Scarlett White’s car was on its last legs. With gas prices climbing, White could not afford to fix the 2004 Trailblazer. So the mother of five and worker of two jobs decided to get rid of it.
“It was an old car already, and it kept breaking down… it wasn’t worth it to keep,” she said. “Now I can’t afford to get a new one.”
White learned quickly just how difficult it is to get by without a car in Atlanta -- and how expensive cars have become. She searched up and down for a new car, but they were all out of her price range.
“I tried to buy an old car, from like 2007, but even that was more than ten thousand dollars,” she said.
White’s experience is not unique. In 2016, the U.S. Census found that about 364,012 households in the Atlanta metro area were without a car. And, while car prices and interest rates continue to rise, that number likely has risen.
According to Atlanta-based Cox Automotive Inc., the average price of a new vehicle has skyrocketed in the past decade. In 2012, a new car cost a little over $30,000. This year, average prices lie above $48,000. That translates to an average monthly payment of $894, while in 2007 — the year White’s prospective car was made — a monthly car payment was about $652.
Matt Garbett is the co-founder of Thread Atlanta, an organization that aims to influence planning and design decisions in the city. The organization encourages alternatives to car usage and helps promote the creation of walkable neighborhoods.
Right now, Garbett said, he is focused on increasing the number of grocery stores that people can reach by walking. A study by The George Washington University School of Business and Smart Growth America found the Atlanta region has a total of just 27 walkable “urban places” akin to neighborhoods. Meanwhile, the City of Atlanta is home to 242 neighborhoods total.
Garbett said Atlanta’s walking infrastructure is long overdue for an overhaul, especially as more constituents go car-free. Car prices are notably more expensive in Atlanta than in much of the rest of the United States. Forbes Advisor found Georgia to be the seventh most expensive state to own a car, and Georgia drivers have the eighth highest average monthly auto loan payment of any state.
Plus, gas prices and insurance policies in Atlanta tend to be higher than in the rest of the state.
“What we’re not doing great in the city of Atlanta is providing an environment which allows people to not need cars,” Garbett said. “Car prices are going up, and the city still forces car dependency.”
Out of a car, out of access
While the George Washington University study determined walkable areas in Atlanta are generally on the rise, it also found that prospective renters were willing to pay 63% more to live in a walkable area in Atlanta. That means walkable neighborhoods in Atlanta alleviate the burden of car ownership primarily for people who are able to pay higher rents and may not be worried about their monthly payments.
Garbett said the focus for legislators and urban planners should be on increasing walkability in lower-income areas instead.
“All the talk is about affordable housing,” Garbett said. “But if you have to also own a car, and you’re spending approximately 600 bucks a month on that, to get to work, to get groceries, to get your kids to school... That’s a staggering amount of money.”
For Sumedh Garimella, that $600 a month was unthinkable. Though he was raised in Atlanta, today’s car prices encouraged him to move out of the city and accept a job somewhere where he would not have to rely on a car.
While he lived in Atlanta without a car, Garimella said, he would usually have to have someone drop him off at a bus, take a bus to a train, and use the train to get to work. He now lives in Arlington, Virginia, where he says the rail system is easily accessible. Garimella said he can live more comfortably without the financial burden of a car, and he sees living car-free as a way to invest in his future.
“It was kind of the deciding factor between two jobs for me,” Garimella said. “Long term, at least in terms of mental health and of course payment, gas and parking, I feel like it pays off.”
Back in Atlanta, many residents agree it is difficult to get around most neighborhoods without a car. An avid bicyclist, Georgia Tech professor Hans Klein has lived in the city and biked to his job at Georgia Tech since 1996.
Still, Klein keeps a car around — despite using it just once every other week — to get groceries. Though he might be able to find another way to more infrequent ventures like doctors’ appointments, he said, it’s a challenge to carry what his family needs to eat on his bike.
So, he keeps his car.
“Usually groceries are the main driver,” Klein said. “In cities with lower car usage, it’s pretty common to see a taxi stand or a public transit stop in front of a grocery store. We don’t have anything like that.”
White said she doesn’t know what she’d do without her local convenience store. She said getting by is only possible because there are other amenities that are within walking distance from her home.
But, she is never able to walk with enough groceries to feed her entire family at one time. White has taken rideshares to Walmart for groceries and other necessities for her children.
“Groceries are expensive, and it’s hot. Who wants to walk with eight bags in the sun?” White said.
The limits of transit
According to the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transportation Authority, about 201,100 passengers ride daily on Atlanta’s public transportation system. Most of MARTA’s service operates within the Atlanta perimeter, while the city of Atlanta has a population of around 500,000.
White said she does not take MARTA frequently. Buses and trains are not convenient to anywhere near where she’s living or traveling most of the time.
“It’s really not an option for me,” she said. “It doesn’t come down my street. I think I’d have to across the highway.”
Even though their experiences are different, Klein and White both said that more expansive expanded access to public transportation could help improve their quality of life. White could pick up her Walmart necessities without having to take a rideshare, and Klein may be able to get rid of his car completely.
A more avid public transportation system could also dramatically improve her kids’ opportunities, White said. Though a bus takes her children to and from school every day, she is often unable to take them to extracurricular activities and events without a car.
During the summer months, they spend most of their time at home, she added. It’s difficult for White to get them somewhere while she works her two jobs.
“It’s really hard to get by without a car,” White said. “Uber is okay, but it takes a lot of money to get myself or my kids anywhere. And every dollar I spend is money I could be saving for a car.”
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