{"id":223,"date":"2014-07-31T23:33:33","date_gmt":"2014-07-31T23:33:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/getdolly.com\/blog\/?p=223"},"modified":"2026-04-28T07:52:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T14:52:49","slug":"living-car-free-chicago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/living-car-free-chicago\/","title":{"rendered":"Living Car Free in Chicago"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Living car free in Chicago is becoming easier, and this concept is catching on with Chicagoans across the city. According to Rachel Jonat from <a href=\"https:\/\/theminimalistmom.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">TheMinimalistMom.com<\/a>, going car free can save $200-300 per month. But saving money isn&#8217;t the only reason that some people are going car free in Chicago:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Abundant Public Transportation (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.transitchicago.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CTA<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/metrarail.com\/metra\/en\/home.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Metra<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Low Parking Availability<\/li>\n<li>Easy Walking &amp; Biking<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>How To Ease Into Being Car Free<\/h2>\n<h4>1) Ditching your car\u00a0isn&#8217;t always easy<\/h4>\n<p>Most people who&#8217;ve gone car free recommend starting small. Try being car free for a week or two. Do your best to get to and from work and other daily activities without hopping into your vehicle. After you&#8217;ve tried for a few weeks, begin to think about ditching your car.<\/p>\n<h4>2) Be mindful of\u00a0the\u00a0health benefits<\/h4>\n<p>Sitting in a car for prolonged periods of time every day adds up to a lot of sedentary hours and is unhealthy. Walking 20 minutes a day can improve your health. Think of going car free as an investment into your health and life.<\/p>\n<h4>3) Learn and leverage public transportation<\/h4>\n<p>Public transportation is great for long distances as well as when the weather isn&#8217;t conducive for walking or biking. Additionally, many trains and buses allow bikes on board.<\/p>\n<h4>4) Try it!<\/h4>\n<p>Worried about going car free and getting to work late? Try it out on a weekend, and make an adventure of it. Walk or bike to work or hop on the bus or train to see what it&#8217;s like.\u00a0If you want to try it on an actual work day, try it on the way home so you have plenty of time to test it out.<\/p>\n<p>{adinserter 1}<\/p>\n<h2>Car Alternatives<\/h2>\n<p>In order to go\u00a0car free, you must be aware of your alternatives. We&#8217;ve assembled some situations and car free alternatives below.<\/p>\n<h3>Getting To\/From Work:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>CTA<\/li>\n<li>Uber \/\u00a0Lyft<\/li>\n<li>Taxis<\/li>\n<li>Bike<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Moving Large Objects:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Dolly<\/li>\n<li>U-Haul<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Long Distance Traveling<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Zipcar<\/li>\n<li>Rental Cars<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Home Improvement<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Dolly<\/li>\n<li>Home Depot \/ Lowe&#8217;s Rental Truck<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Groceries<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Peapod, Door to Door Organics<\/li>\n<li>Walk with\u00a0grocery stroller<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Everything Else<\/h3>\n<p>Check out\u00a0this list of <a href=\"https:\/\/dolly.com\/blog\/11-apps-for-a-car-free-life\/?utm_source=Living%20Car%20Free%20in%20Chicago&amp;utm_medium=%23muckfoving%20blog\">11 apps for car-free living<\/a>\u00a0for more ways to make\u00a0living car-free easy.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>40:40:20 Rule<\/h2>\n<p>Lynn Sloman, author of <em>Car Sick: Solutions for Our Car-addicted Culture<\/em>\u00a0discovered a\u00a0general rule of thumb called\u00a0the 40:40:20 Rule. The rule illustrates that a vast majority of transportation needs can be solved without having a car in your possession. Here&#8217;s the breakdown:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>40%\u00a0<\/strong>of car trips could have been made by bike, foot, or public transportation<\/li>\n<li><strong>40%<\/strong> of trips require a &#8220;temporary&#8221; vehicle (think Uber, taxis, etc)<\/li>\n<li><strong>20%<\/strong> of trips have to be made by a car in your possession (rental, car share)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Car-Free Streets<\/h2>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcchicago.com\/news\/local\/Group-Proposes-Car-Free-Chicago-Streets-245210021.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">local civic group has proposed<\/a> select &#8220;Car-Free&#8221; streets within Chicago. The group, Active Transportation Alliance, wants to emulate certain streets like Times Square in NYC. They believe that car-free streets &#8220;can make communities more attractive places to live and shop.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Living car free in Chicago is becoming easier, and this concept is catching on with Chicagoans across the city. According to Rachel Jonat from TheMinimalistMom.com, going car free can save $200-300 per month. But saving money isn&#8217;t the only reason that some people are going car free in Chicago: Abundant Public Transportation (CTA, Metra) Low [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":29962,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[644937416],"tags":[13404,644937415,644937417,644937418,644937419,644937420,644937421,644937422,644937423,644937424,644937425,382857],"class_list":["post-223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-city-life","tag-bike","tag-car-free","tag-cta","tag-dolly","tag-home-depot","tag-lowes","tag-lyft","tag-peapod","tag-taxi","tag-u-haul","tag-uber","tag-zipcar"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Living Car Free in Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Living car free in Chicago is becoming easier, and this concept is catching on with Chicagoans across the city. 4 tips to get started living car free.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/living-car-free-chicago\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Living Car Free in Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Living car free in Chicago is becoming easier, and this concept is catching on with Chicagoans across the city. 4 tips to get started living car free.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/living-car-free-chicago\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Taskrabbit Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TaskRabbit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-07-31T23:33:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-28T14:52:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Neu_sprachschule_chicago_5.