[Guest post, via a Brent blog] "Is there Life after Car? (the last one blew up in Chiswick)"

Link to "Wembley Matters"

"We gave up the family car two years ago, or rather, our car gave up on us. It blew up in Chiswick, West London.

"... All my adult life I had owned a car. In the beginning, it represented independence from my parents, then later, it was for carrying my own children around. Having a car gave me choices, rather than relying on lifts or public transport, which was slow, expensive and unreliable.

"Our culture is now totally geared to car ownership; it is what we aspire to. The car we own shows our status, and marks our position in the hierarchy. But something has flipped in the equation. In the real world, cars are now the slow, expensive, stressful ones. They no longer mean freedom; in many ways they imprison us."