this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2023
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I recently found out that the suburbs in the US have NOTHING other than single family homes.
No small grocery store, no hair salon, no post office, no pub, no tiny kebab place around the corner, nothing. There are areas where you have to drive 30 minutes just to buy bread.
Now I understand why 15-minute cities are such a buzz among Americans.
Can you believe it that some go batshit crazy and call 15-minute-cities a conspiracy? I laughed real, real hard when I first encountered that.
I'm glad that one didn't stick too much. Covid and all that stuff I still see a lot, but decrying 15 minute cities as a bad thing is really too much mental acrobatics.
It's straight up propaganda and ignorance. They think 15 minute cities are gonna be some sort of commie block that you're not gonna be allowed to leave unless it's under surveillance. Nevermind that it's actually a design choice so you have all the necessities at a more convenient reach if you choose to use them but other than that you can still go wherever you want.
Now you understand why most Americans need cars.
That's a bit exaggerated. "Corner" stores of any kind are rare in suburbs as they are zoned for residential use only. However, there are often small areas zoned commercial scattered around where a small number of shops are located. I'm pretty sure land use planning requires these things to avoid exactly what you were describing.
I've never been more than 10 minutes from groceries or gas in the suburbs. Now rural life, that can mean some planning if you need anything at all. And if you want to do anything remotely interesting you're almost always going to be traveling some distance. And with very few exceptions cars are practically mandatory.
Edit: times based on car travel, not walking.
Honestly, 10 minutes by car is still pretty far for a somewhat urban environment.
That's the crazy thing to Europeans. Pretty much everywhere you can walk 10 to 15 minutes or drive a few minutes by bike to get to a grocery store or restaurant. From the smallest town to the big cities.
No stores, markets, and services also translates to a low availability of jobs.
As a high schooler, you almost inevitably need some kind of "boost" to get out on your own. Maybe college, but at least a car or help signing for an apartment. Without at least some kind of help, it's easy to get literally "stuck" at age 18 or 19. No money for a car or apartment, but no close access to employment without one of those tools.
I see parents moving to the suburbs to give a safe life for their kids away from "bad things" in the city. Meanwhile, parents may not be home until 6 or 7 pm due to leaving the city in traffic, and bored suburban teens can get into just as much trouble as their urban counterparts. Unless the parents are also able to commit some serious money to other involvement for their teenagers, the suburban life may not play out well for them.
Something that really struck me, particularly in Northern Europe, was that the young adults seemed to be a lot more self assured. There are probably a lot of reasons for this that I do not notice, but I wonder how much results from having a practical path to an independent and productive life. This in turn opens up so many other doors socially.
15 minutes walk or 15 minutes drive?
15 minutes walk