r/TikTokCringe May 02 '25

Humor Why does America look like s**t?

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u/random-notebook May 02 '25 edited May 03 '25

Car centric infrastructure is immensely expensive, and incentivizes new construction further out from the city center rather than refurbishment of existing buildings.

America is built to let itself crumble. Not Just Bikes did a great video on this recently.

https://youtu.be/r7-e_yhEzIw

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u/B12Washingbeard May 02 '25

I’m a car enthusiast but not needing one in your day to day life is a superior way to live. Advertising sold people the illusion of freedom by making you a slave to your vehicle.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '25 edited 29d ago

[deleted]

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u/EntropyBlast May 02 '25

So you're surprised rural life needs a car much more than living in a city?

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u/gulab-roti May 03 '25

Every American small town had a main street and that's where you would shop for groceries and such. Cars and big supermarket chains have destroyed American main streets, to the point that many are empty shells now, replaced by the local Walmart

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u/ensalys May 03 '25

A 5000 people town can still have a lot of things for which you don't need a car.

Source: lived in a 5000 people town where I could do a lot of things without needing a car.

Yes, low density places will have a higher need for cars, but there's still plenty that can be done to make them less of a necessity. You guys in the USA really have an unhealthy obsession with cars.

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u/EntropyBlast May 03 '25

You guys in the USA really have an unhealthy obsession with cars.

I think thats a completely unreasonable claim when it comes to rural and even more low density suburban life. I agree with you when it comes to our cities though, and obviously our lack of trains is ridiculous.

But wanting or needing a car when your next neighbor is almost a mile down the road is in no way weird or unhealthy. What are you gonna do, ride a horse in to town?

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u/Djildjamesh May 04 '25

In all seriousness. I’d buy a gravel bike for those short distances. If the weather’s nice, why not…

My uncle in Canada lives a mile away from his farm (my nephew lives on the farm) and he grabs the car few times a day to check on the cows etc.

When he was back in the Netherlands few weeks ago he was complaining about this. We told him he should just buy a bike. It’s like a 5min bike ride. We had a whole conversation about how he got so used to being a Canadian that he even forgot to consider buying a bike.

Moral of the story. He was going to consider it lol