Growing up in Western New York, I got used to driving everywhere for everything. My parents home is in the middle of no where (i.e. two miles from the grocery store and five miles from the mall). I would have to ask for a ride to go anywhere, even school was a really long walk. I took the walk only a few times, on the last day of school. I love to walk, bike and occasionally rollerblade places. (I was a much better rollerblader in my high school days). Hometown, western New York is not a walkable place.
When I moved to New Haven last year, I was so excited that I could walk to work. My apartment was right downtown and just under a mile from my lab, I could make the walk in just under twenty minutes. It was rare that I would drive to work, I even walked in when there was a quarter-inch of ice on the ground. I soon realized that it had been a few weeks since I had driven my car.
My beautiful, gold, Toyota Matrix. It was the first car that I bought all on my own. Granted I had just gotten it two years earlier, but it was a big deal (and an awesome car). I was sad that I had been neglecting my pretty little Goldie, but you save so much money on gas when you don't drive your car! When it came time to transfer my insurance over to Connecticut I decided it was time to give Goldie away/return her to the dealership. On March 18th I dropped Goldie off with a nice man at Toyota, he said he would wash her (something I only ever did once) and find her a new family.
I'm now a commuter, or professional train rider, as I like to call myself. I miss my little Goldie car, but now I can walk everywhere that I want to go. And I'm saving major dollars a month, insurance in the Northeast is expensive!