1.03.2010

A year without getting into a car


Source: San Fransisco Chronicle, Jan 2, 2010

Maybe it was the eve of a new year. Maybe it was the Champagne. Maybe it was simply the right time.

Whatever it was, Adam Greenfield of San Francisco made a resolution at a party on Dec. 31, 2008: He would not drive, or ride, in an automobile for all of 2009.

This futuristic experiment fit in with Greenfield's lifestyle. A 29-year-old single guy who makes community films for City Hall, he was already commuting from the Inner Sunset mainly by bicycle. And he already believed that we're approaching a time in which oil will be so scarce, or expensive, that few of us will be able to power our cars or have access to foods grown from afar.

"I wanted to step out of the car world and downscale my life," he said. "I think this is going to be the theme of the 21st century - we are going to be forced to make do with less."

And that's exactly what he did. No annual Christmas camping trip to Lake County with friends. No Burning Man. And his brother's wedding in the English countryside would be a bit of a trick.

People either applaud him or tell him he's crazy.

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