friends with their neighbors.  Only when such conditions are in place will large numbers of people really be able to give up their cars.  Nevertheless, Balish's book has a valiant spirit that will cheer those who already do not own a car. 

  © 2007 Christian Perring. All rights reserved.

Christian Perring, Ph.D., is Academic Chair of the Arts & Humanities Division and Chair of the Philosophy Department at Dowling College, Long Island. He is also editor of Metapsychology Online Reviews.  His main research is on philosophical issues in medicine, psychiatry and psychology.

Categories: SelfHelp