Eve Pearlman

For a family of four to go from our house in Alameda to, say, Embarcadero Station in San Francisco the BART fare is $3.30 a head. That's $13.20 to get to the city.

The weather's been lovely, and it's been a joy to ride down Alameda's tree-lined Central Avenue with my seven-year-old to soccer camp.

Oliver's in soccer camp this week, so that means 10 pick up and drop off's over at Washington Park, just under three miles from our house.

Last week, I wanted to go to my son's dance class with him.

The 40th birthday party of an old friend Saturday night was only 2.5 (flat!) miles from home, easy enough with no kid and no fancy clothes. But a touch more challenging with both. 

I was feeling like yesterday's post, Alameda to Walnut Creek, Better By Car? , in which I puzzled over why anyone who actually owned a car (which my family does not)

My husband and I had papers to sign at a bank in Walnut Creek.

Of all the questions people asked when we gave up our cars last summer, one of the most common was, "How will you get your groceries?' And while we've had lots of challenges--getting to all our youth sport obligations chief among them--securing food to feed the family has not been a challenge. We live on the almost-entirely flat island of Alameda and there are at least four full-service grocery stores within easy biking distance. To bring home the bacon, I rely on the same bike trailer I used to haul the kids in when they were younger. 

The other day I heard Jeff Rubin on NPR.