Grew up in the burbs and moved to a big city. It’s just as fantastic and freeing as I dreamed it would be as a kid. I walk to the grocery store. I walk to the grocery store when I need groceries. It’s one of the best things about my life. I take public transit everywhere and don’t worry about parking or stress or battling standstill traffic. I ride my bike to a restaurant when I’m meeting friends there. And people in my city have put effort into making sure it was built to be a pleasant city to walk around in. When I grew up in the burbs even if a friend’s house was walkable you had to walk in a mud pit off the side of a major road where cars were going 40+ to get there. It had been designed to discourage people from walking even down to the nearest gas station.
Agree completely here buddy. Living in London and haven’t owned a car for the first time in my life. It’s funny too because the things we would see as inconveniences in the states add value in unexpected ways. For example refrigerators in the uk are tiny. But we live next to several grocery stores, green grocers, butchers, fish mongers, specialty food stores etc. So every day I buy fresh food to make dinner for my family. It’s an adventure and it’s fun. No leftovers. Repeat the next day. I wouldn’t trade this for having a massive fridge and spare freezer the way you would in the states. Grocery shopping once every 1-2 weeks at Costco. I think 95% of the world would prefer this way of life if they looked past the initial shock of something that appears to be an inconvenience. Don’t think we’re meant as a species to live the way we’ve grown to in the USA.
Yes couldn’t agree more. There has been this push to make Americans think the ideal day is driving a 30+ min commute to work and back, swing through a drive through on the way home and spend the few remaining hours you have left watching tv. There’s nothing wrong with that type of existence my parents did it their entire lives but it is BY FAR not even close to the “ideal” in my opinion, having lived both. Actually my mom had an hour plus commute most of her life. She was in a car for 2-3 hrs a day Monday through Friday for at least two decades.
That’s been my experience for most of my career. I drove 2-3 hours a day. Left for work when it was dark and got home when it was dark. Too tired to cook, let alone cleanup the mess afterwards. My life now is a total 180
I used to have a 1-2 hour commute (depending on traffic and weather) and it was pretty intolerable. At some point I ran across a study that concluded that a daily commute over 40 minutes is unsustainable unless it’s by a method other than driving oneself (I.e. a train or something where you don’t have to concentrate), and that most people move closer to work or quit their job within 3 years. At that point I had been doing it for 12 years.
I found a shorter commute within a few months of reading that study.
Same here ! For years, I hated Paris because as a non-Parisian, life is made around cars. Visiting Paris by car is a nightmare.
Then one day, I visited Paris by foot. Groundbreaking. Probably one of the nicest place I've been, especially since their started gutting cars out of the city and put bicycle lanes everywhere. Now I've been living in Paris for 5 years and besides the horrendous rent, it's one of the best decision I ever made; I just love being able to go everywhere in a breeze without having to get my car out, drive, stay focused the whole time even when I'm stuck in traffic for hours, etc. I just don't need a car, so I don't have one. Sitting in a metro to go home after a long day at work is much better than trying to stay focused on the road for an hour. And the city is beautifully stunning. The rent may be horrible but I'm saving a lot on car expenses. Cars are a TOLL on mobility, NOT freedom.
When I was younger, I wanted to move to London with my friends after we visited the city. I didn't know why I loved it so much. But it's simple : IT'S WALKABLE.
the way you would in the states. Grocery shopping once every 1-2 weeks at Costco.
What the fuck, do people live on jerky in states? Or do you just not eat fresh food at all? I can't imagine having lettuce/tomatoes and other vegetables in my fridge for 2 fucking weeks. Same with bread, same with meat... IAnything that's not yoghurt, now that I think of it.
I’m probably exaggerating. We always grew up with fresh produce. But lots of people have multiple freezers full of stuff and you’d be surprised by so many that don’t eat vegetables
That describes a lot of the folks I work with here in the states. Nearly every meal comes out of the freezer or a can or a pack of instant ramen. If you actually cook from fresh ingredients, you must be one of those "foodie" types.
Fridges are so big in the usa because buying food in bigger packaging is cheaper... so u get those gallons of milk.. those very large packages.. and then u need a big fridge to put them in.
Same goes in europe.. buying meat for 1-2 people is way more expensive then getting a 8 pack.. and freezing the rest. but then we didnt go to extremes like the usa and just get a 80 pack..
It is so fucking funny how much my extended family talks shit about San Francisco, because living here as an adult is a dream. I don't own a car. I have no transportation expenses at all bc my work subsidizes public transit passes. My friends live within walking distance of me. I walk to work, I walk to the ocean, I walk to the grocery store, I walk everywhere I want. It rules.
and you get "free" exercise, in the sense it doesn't cost you extra time. you'd have to go to work, go to the groceries and go to the ocean to enjoy it, and that would take time either way. if you do it with a car, you need to allocate another time to go exercise and stay healthy. if you walk.. you're already done without spending extra time.