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Taskrabbit\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@TaskRabbit\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@TaskRabbit\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Taskrabbit\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/living-car-free-chicago\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/living-car-free-chicago\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Taskrabbit\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79980819db552826ffdc7c92a3eaa086\"},\"headline\":\"Living Car Free in Chicago\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-31T23:33:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-28T14:52:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/living-car-free-chicago\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":497,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/living-car-free-chicago\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Neu_sprachschule_chicago_5.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"bike\",\"car free\",\"cta\",\"dolly\",\"home depot\",\"lowes\",\"lyft\",\"peapod\",\"taxi\",\"u-haul\",\"uber\",\"zipcar\"],\"articleSection\":[\"City Life\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/living-car-free-chicago\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/living-car-free-chicago\\\/\",\"name\":\"Living Car Free in Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/living-car-free-chicago\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/living-car-free-chicago\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Neu_sprachschule_chicago_5.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-31T23:33:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-28T14:52:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79980819db552826ffdc7c92a3eaa086\"},\"description\":\"Living car free in Chicago is becoming easier, and this concept is catching on with Chicagoans across the city. 4 tips to get started living car free.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/living-car-free-chicago\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/living-car-free-chicago\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/living-car-free-chicago\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Neu_sprachschule_chicago_5.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Neu_sprachschule_chicago_5.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/living-car-free-chicago\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"City Life\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/city-life\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Living Car Free in Chicago\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Taskrabbit Blog\",\"description\":\"Taskrabbit Blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79980819db552826ffdc7c92a3eaa086\",\"name\":\"Taskrabbit\",\"description\":\"Get More Done in Less Time Our same-day service platform instantly connects you with skilled Taskers to help with odd-jobs and errands, so you can be more productive, every day.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.taskrabbit.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/taskrabbit-2\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Living Car Free in Chicago","description":"Living car free in Chicago is becoming easier, and this concept is catching on with Chicagoans across the city. 4 tips to get started living car free.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/living-car-free-chicago\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Living Car Free in Chicago","og_description":"Living car free in Chicago is becoming easier, and this concept is catching on with Chicagoans across the city. 4 tips to get started living car free.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/living-car-free-chicago\/","og_site_name":"Taskrabbit Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TaskRabbit\/","article_published_time":"2014-07-31T23:33:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-28T14:52:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Neu_sprachschule_chicago_5.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Taskrabbit","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@TaskRabbit","twitter_site":"@TaskRabbit","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Taskrabbit","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/living-car-free-chicago\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/living-car-free-chicago\/"},"author":{"name":"Taskrabbit","@id":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79980819db552826ffdc7c92a3eaa086"},"headline":"Living Car Free in Chicago","datePublished":"2014-07-31T23:33:33+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-28T14:52:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/living-car-free-chicago\/"},"wordCount":497,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/living-car-free-chicago\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Neu_sprachschule_chicago_5.jpg","keywords":["bike","car free","cta","dolly","home depot","lowes","lyft","peapod","taxi","u-haul","uber","zipcar"],"articleSection":["City Life"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/living-car-free-chicago\/","url":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/living-car-free-chicago\/","name":"Living Car Free in Chicago","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/living-car-free-chicago\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/living-car-free-chicago\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Neu_sprachschule_chicago_5.jpg","datePublished":"2014-07-31T23:33:33+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-28T14:52:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79980819db552826ffdc7c92a3eaa086"},"description":"Living car free in Chicago is becoming easier, and this concept is catching on with Chicagoans across the city. 4 tips to get started living car free.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/living-car-free-chicago\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/living-car-free-chicago\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/living-car-free-chicago\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Neu_sprachschule_chicago_5.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Neu_sprachschule_chicago_5.jpg","width":750,"height":500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/living-car-free-chicago\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"City Life","item":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/city-life\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Living Car Free in Chicago"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/","name":"Taskrabbit Blog","description":"Taskrabbit Blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79980819db552826ffdc7c92a3eaa086","name":"Taskrabbit","description":"Get More Done in Less Time Our same-day service platform instantly connects you with skilled Taskers to help with odd-jobs and errands, so you can be more productive, every day.","url":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/author\/taskrabbit-2\/"}]}},"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}