Owning a twin and living downtown

[iggy]

I just moved from the suburbs to downtown Philly. This got me wondering how many twin owners live in a downtown setting vs the suburbs.

My place has off-street parking, but I currently have my civic in the city with me as it's a great city vehicle (auto, older and i could care less if people ding it). My BRZ is stashed away in the suburbs right now and I won't be able to drive it much for the next few months.

Do you live downtown, the suburbs or somewhere in between?

For those of you living downtown, do you get to enjoy your car often?

[BigTuna]

I live downtown Cincinnati, and while it's not as big of a city as Philly, I love driving it downtown just as much as twisty roads. I like making lots of noise and having it bounce off all of the buildings.

[StraightOuttaCanadaEh]

Parking is certainly easy with this car. Parallel parks like a dream

[gtengr]

Part of the reason I bought an 86 is I think it's a good big city car. The only downside for me is that getting in and out takes a little more flexibility than most cars.

[Soloside]

Originally Posted by iggy

I just moved from the suburbs to downtown Philly. This got me wondering how many twin owners live in a downtown setting vs the suburbs.

My place has off-street parking, but I currently have my civic in the city with me as it's a great city vehicle (auto, older and i could care less if people ding it). My BRZ is stashed away in the suburbs right now and I won't be able to drive it much for the next few months.

Do you live downtown, the suburbs or somewhere in between?

For those of you living downtown, do you get to enjoy your car often?

I lived in various locations in philly. Currently reside in Fairmount, but I did live in Rittenhouse. I also park in Chinatown quite often.


Despite the widebody and non-wheel lock wheels and a license plate that says "Boost Me", I have yet to run into issues with safety.

[himbo]

I work in Paterson now and used to daily my brz to NYC. Makes for a lively commute.

[Sovran]

I used to commute to downtown Boston every day, and I bought a BRZ largely to make that (slow) commute more entertaining. It did that job very nicely. The biggest downside, as someone mentioned, is how difficult it can be to get in and out of the car in a tight parking spot. The doors really have to open wide to make ingress/egress easy, and there's often not room for that in the city. There are also the usual problems of careless door-users in adjacent cars, people who think parallel parking is an excuse for bumper cars, etc.

If I were in your situation and had the option of suburban parking for the BRZ, I'd take it and keep driving a beater to the city.

[extrashaky]

Just as an aside:

When I lived in Brooklyn I bought a 1974 Cadillac hearse to use for moving camera equipment around. It was 23' 6" long. We measured it.

It was not a good city vehicle, although it was hilarious when someone blocked the box and then would sort of panic when the apparent funeral driver laid on those big Caddy horns and started flashing his lights.

Back on topic, I'd never buy a car I cared about for heavy city driving. If I did have a car I cared about, I'd stash it and use a beater around town instead.

[cjd]

I live in the city (downtown is relative... most suburbanites say I live downtown, but I say they don't actually live in Chicago at all... and they don't. hah.) I live where you have to slow down to pass oncoming with only a few inches either side, and sometimes you can't; someone has to wait, or back up. Parallel parked cars either side of the street. And alleys.

I have a garage, and I think that's a must with a car like this. Wheel theft is real, as is vandalism (people seem to have taken to hopping on hoods lately). I also have both front and rear facing dash cams with parking mode - and I'd not go anywhere without. Lots of fancy cars parked in the street all the time though.

I don't typically drive anywhere in the city - that's what transit is for - and when I do, there is usually a parking lot. That's more because it's usually just as fast once I count having to find parking, and often far cheaper. I see plenty of twins around though, and it's small enough to making parking easy. It has folding mirrors if you're street parking. Those big doors can be tough in some lots. And the streets... I don't know if the speed bumps are really worse than the pot holes, but I have to be really careful on some or I'll scrape.

C

[bababooey]

Originally Posted by cjd

I live in the city (downtown is relative... most suburbanites say I live downtown, but I say they don't actually live in Chicago at all... and they don't. hah.)

C

when i visited there, i used mass transit & pete/joe. but i couldnt imagine owning a car there, from the tight street parking and the chaos at some intersections. i did however see many people on bicycles ripping through traffic, burning orange lights & all.

i live outside downtown dallas & rarely drive anywhere downtown, i walk alot.

[Hailwood]

I live in downtown Nashville and have enjoyed the BRZ so far. Like others mentioned it's easy to park, has reasonable visibility, and isn't really flashy enough to attract the wrong kind of attention.

Unfortunately I have to street park mine, but I haven't had any issues so far. I don't get to drive it many miles during the week, so I typically try to get it out on a longish drive each weekend to get the oil up to temperature and give it a workout.

[~el~jefe~]

people in NYC are pieces of F****n trash and I would never bring my 2017 BRZ there during the day. From the barely highschool educated, out of shape, delusionally oppressed ticketing agents, to the idiots who are jealous of money or any perception that another person might have a better life or style, to the idiots (and this number is 93%) of people in NYC, all 5 boroughs, who enjoy constantly repainting their suv's while they smash your ultra light weight aluminum hood and sculpted fenders, to the people who have several thousand cuts in their bumper driving a shit-box corolla who will hit you parking even if the spot is enormous.

how is that for "experience downtown"?

[PandaSPUR]

lol, people in general are just typically shit at parallel parking. I keep one of those rear bumper protectors in my car and just flip it out when im parked on the street (like youre supposed to... unlike those who just leave that shit out all the time). I just pray no one hits the front bumper, or that at least my front + rear dash cam will catch it so damages will be on their insurance.

I usually opt for garage parking whenever i go to the city though. $20 is better than wasting 15-60min looking for a spot.

[venturaII]

I'd rather eat worms than live in a city.