Today, I’ve got a challenge for you. You don’t even have to actually follow through on it, we can keep it hypothetical for now. Let’s start by picking a day next week or next month. Don’t look for a “convenient” one where your calendar is clear. Throw a metaphorical dart at the page and circle wherever it lands. Actually, pick a day if you want, just play fair and pick a day you actually plan to leave the house.
Now, for that that entire day, put away your car keys. Actually, you should take yours and your partners’/roommates’/kids’ keys, just for completeness. No point in doing this halfway.
The goal of the this challenge isn’t to save the planet or hit a step goal. It’s a cold, hard reality check about your own personal freedom. It’s an experiment to see if you actually have a choice in how you move, or if the layout of your community has made the choice for you before you even wake up.
Wouldn’t it be cool if you could fill up the gas tank when you need to, but it didn’t completely break your way of life if you wanted to save some cash?
I Couldn’t Possibly Even Try
Most of us in the suburbs view our lifestyle as infinitely flexible, especially when we can drive everywhere. We spend our mornings and evenings chauffeuring kids to and from school, commuting, or just getting where we need to go (by car) because the alternative doesn’t feel comfortable or convenient or even possible.
When most of us in the suburbs even THINK about taking this challenge, the friction points almost instantly make it a non-starter. Maybe it’s the 90+ minute bus/train ride that will probably make you late for work. Maybe it’s not wanting to cross a highway overpass on foot where you realize that the city didn’t really design this space for anyone outside a car. Maybe it’s that the nearest grocery store is a 30 minute walk and buses don’t run near you past 6.
If all you have is a car, every outing requires a drive. But once the car is off the table, it’s easy to see the gaps in our infrastructure. There are sidewalks that end abruptly, bus routes that don’t connect to anything, and the total lack of local shops within a reasonable distance. When your life and lifestyle are built around cars and driving, changing that even a little, or for one day, is deeply uncomfortable.
The Growing Cost of Vehicle Ownership
For a long time, the suburbs have treated car ownership as a given, but it’s increasingly looking like a mandatory, expensive subscription service. Between the higher-than-ever vehicle purchase/loan costs, insurance, maintenance, and the volatile price at the pump these days, we are paying a massive tax just to participate in society.
There is a line somewhere for every household where car ownership becomes too much. As costs climb, we have to ask: at what point does the car stop being a tool and start being a burden? If you can’t comfortably drop down to a single-vehicle household because our neighbourhood design won’t allow it, we are fundamentally less resilient to this kind of economic shock.
When Do We Demand Better?
Statistically, the result of your car dependency challenge as a suburbanite today will likely be a passing thought about how it’s actually just impossible, and nothing more. But as car prices rise and gas prices stay volatile, think about this. We have an opportunity to change the way our neighbourhoods look to reduce our shared reliance on cars.
If the challenge feels impossible today, it’s because our current rules make it so. Making these changes to reduce reliance on cars requires moving from observing our world to making active demands. Here is how we start building neighborhoods that actually give us these lifestyle choices:
- Legalize local, low-impact businesses in residential areas
- Mixed-use zoning is being considered by the city in 2027
- When a neighbourhood can host a small grocer or a corner store, the missing ingredient or snack trip becomes a 5-minute walk. This doesn’t just save gas; it keeps more money circulating within the local economy instead of going to pay for a billionaire’s next order of caviar.
- Add a meaningful number of multi-unit buildings to streets with only single-family homes
- This is already possible on a small scale with new zoning bylaws, but we could do more.
- Our streets shouldn’t just be reserved for massive lots with single-family homes. This would also bring the city the housing we need without requiring high-rise towers that are nobody’s first choice. We can and should add density in existing communities, whether via townhomes, triplexes, or small apartment buildings to existing streets. This creates the customer base that will help to support local shops and frequent transit without generating a bunch more car traffic. It makes our road and sewer infrastructure more efficient and housing more affordable.
- Prioritize public or communal transportation systems of all kinds
- Frequent local transit that gets people where they need to go (like to the LRT or main streets like St Joseph) is a must. Services like car-share and bikeshare will make infrequent or more complicated trips simpler and cheaper.
These changes are the foundation of what I call the ‘Suburban Village‘, a neighbourhood that doesn’t enforce car ownership or driving for every errand.
We need to start asking when our streets will be built for people instead of just traffic. When does it become possible to have a corner store within a 5-10 minute walk of every home? When do we start prioritizing the safety of a kid biking to school over the convenience of a commuter saving two minutes?
The city’s Official Plan and other planning documents are where these decisions are made, and are guided by residents like you. When the city discusses things like “mixed-use zoning” or more transportation options, show up and advocate for the choice to drive less. Remind decision-makers that a great neighbourhood is one where the car is an option, not a requirement.
The ultimate goal here is to get people to think more about their total dependency on cars and driving. By making some fairly simple changes, we can do more than save some money and reduce traffic problems. We can build a community that is productive, resilient, and ultimately, a much better place to live. We need neighbourhoods that give us the option to drive less. Until we have that, we aren’t really choosing our lifestyle—we’re just handing our wallets to oil barons and car companies.
I encourage you to give the car dependency challenge a try, even if hypothetically. I’d love to hear which day you choose and how it goes for you.
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