Diana Sun has seen the light. She and her husband, Bob Solymossy, used to live in a detached, single-family house with a big garage in the Oakton area of Fairfax County. Never questioning their auto-centric lifestyle, they owned three cars and took long, time-consuming commutes to work. Now they live in an Arlington County condominium and they’ve downsized their automobile fleet to a single car. They’re loving it.
As communications director for Arlington County, Diana rolled out the red carpet for me yesterday. She introduced me to Paul Ferguson, the chairman of the board of supervisors, as well as several senior planners, and she took me on an extended tour of Arlington’s revitalized neighborhoods. (I’ll have a lot to say about that in the near future.) After the work day, Diana, Bob and I strolled through the Clarendon “urban village” and enjoyed some sidewalk dining. Bursting with enthusiasm for their new way of life, they told me all about it.
When they first moved to their condo, Diana and Bob couldn’t conceive of life with fewer than two cars, so they paid to buy an extra parking space to supplement the one that came with their unit. But they hadn’t lived long in Arlington before they realized they didn’t need the second parking space — or the second car. Diana walks to work two or three blocks away. They use the Metro rail service on occasion, and they ride their bicycles a lot. On those rare occasions when they do need a second car, they pay $50 a year to sign up with Zipcar, which allows them to rent one of the cars conveniently stationed around Clarendon for $9 an hour.
The one-car lifestyle saves money. Diana recommends a book, “How to Live Well Without Owning a Car,” that cites the five-year cost of owning a Toyota Corolla as more than $5,000 a year. She spends a fraction of that on mass transit and Zipcar.
The one-car lifestyle saves time. One of Diana’s jobs in Fairfax County consumed three hours a day in the two-way commute. Now she works minutes away. She marvels at how much more time she and Bob have to doing things they enjoy.
The one-car lifestyle is good for your health. Walking and riding bicycles makes people more physically fit than sitting in automobiles. Diana and Bob are both in great shape. They have loads of energy for undertaking their long, strenuous vacations to exotic, Third World countries.
The one-car lifestyle is good for the environment. Fewer cars = less driving = less gasoline consumption = less pollution.
Indeed, Arlington’s one-car lifestyle is such an improvement over their old, Fairfax County way of life that Diana and Bob have contemplated transitioning to a zero-car lifestyle. Having at least one car does does offer significant conveniences, however, so they haven’t been willing to take that step. Yet. But they’re so enamored with their new way of life, don’t be surprised if you read in the Want Ads one day: “For lease, parking space in Clarendon condominium.”
