We went from two cars down to one car. The decision was made because we bought a house as near as possible to my work, allowing me to cycle year round.
Going from two cars to one was part and parcel of buying a house where we did. I went from a 35min commute in my car, to a 7 minute commute on my bike. Sure, it sucks in the winter, but in the spring and summer? Nothing better than a short bike ride before and after work. And I lopped off almost a full hour from my daily commute, allowing me to spend time with my family. Hell, in the summer I ride my bike home for lunch and get to see my kid then, too.
That being said, we've made some sacrifices that would be familiar to families ditching cars entirely. My wife and I have staggered our schedules so that she works in the evening and I work during the day, with a small bit of overlap. We avoid paying for childcare by doing this. In the evenings, however, I don't have access to a car, as my wife takes it to go teach her Yoga witchcraft at different locations around the city. However, it's not the end of the world. We have a SuperStore a 5 minute walk away from our house, so if I need to pick something up for dinner, I just take my toddler for a nice little walk. Again, easier in the summer than in the winter. The odd time that I need the car for something during the week, I have to drive her to work, then pick her up afterwards, which is kind of a pain in the butt.
COULD we live without a car? I've thought about this, actually, and the implications it would have. Of course, it would be easier if my wife didn't work. Half of the car's use is her driving to work. Transit in this city sucks real bad, especially for the different places she has to go. She COULD ride a bike during the warmer months, but I would never ask her to ride as far as she has to in the winter. As far as grocery and food shopping, as I said, we have a Superstore a 5 minute walk away. Of Course, it would mean instead of doing a massive $300 shop every two weeks that we load in the car to bring home, we'd have to do smaller shops a few times a week. Where we would suffer would be the weekend activities. My kid has gymkids on the other end of the city, and I like to visit my parents each weekend, too. Of Course, if we didn't have a car, my parents could come visit US, instead of the other way round, and I could enroll the spawn in programming closer to home. I'm sure there's something.
Really, a large part of our lifestyle is built around the fact that we DO have a car, so we CAN do the things that we do. If we didn't have a car, we would make sacrifices and adapt accordingly. Just like when we had two cars, we were accustomed to having freedoms that were afforded to us. When we went from two-to-one, we had to make changes and adaptations, and now, a year later, we barely remember what it was like being a two-car family.
If Transit were better in this city, it would be an easier decision, but for the forseeable future, combined with the fact that my wife's income greatly exceeds what our car costs us, I don't see the benefit at this point in not having at least one car.
