In the process of moving from NJ to Seattle, my fiancée and I decided to skip the 'burbs this time around and be full-on city dwellers. Though I have lived in central LA in the past, this will be my first experience where having a car is truly superfluous. I will be livin a short 20 minute walk away from the office.
For the other city dwellers on here, how often do you "escape?" Do you ever actually use your vehicle?
When I lived in Chicago, rather than the burbs, my wife needed the car for her commute. Other than that, we didn't need it, but it sure made things a hell of a lot easier.
I used it once a week for me--going to hockey almost exclusively. We also used it frequently to go to family functions and the grocery store.
I used public transit more, but if you take out my work commute it would have been about 50/50.
All that being said, it wouldn't have made too much of a difference overall if we didn't have it. We'd just need to plan things a little better. With Uber these days I think we could have given up next to nothing in convenience and saved money overall.
You'll eat better if you have to carry your groceries home on your bicycle or motorcycle in a backpack - you'll have to plan meals well.
There's Car2Go and ZipCar for occasional car use and they seem pretty convenient, if not expensive for longer periods of time.
With some of the crazy cheap rental prices I can find, and the fact that I detest maintaining vehicles that I actually drive, I have considered going down to one family vehicle for local transport, one toy/project car for me and just rent a new vehicle if I want to go anywhere. And this is living in the burbs.
If I lived in Toronto, I would have an eternal build project in my condo (bring it in piece by piece) and just use public chanceit to get around.
I live in the city but work in a suburb, so I do drive every day (although it's only 8 miles each direction, not a big deal.) It is great having most every thing I need within walking distance.
The big problem for most is having a place to park your car. I'm fortunate to have a large yard (for in the city) so I was able to build a 4 car garage, but I pity those people who have to park on the street all the time, particularly in winter when we have parking restrictions because of the snow.
We also have a great bike path system here in Minneapolis. I think Seattle may be similar, so that's a good way for getting around town if you're so inclined. We also have several different kinds of rent a car by the hour systems; unfortunately, the Car2Go system that rents out Smart Cars is pulling out of this market.
Seattle also has ReachNow. Same idea (and cost) as Car2Go but they use new 328xi and X1s. Minis too but I avoid those.
Yeah having a car is definitely superfluous. But if you're not a drinker and have parking it's still cool to have your own car to complement uber, zip-car etc., and it seems like there are a lot of ride share programs out there. Stay off government transportation ( sorry Wally). It's rarely worth it unless you're on a lower middle class income, or less. Walking surprisingly is the best thing about a city as it helps with the boredom better than bars. But if you must have a car in the city and I have three make sure it already has lots of dings and dents. People are ass-hats and will bump park your car whilst you sit in it. Plus drunks will round that street corner just a little too confidently from time to time. Insurance might be a shock too. Negativity aside driving every inch of your city is cool. Oh yeah, I haven't got it yet but get that app that tells you where speed cameras are - taxes ya' know. 
Thanks for the feedback. While my Miata is a 2015, it has already suffered two NJ winters and was rear ended earlier this year (just needed a repainted bumper cover). It's never going to be a cream puff. I'll have an assigned garage spot in the building where i'll be staying, so it will be safe most of the time.
Good to know about the plethora of car services if we're ever in a jam and need a second vehicle.
At least in Portland, Car2Go has started adding Mercedes to compete with ReachNow.
I try to cycle to work, but I'm not that good about it, and it ends up being pretty proportional to the weather...
Depends where you live, honestly. I find myself using my vehicle fairly often and learning where the free parking is or how likely they are to tow certain spaces. Sometimes it's just easier than waiting for a Taxi/Uber/Lyft, worrying about whether the metro/bus is running on time, and let's me have my own schedule a little bit more.
Even when I didn't use my vehicle much, I liked having it and knowing that I had the option to use it if I needed to.
As far as escaping is concerned: I do it all the time. I really like hiking and mountain biking so I find myself leaving the city at least weekly.
Every weekend
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