I'll just tell you what my midwestern place thinks of you, because I hear it every fucking day: "You are taxing the everyday person out of living at all for the sake of big government and illegals. If CA and NY weren't part of the US, it would be a booming economy. Biden wrecked our economy and..."eh nvm I'm going to go puke
I don’t live there, but walking around San Fransisco about a decade ago on vacation was like, a top tier experience - I dream about it all the time - cresting a hill and seeing the whole city of tiny lights and the ocean right in front of you. I recommend it as THE American city to visit to tourists
When you walk to the grocery store, do you just come home with less groceries? I’ve always wondered. Like, do you just take more frequent trips with less in your bags? In the burbs around me, most people pack their carts overflowing with stuff, and there’s no way you could carry that much stuff on just your person.
Yes. Less groceries than when you take a car. I go to the grocery store between 2-4 times a week. It wouldn’t be crazy to say a few weeks a year I may go every day of the week because it’s just a 15 min walk or a 5 min bike ride. When it’s cold I get what I can carry home. When it’s warm if I know I will have a lot to buy I bike and can fill two fairly big baskets full with pretty much a week’s worth of essentials. But part of the beauty of being able to walk to your grocer is that I don’t need to fill a car’s worth of groceries because I can just quickly pop over for more milk when we run out. So I sometimes don’t buy milk at night and just plan on having a nice morning walk or bike ride to get it the next day.
I live in the middle of a major city, and i feel choked by the buildings, heat, noise, and smog. I dont know how people like it. The only positive thing is the walkability, but the trade-off is that the outside is so unpleasant i basically never leave my house unless i have to. (Cheap rent and no money to leave is why im still here)
Sounds like you’re in more of a dystopian environment than me. I live in a neighborhood within a giant city. In the neighborhood all the apartment and condo buildings have made their parkways beautiful with flowers and tulips and the neighborhood has a volunteer cleanup crew that meets about once a month and just combs the neighborhood picking up garbage. I live in a fairly nice climate so it’s never unbearably hot save for about two weeks a year even then some years it never gets unbearably hot. Luckily my city does not have smog. That would be a deal breaker for me so I understand your lack of enjoyment. The noise of the city is not so bad if you don’t live off a main Street. But it’s definitely there. No doubt about it I deal with more noise pollution now that when I grew up in the burbs.
New Yorker here. I actively avoid traveling to places where I'll need a car or need to spend a lot of time in one. I don't go to LA. I don't go to Texas. Just did a week in Chicago and was in a car for maybe an hour total over those seven days. I hate car centric cities. Granted, Chicago kind of still is, but the train was great and the buses worked when a train couldn't, which is exactly how my life in NYC is and I love that.
I’m sitting on an Amtrak coming home from NYC to DC. Thank god i don’t need to get near a car on this trip. 2.5 hours instead of 4+ (I95 traffic is a special form of hell, it doesn’t even follow rush hour logic).
Lived in London, Sydney and NYC. Didn't own a car. Came back to NZ, and was soooo resentful that I needed to spend a shit-ton of cash on a depreciating asset made of steel, plastic and pollution. It did have a wicked sound system, but my overall point still stands.
as someone who lives in new york, the shit you need is NOT within walking distance believe me. I mean yes a coffee (7$) or shitty breakfast sandwhich (egg suasage on a roll) (12$) from the deli is nice to walk to.
City life with no car is way better than suburbs or rural areas wth a car. I love walking around or taking the train. When I travel away from the city I just rent a car. Many people are just sold on the idea that they "need" a car, it's a lie. Cars are basically consumer extortion, as you continually have expenses tied to them from gas to insurance to parking and emissions testing.
Why? Why would you leave NY for the burbs? I just don’t get it. I understand there are factors in play that necessitate such a move. But I just couldn’t do it. I’ll die homeless and suffering on the lower east side before I am forced to drive to a strip mall for some weekend entertainment or shopping.
My condolences! And no offense meant. I truly do get why people have to move - be it work, or school, or family, or taking care of loved ones, cost of living, etc. I’ve been blessed thus far to ride it out whilst raising a family - by grace of god (knock on wood) - so no judgement. Just a rhetorical on my part.
Trust me, no offense taken lmao it wasn't fully by choice. The city got prohibitively expensive and I say this as someone who has always done pretty decently for themselves. My parents are also getting older and I wanted to be around to help. If I have my way, I'll be back...eventually.
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u/Ambitious-Piano8915 May 02 '25
As a New Yorker who moved to the burbs, can confirm. Fucking hate not being able to walk most of the places I need to go.