I Don’t Drive

I’m a non-driver by choice. That is, not only don’t I own a car, I don’t even possess a driver’s license.  And yes, I realize this marks me as a special kind of freak.

As a non-driver by choice, there are very few places in the US that I could live and not have my non-driver-ness negatively affect my life. Some small towns, I guess. San Francisco, maybe.  And my home, NYC.  

NYC is an awesome place for a non-driver to live. Manhattan, anyway. The other boroughs work without a car (well, not so much Staten Island) but not as well.  

So back to that idea I’ve been chewing on - how much is a/any home worth?  I spend, in any given month, no more than $200 dollars on transportation.  That’s a massive overestimate that includes all subway, bus, cabs and out of town trips (excluding plane trips).  I’m betting there are very few car owners who spend less than that a month, factoring in gas + insurance + maintenance + car payments.  

Add to that $500. $500 is the random value I’m applying to living someplace where I don’t have to drive.  Which means (in my very fuzzy logic) that I’d happily pay $700 more a month to live in NYC vs some other perfectly nice where I’d have to drive.

Worth?

I’ve been thinking a lot about rent. How much I pay for where I live. And how much should I pay?

And I’ve been thinking of this while far, far away from home. At a friend’s place in another city, in a luxurious building with amenities galore and a magnificent view.  

Our rents are almost exactly the same.  And he has 3 times the space and all of those amenities and the view.

Anyway, I’ve been thinking a lot about this.  How much stuff is worth to me.  A great, inexpensive restaurant less than a 5 minute walk from my apt - that’s worth a lot. Several great inexpensive restaurants are worth even more. A neighborhood I feel safe in, so safe that I can walk home at night - def. worth a lot.  Not having to own a car - worth loads. The list goes on and on and on.  

And then there are the things that I just don’t seem to care about, even though people tell me I should. Home ownership. Square footage. A yard. 

The reality is, a home is worth what it’s worth to the person who lives there.  Who wants to live there.  Being told that my rent is outrageous and I’m crazy to pay it, well, that’s like telling me that I value the wrong things.  And maybe I do.  But that’s for me to decide.

It was 1996.  We couldn’t get tickets for the off-broadway run, but we were there during the first week of Broadway previews.  I remember being somewhat scared as we walked to the Nederlander and then to a local restaurant, afterwards.  Oh, how times have changed.

I consider that one of the most memorable nights in my life as a young New Yorker. It might sound hokey, but it’s true.  

Anyway, now Seasons of Love is the background music for a Macy’s jewelry commercial.  It feels so wrong.  No more wrong than luxury condos on Tompkins Square, but wrong.