Cr4shMyCar
@Cr4shMyCar

I'm someone who lived in suburbia for the first 18 years of my life, and I moved to a new place in a more urban area about 6 months ago to be closer to college (about a 15 min commute vs 1 hour). It absolutely blew my mind that there's a coffee shop at the end of the block that I can walk to in less than 5 minutes. If I expand that walking distance out to 15 minutes, I can get to a pizza place, a Chinese place, a Thai place, a gym, a grocery store, and a really beautiful park. A cool little indie movie theater, the local library, and a major mall are all within 25 minutes.
Compare that to the suburbia I lived in, where I could walk places, but it took probably 25-30 minutes to get anywhere. And I had to cut through a subdivision and my school district's campus because the only other way to get places was to walk down a major road and hope I didn't get hit by a car going 30 MPH through a mostly residential area. (I never did that, but apparently it was just kind of accepted because I saw plenty of people who did.) Really the only places I'd want to go were the library or the beach, since there was nothing else in a decent walking distance.
Having the ability to get places without having to own a car rules. I can take a study break and walk down to the coffee shop! I can take an afternoon to explore the park near me! I didn't realize it until I moved here, but the suburbs create car dependence that just isolates people, especially teenagers whose modern social spheres are centered around school, extracurriculars, and home. (that's also probably something I'll make a post like this about) Suburbia fucking sucks for everyone, but it persists because it's sold as the epitome of the American Dream.


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