Introduce yourself!
My name is Nacho, I was a west valley Arizona native and recently moved to Tempe from Goodyear . It was through my love of trail running and mountain biking, I found myself in the urbanism, anti car dependency, and pedestrian safety world by chance and for the last couple of years we’ve been car lite and now fully car free.
From the ‘burbs to the city
What led you into your spiral into urbanism and going carfree and then moving to Culdesac?
It’s hard to pinpoint one thing. It was a lot of different things that led us down the urbanism and car free life and eventually moving to Tempe.
1st – The first points that comes to mind is, distance and time. We have lived in Surprise and Goodyear for the last 15+ years while having jobs in the central PHX and the East Valley meaning we had to commute everyday a minimum of 1 hour each way all the way up until 2020. Along with this, my wife was going to ASU online and now needed to be at Tempe for a class and we just made the decision at that point that we didn’t want that commute again.
2nd – Thanks to my wife, we are very aware of our finances and where our money goes. After being completely debt free and getting curious of the FIRE movement, we started breaking down our expenses by each line item to find our “FIRE number”. Through this we got to some eye opening results and started to see exactly how much owning and maintaining cars really was costing us. For 2 fully paid off cars, over a 6 year span, we averaged $800+/month. And these are cars people consider reliable and gas efficient (Toyota and Honda).
3rd – The algorithm doesnt miss. Like a perfect storm, through 2019 and 2021, I remember getting more of the content from City Nerd, Not Just Bikes, and Strong Towns on YouTube and slowly just seeing what could be and really started considering other modes of transportation.
4th – Culdesac, I first heard and read an article about Culdesac around 2019 and my very much still car brained first thought was, “that seems like a cool idea for young college hippies, with no kids, and nothing but time”. Little did I know, my 35 year old self would be moving in 5 years later with my wife and 4 year old son.
What were some of the reason for wanting to buy a house in Goodyear before selling and moving to culdesac?
We actually ended up in Goodyear kind of by accident after the house we were under contract to purchase in the Coronado neighborhood failed inspection due to having severe termite damage. Essentially the whole roof, trusses and all needed to be replaced. At that time we’ve been staying at my father-in-laws house for almost 6 months and just didn’t have the time or experience to deal with that kind of project. After that deal fell through, we made an offer on another home and were quickly outbid and we started feeling a little desperate, we came across the house in Goodyear and liked that it was in a corner lot with a big yard and thought it would work well for our 4 dogs. It had been on the market for a long time and just to test the waters, we made a below asking offer on the house and surprisingly they accepted and we were there for 8 years.
Have you experienced any homeowner headaches and financial burden people may not expect with homeownership?
Yes! Very much like cars, people tend really underestimate the true cost of home ownership and usually just think of the principle mortgage payment as the cost. The cost of yard maintenance, sinking funds for big items (roof, AC, water heater, softener,…), taxes, hoa, insurance, and most importantly, time. Even with a relative “newer” home, we’d still be at Lowe’s almost every month for something. The year leading up to actually selling our home, we had to replace the water heater and replace the water softener, and the sprinkler lines/valves/heads. A couple years back had to do some roof repairs and did a full remodel (kitchen, bath, floors, paint). We are fortunate enough to have built up sinking funds for these items and any upcoming ones too, so not exactly a burden but money out nonetheless. I’ll add, we’re Mexican and we got Tio’s and friends in the trades and even with those connections it still adds up.
After moving to Tempe, how long did it take to get adjusted to the new lifestyle and how has it improved your quality of life and your ability to build community?
Considering we’ve never lived in Tempe and going completely car free, we got adjusted fairly quickly. Prior to moving to Tempe/Culdesac we had already been down to 1 car and started biking to school, for groceries, and doctors. This will sound like an ad (its not), but I feel that for people that can and want to explore going car free, Culdesac is the perfect place to try it. They’ve made it easy, from having a platinum Valley Metro card making buses and light rail rides free, getting a free e-bike when you move in, and onsite car rentals for longer trips, it made the adjustment easy for us. Our mindset is really one of thinking about this whole move and change as an adventure and focus more on what we get to do now versus what we don’t have anymore.
