Let me offer a concurring opinion - Uber seems incredible expensive for two or three trips a week, from my experience. It works best when you're with a group of friends/family members and you are all drinking or don't feel like dealing with driving and parking. I would never consider it as an option like a normal cab for when I just need to do the week's grocery shopping or run out to get something at midnight, when the light rail might have shut down for the day. The only city where I ever used it was Denver, actually. Is this different from others' experiences?
As a side note - can't you drive two hours to a mountain from most East Coast cities? The Catskills are only 2.5 hours from NYC. I thought mountains were much more accessible in Denver than a two-hour car ride.
The mtns in CO are certainly closer to Denver than 2 hrs, but most people are going deeper into the mtns (e.g. Summit county/Vail/etc.). You can get up to 8500ft in 25min from Denver if you want. IMO, the further one gets from Denver, the nicer it is (I live about 8hrs from Denver in the mtns of CO, and have lived in the state for 20 yrs.).
Uber now includes Uber X, "rideshare" type service with drivers in their own personal cars. Where I am, a 2 mile cab ride to the grocery store will be $12 without tip, the same on Uber X is ~$6. It's far cheaper and less hassle, and uber x actually shows up unlike cabs. The introduction of uber(x) has let me postpone buying a car for a few more years.
As a side note - can't you drive two hours to a mountain from most East Coast cities? The Catskills are only 2.5 hours from NYC. I thought mountains were much more accessible in Denver than a two-hour car ride.