I live in Queens, NY. We have an amazing public transportation system. I have a bus stop 10 feet away from my front door. This makes it very easy to be lazy. However, I like to stay healthy, so I walk miles a day. Most people I know, however, would not even walk across the street to pick up their dinner and would have it delivered instead. It is true, in my experience, that most Americans would never walk a mile if they didn't have to.
[–] IggyReilly ago
One mile isn't far at all. I used to walk to work, 3 miles each way. That time was the best part of my workday. My town isn't very walk or bike friendly, but it's doable.
[–] badkangaroo ago
live in san francisco. walk about 3 miles round trip to work. that's 4 muni stops. no where near long enough a distance to justify public transport or car. on weekends walk to north beach with girlfriend, 7 miles there, have fun walk back. 1 mile isn't far at all. but im in a minority in this country.
I worked with a girl from Bosnia. She said that she would go home and everyone would marvel that she had a car. She looked at me a little frustrated saying that it was different here, you HAVE to have a car. Our cities are not made for walking. It wasn't always this way, but guess who had the money to go after the urban planners. Also, the car companies bought out the mass transit companies and slowly shut them down.
A mile is a long way, not for the distance, but because you have to doge all the cars. It isn't a cultural thing, it's by design.
[–] PM_ME_YOUR_BOOBS2 ago
It's not that it is a long way to walk it isn't, it's that walking a mile takes 15 minutes ish, so say I need something from the grocery store that's about a mile from me, 15 minutes there 10 minutes to get my shit and 15 minutes back that's 40 minutes I rarely have 40 minutes that something doesn't need my attention short of after 9pm and then it's dark and this time of year cold as balls so I look at the trail that I can walk to the store on and my car with heated seats and which would you choose?
[–] RaiFighter ago
I walk about two miles both ways to get to work on the daily. It's nothing to me; inconvenient on particularly cold or hot days, but hardly a long way.
[–] Maxcactus ago (edited ago)
There are over 300 million of us. We have a wide range of thoughts about every subject. Our country spans an entire continent and across an ocean so no one way of doing anything works everywhere. In a general sense Americans are wealthy enough to own and drive cars and prefer the convenience. After all cars for the masses first began here. We invented drive- in theaters and restaurants and the drive through. My public library has a drive up window for picking up,reserved materials as does my pharmacy. Strip cent enter retail is designed for people to just drive up,to a business.