Names: Erik Hanberg and Mary Holste
Occupation(s): Erik: Park Commissioner, Author, and Marketing Consultant for Side x Side Creative. Mary: Creative Director for Side x Side Creative.
Employer(s): Side x Side Creative, a boutique marketing company we own.
Gets around by: Nissan Leaf (all electric!), ORCA cards, Tacoma Link, ZipCar, by foot, and soon by bike.
Where do you live and where do you work?
We live and work from our home in downtown Tacoma, which keeps our need for travel light.
How do you get there?
It’s a short walk. 🙂
How does it all add up?
In the 10 years we have lived downtown, the longest commute either of us has had is 3 miles, and that was only for 18 months. Most of the time, our commutes have been measured in blocks. And now that we work at home, in feet. Before we went to a single car, we each put about 6,000 miles on our car each year, or half the national average. That’s a big savings. Now that we have a single car, and it’s an all electric, our monthly gas bill has disappeared, and our insurance has dropped too.
What’s in it for you?
We get to spend more time with our new daughter at home, playing in the park, or wherever. The cost savings are great, too.
Do you have any tips for people who may be thinking of trying Zipcar?
It’s a switch to paying for a car “by the hour,” so I recommend that before you do, add up all your car costs for the last month or two. Include insurance, gas, oil changes, everything. How much does it cost to just have that car? You may just find that an hourly rental is a great way to “have a second car” without actually having to own it.
What’s the best part of living downtown?
The options around us. We walk to our daughter’s daycare, to the grocery store, the park, the coffee shop, the movies, the barber … We love that sometimes we don’t drive for a day or two. It’s a better pace of life for us. Sometimes people think living in an urban setting has a faster pace of life, but we find that less time in the car means it feels slower, not faster.