For a week, one city resident lets her feet meet the street, bus steps and bike pedals as she tries to live without a car
\nBy Jill Rosen | Sun reporter<\/p>\n
I’m wobbling down Light Street toward a busy intersection, clinging perilously yet stylishly to a sleek hybrid bicycle: metallic gray with gears to shift and a beverage holder clearly meant for someone brave enough to pry a hand from the handle bars.<\/p>\n
That’s not me.<\/p>\n
Normally, I’d be motoring through Baltimore’s morning rush, obliviously ensconced in a Honda – air blowing, stereo humming, coffee in easy reach.<\/p>\n
But not today. Today, I’m vulnerable to the gust of each passing sedan, pickup and – gasp – bus. Today, every bump, pebble and cigarette butt on the road threatens my already shaky balance.<\/p>\n
Today, I’m doing without a car. It’s part of a weeklong experiment to see how – or if – I could get by in this town without one.<\/p>\n
I’m a driver. Like most people in Baltimore, and in America for that matter, I drive to work, I drive to the grocery store and I drive to the mall. I drive to get my hair cut, I drive the cats to the vet, I drive to meet friends for dinner.<\/p>\n
A car trip bookends almost everything I do. But with gas at $4 a gallon, and near-constant warnings about global warming and carbon footprints, I wanted to see if I could park the Honda.
\n…
\n"Walking or bicycling will save you money, but it’s about the things that are priceless, too," he says.<\/p>\n
"Having your health come back to you. Walking to work and seeing and smelling and noticing the cool things in your community. Encased in glass and steel, you never noticed." For a week, one city resident lets her feet meet the street, bus steps and bike pedals as she tries to live without a car By Jill Rosen | Sun reporter I’m wobbling down Light Street toward a busy intersection, clinging perilously yet stylishly to a sleek hybrid bicycle: metallic gray with gears to shift … <\/p>\n
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