America is huge, but I think this is more to do with the specifics of how each city is built, where some are better than others.
I sold my car when I moved to D.C -- no one needs one, unless you commute outside of D.C. My social life grew exponentially when I moved. The city has dependable cross walks and (especially compared to Dallas standards) absolutely gargantuan side walks. As a bonus, those sidewalks don't abruptly and inextricably end for random stretches of the street. Public transportation is great. As a result, people are out and about where they can have random encounters with each other, on the way to parks filled with people hanging out and mingling.
I'm not saying this is the epitome, but it's leagues better than places like Dallas where random sections of the city feel really sketchy, walking on the sidewalk (anywhere other than in the suburbs) feels like gambling with your life (given that sidewalks are about 2 feet wide and next to high speed traffic), electronic cross walks often don't work, there's huge stretches of nothing from place to place (so even if you could walk, you'd have little reason to, given that you'll be walking alone without a soul in sight -- unless you count the people in their cars passing by -- and with nothing worth seeing along the way), etc.
I think the comment above could have been better articulated. America is ‘huge’ because of cultural inclinations. People want to feel autonomous. People don't want to live in too close of proximity to others. Despite recent attempts to create more welcoming city environments (safe streets, missing middle housing, equitable transportation) in the US, most still prefer suburban living. In turn, giving a more ‘spread out feeling.’ That’s just my opinion though.
Europe & Asia is huge, but that's irrelevant to the structure of cities & economic hubs. Cities in America are designed around cars to the detriment of community, shared prosperity, & fitness/health.
cstrahan|3 years ago
I sold my car when I moved to D.C -- no one needs one, unless you commute outside of D.C. My social life grew exponentially when I moved. The city has dependable cross walks and (especially compared to Dallas standards) absolutely gargantuan side walks. As a bonus, those sidewalks don't abruptly and inextricably end for random stretches of the street. Public transportation is great. As a result, people are out and about where they can have random encounters with each other, on the way to parks filled with people hanging out and mingling.
I'm not saying this is the epitome, but it's leagues better than places like Dallas where random sections of the city feel really sketchy, walking on the sidewalk (anywhere other than in the suburbs) feels like gambling with your life (given that sidewalks are about 2 feet wide and next to high speed traffic), electronic cross walks often don't work, there's huge stretches of nothing from place to place (so even if you could walk, you'd have little reason to, given that you'll be walking alone without a soul in sight -- unless you count the people in their cars passing by -- and with nothing worth seeing along the way), etc.
amanaplanacanal|3 years ago
trevorboaconstr|3 years ago
Hammershaft|3 years ago
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7Nw6qyyrTeI