Have you been able to build more community since moving to Tempe compared to the suburbs? Did you feel this created a sense of belonging?
I would say that we’ve made more connections here in the last couple months than we’ve made in the suburbs in the last 15 years. We gotten involved with Tempe Bicycle Advocacy Group, participated in the Broadmore Bike Bus, and this past weekend we did Cranksgiving with Bike Saviors and Bike Tempe, a first for us. For those not familiar, Cranksgiving is going around to different grocery stores collecting food to see who could bring back the most food to donate by bike. As for belonging, also yes. With our awesome weather right now, we bike our son to school everyday and along the way we see other families biking to school and instantly have something in common. We talk about the best routes, about our bikes, or anything else. Things that just dont happen when you are stuck in traffic.
Carless Family
You and your wife started of going carlite to carfree, who speared headed the idea or was it more mutal?
For my wife and I, once we make up our mind on something, it’s basically done. Then its just a matter of planning the next steps. For us it’s really important that we try and align our actions to our beliefs. From how and where we live or visit, what we eat, and what we give our time and money to. With that being said,
Most of our good ideas come from my wife, Aracely, so early on in 2020, we were working from home and our son was just born and she started throwing around the idea of going down to one car. Especially since one of them wasn’t even being used much. For context, I was very much a car person. I was really attached to my limited edition 3rd Gen Toyota 4runner ( if you know you know). We owned it for over 10 years put over 100k miles on it, and just couldn’t bring myself to sell it. It had about 260k miles and I really wanted to get it to 300k but I just wasn’t driving it enough so it wasn’t going to happen soon.
We started doing the math and after a little convincing we sold our 4runner to my sister-in-law, and we ended up going down one car and began biking more for basic errands and this year made the decision to go completely car free and move to Tempe.
If you are comfortable sharing, how much money did going completely carfree save you and how are you spending the savings?
Absolutely, short answer, a lot. We track all of our spending and my wife pulled all of our car related expenses going back to 2016 and we averaged over $800/month. We use the savings for everything, vacations, general savings, or more bikes. Just a couple of weeks ago we bought a new long tail Cargo ebike for me. Most people really underestimate the true cost their cars.
People often stress about kids and having to shuttle them around In a car everywhere which can be extremely stressful. since going carfree, what are some things you notice commuting with your kid on a bike verse a car? Have you noticed any positive changes in their behavior? What about in yourself?
I think a lot of the stress of having to shuttle kids everywhere has lot of to do with the environment we’ve built and how hostile it is to anyone outside of a car. Essentially leaving the only option to get kids anywhere is driving them and because everything is so far away or unsafe to get there walking or by bike. As for us, we noticed a huge difference in our son from when we put him in a car seat, he, like us, zones out until we get to our destination. When we commute by bike or light rail, it’s a totally different experience. We are constantly talking, he is aware and familiar with his environment, he notices things like the starship food delivery robots and the Waymo’s and ask questions about them and how they work. For my wife and I, we enjoy the “free” exercise and fresh air that riding our bikes afford us.
Do you ever feel judged by other parents for being carfree?
Sometimes. In Goodyear, when taking our son to school, we had an older lady stop her car in traffic to yell at as about how unsafe it was for us to be on a bike with our son. But mostly it’s a lot of curiosity and questions from people. We get a lot of how and why do you do this. We also hear a lot of “I wish I could do that”, which is a little sad because if it were safer I know more people would do it. My coworkers just thing I am crazy and say I just like to make my life more difficult.
What are some unexpected benefits to your family since going down to zero cars?
We mentioned it a little earlier but the community and sense of belonging has been one of the most unexpected benefits and one I didnt really know I needed. Another being we had no idea how much our son would love the light rail. He very much prefers “new Siemens” trains and can identify the older trains and newer trains just by their sound. He’s gotten very familiar with the stops and what is around them.
