How do my fellow car-free people deal with moving heavy/bulky items without a car? What are the pros and cons of solutions you've tried?
I'm currently car-free in a city with decent public transportation (by American standards), but things are still very, very car-centric, and also a bit hilly. Living alone, I can manage weekly groceries with a backpack + 1 bag on each shoulder, but it's definitely not my favorite activity. The decent grocery stores are 1 mile (1.6 km) away, so a bit of a hassle to just go to more frequently. For heavy, shelf stable items, I usually try to get those delivered, but it's not always an option.
I also have 2 cats, plus I foster cats/kittens, so I very frequently need to transport animals to/from the vet. I have a backpack style pet carrier, but that doesn't cut it when I have to transport multiple adult cats or a mom + kittens.
I would love to hear other people's experiences, and the pros & cons of various options that you've tried. Some more detailed questions on my mind:
- Do you prefer something you can push or something you can pull?
- How annoying is it to transport when empty?
- How does it hold up to less than ideal weather?
- How does it handle stairs or curbs without a ramp?
- How does it handle poorly maintained sidewalks or unpaved surfaces?
- Is it well made/durable, or something that will probably break in a year?
- If it has pockets or segregated compartments, have those been handy or just annoying?
- Are there any uses that it's not a good fit for?
Edit: any non-bike options? I don't have the space to securely store a bike in my unit, and my building doesn't offer any secure bike storage. Due to all of the hills, I would have to get an electric bike, and was hoping to find some options in the range of $50-$200, maaaaybe $500. For example, I've been looking at collapsible carts/wagons, and pet strollers.
First the unhelpful answer:
I transport groceries with my e-bike and a bike bag on either side of the rack. They may not be quite as fancy as the ones you can unhook and carry into the store and the design is probably from the early 2000s, but they're BIG, so they're great (apart from the fact that they create so much drag that cycling without the motor is an ordeal).
Other than that, I did use a shopping trolley for a while. It was fine enough. Wouldn't recommend to transport cats in those though, you probably need something with tires, not just wheels.