I’ve heard the legends of having to drive to literally everywhere (e.g. drive thru banks), but I have no clue how far apart things are.

I live in suburban London where you can get to a big supermarket in 10 minutes of walking, a train station in 20 minutes and convenience stores are everywhere. You can get anywhere with bus and train in a few hours.

Can someone help a clueless British lemmyposter know how far things are in the US?

EDIT

Here are my walking distances:

  • To the nearest convenience store: 250m
  • To the nearest chain supermarket: 350m
  • To the bus stop: 310m
  • To the nearest park: 400m
  • To the nearest big supermarket: 1.3km
  • To the nearest library: 1.2km
  • To the nearest train station: 1km

Straight-line distance to Big Ben: 16km

  • dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    0·
    2 months ago

    Well, those distances use a nearby highway, and there are no bike lanes anywhere (let alone sidewalks). As mentioned earlier, being suicidal means I did use a bicycle anyway, and after a couple years I had a brain injury, was hit by cars twice and ended up with permanent injuries. So… yeah, I don’t recommend cycling (if you feel like being alive and able-bodied, anyway).

    What is also not mentioned is that the nearest supermarket is a shitty Walmart, the nearest park is very small and not really worth going to, and the bus is not a practical form of public transit here.

    I have to drive 20 - 30 minutes to actually get to stores, parks, or other places I would actually go to. I think that’s pretty good relative to most people, I live in a centralized location and most places are equidistant. I used to live in a nearby more rural town and I had to drive 45 - 60 minutes to get most places, and that was much worse.

    • pumpkinseedoil@sh.itjust.works
      0·
      2 months ago

      (That’s why I said if you had safe bicycle lanes. But are there no local politicians who’d be willing to do anything about that? A gravel road isn’t that expensive and would suffice.)

      • dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        0·
        2 months ago

        The county mayor describes himself as a Rothbardian, and the government here sometimes feels openly hostile to people, but especially to bicyclists. I received a lot of harassment for cycling, it is not supported culturally, and is even viewed as though I am a political enemy of the people. Huge, lifted emotional-support trucks are pretty common here.

        • pumpkinseedoil@sh.itjust.works
          0·
          2 months ago

          Damn

          Rothbard opposed egalitarianism and the civil rights movement, and blamed women’s voting and activism for the growth of the welfare state.[24][25][10][11] He promoted historical revisionism and befriended the Holocaust denier Harry Elmer Barnes.[26][27][28] Later in his career, Rothbard advocated a libertarian alliance with paleoconservatism (which he called paleolibertarianism), favoring right-wing populism and describing David Duke and Joseph McCarthy as models for political strategy.[29][30][24][31] In the 2010s, he received renewed attention as an influence on the alt-right.[32][10][33][34]

          Oh and bicycling also wasn’t popular in Europe when my grandfather was young (50s/60s), when you were cycling people thought you were too poor to buy a motorcycle. But mindsets can change, now bicycling is hugely popular both for moving around (especially in cities) and for sports.

          • dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone
            0·
            2 months ago

            yeah, during COVID the mayor became famous for running attack ads against the health department, and as a result of his leadership the state legislature stripped the health department of their ability to implement any policies or directives