In February, you posted about golf carts being more frequent at your nearby grocery store and parks, what purpose do you feel they have in our city and do you still view it has a one less car win or more of the same?
I still think of them as more of the same and maybe a little worse because ironically, although the speed limits are 35 between the neighborhood, many of them don’t feel safe enough to be on the street with cars and just end up on riding on the sidewalks and taking the whole thing. But like many of us, they are trying something different other a car, which is kind of a win but in reality its just a small car thats on the sidewalk making it more challenging for everyone else.
Rapid Fire
Favorite Mountain to Run?
Papago. Easily accessible by the light rail and there’s always an event going on here.
Favorite Local Business?
AT Oasis in Phoenix. Aisha and Abdul always make you feel like a rockstar when you visit them. Also hard to not shout out Aruma, especially on Fridays when they have vegan conchas (Mexican sweet bread) made by a local baker, Concha’s Caseras.
Favorite bike shop?
Archers bike shop at Culdesac. I mean it’s downstairs, hard to beat that and it’s where I just purchased my cargo bike from.
Favorite Bike Attachment?
Kids Ride Shotgun seat. Game changer for starting to take my son to school on our bike and also going on the trails with him.
Bike Talk
As someone who mountain bikes and does races, since not owning a car, how do you manage to access trails and events?
Tempe has one of my favorite areas to ride and run, Papago Park, which is easily accessible by transit or my bike. When it come to big events that are not as accessible, we have onsite car rentals that we can rent by the hour so that’s how I’ve gotten to some of my races. When needed, we have also rented out a truck to go to Flagstaff and Prescott races
Where are some of your favorite places to ride?
South Mountain is awesome and its also the place I first started and fell in love with mountain biking. But you cant beat the accessibility of Papago Park. My favorite event is the Whiskey Off Road in Prescott. I love it because it’s one of the few events where all 3 of us can race and not need any sitter.
You have multiple bikes? are you able to share all the bikes you have and the purpose for them? (Like the cargo bikes for grocery etc)
Getting to the good stuff. I have a Trek Fuel, which is my all things mountain bike. For commuting to work or just getting around, I have a Priority 600, which is awesome and a bit different because it has an internal gear box and is belt driven. A couple of weeks ago I bought my first ebike a Globe Haul LT cargo bike. My wife has the short tail version of the Globe Haul and she also has Trek mountain bike. And finally my son has a Woom 3 bike.
Back in March you biked over to Harkins to see Dune 2. while watching the movie, were you consistently thinking about if your bike will still be locked up after you get out?
A little bit, it was our first time actually leaving our bikes out for long time but we did invest in really good locks. It really put us at ease that the bike racks were right in the front the entrance and very visible. For this trip I was thinking more about how this is our first trip by bike that wasn’t around the corner or to the grocery store.
One of the things you like to highlight in your travels is bike racks, in your opinion, what makes a good bike rack and a terrible bike rack?
Yes, its something we’ve become more more aware of and something I wanted to document and show. So first, bad placement can make even the best type of racks be kind of useless. The best type of bike racks/parking, Staple racks (most common), these usually allow you to securely use a U lock and cable to get your frame and wheels. Terrible ones, are the ones that dont exist. Still way too many places dont have any bike racks. Just to the right of no racks are the front loading (only front wheel is secure) and can often cause wheel damage. One thing to also mention but even the best type of racks, if poorly placed
Pedaling out
Any advise you have for families looking to go carfree or carlite?
Enjoy the journey, think of these trips as an adventure, then start small with what you already have. Some of our first trips to the store were on our mountain bikes for a handful of items like toothpaste, apples, bananas, pickles. Then we moved up to loading up backpacks worth of groceries and gradually moved to other errands and activities.
Anything you are working on at the moment or something you would like to promote to our viewers?
If you want to follow me on instagram I am at TrailNachos. I am working on getting a little better and intentional with my “content”. But I would like to invite anyone who wants meet up and ride and chat, send me a message.
