r/MURICA • u/HoneydewNo9941 • 12d ago

Suburbs

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I can never get over how American suburbs look like. Every time I walk through one I wonder why they cant be accomplished more around the world. The yards, the safe feeling, and the homes. (I think Chile tried to replicate a bit) I just think it’s one of the beauties America has.

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u/Denalin 12d ago

They should have school buses for your kids since the school is so far away. Wouldn’t you agree that it’d be better if there was a neighborhood school they could just walk to so once they’re eight or nine years old and able to handle it themselves you don’t need to chauffeur them to school?

Any time I go on vacation it seems the best places are either the ones out in the middle of nowhere with tons of nature, or the ones with amenities within walking distance… Places like this downtown Healdsburg: https://thehealdsburgwalkingtour.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/street-shot.jpg

For sure the argument that “adding” walkability takes away from driveability is legit. Ultimately the two are zero-sum. If you want ultimate driveability you need huge parking lots and wide roads, which make walking inconvenient or impossible. If you want ultimate walkability you need small streets and things spaced close together which precludes parking lots.

If you designed a place from the ground up to be a family friendly walkable town (like Culdesac in Tempe https://culdesac.com), you would absolutely go light on cars from the start. It would make car ownership more expensive, but potentially you wouldn’t need the car as much so it would even out.

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u/lampstax 12d ago

There is school bus in my area ( public bus that most school kids takes ) but my kids still prefer to be dropped off as they don't like to use the bus. Have to wait at bus stop in all weather .. needs to walk 5 min to bus stop .. kids they don't like on the bus .. fighting that happens on the bus sometimes or if the bus is full then waiting for the next one will make them late. So many reason why driving is the better experience that they want to convince you is bad so the rich people will get to enjoy without the poor cluttering up the road.

I do agree with you that when I travel I love places with walkability as well. But the difference is that is travel. I can meander in Paris and Rome with no set schedule .. going into random coffee shops to try different croissants while taking transit is fun. Getting lost in NY trying to find your way through the subway system is fun as well ( until you're late to your next Broadway show ). I commuted in buses most of my youth as well as in college. I took CalTrain and BART to work in SF. I even took those bus to Disneyland that drops you in front of the gate. 😃

All to say that I don't come at this without knowledge of the transit experience in America as well as other countries around the world. In every single one of those experience .. the majority of rich people are in private cars on the public road as that is the better mode of daily transportation overall.

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u/Denalin 11d ago

Ah what I meant by school bus was one of those yellow ones that has a space for every kid along the route. The buses in my hometown had room for say ~50 kids and a set route to pick up that many kids. It was super convenient for my parents.

I’d agree that in most cities, especially US cities, private cars are used by the well-off and transit by the middle and lower classes, but a sign of a great transit system is one that is used by all social classes. Tokyo is a good example of this kind of system.

I actually think Caltrain is a pretty good example too, as it has probably the highest-paid customers of any transit system in the US lol (maybe SMART in Sonoma/Marin or some of the ferries beat it). I used to ride it from SF to a tech job in the Peninsula; sometimes I’d carpool with a coworker. I’d say the days I took Caltrain were much more relaxed than being stuck in 101 traffic.

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u/lampstax 11d ago

My absolute worse horror commute was on CalTrain with a jumper before Uber days. SF to Mt View and stuck for 3 hours at San Bruno while they did god know what to clear it out .. no idea when the train would restart again and my car was parked in Mt View and I had to ask someone to drive out from SJ to San Bruno to drop me off in Mt View at around 7PM ( still traffic hours ) .. the stuff of nightmares.

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u/Denalin 11d ago

Woof. I’ve been there. They really need to grade separate that entire corridor.