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As a Londoner visiting San Jose - I was appalled at how difficult it was to simply cross the street to go from one section of strip malls to the other. Cars zo

by leonroy 11y ago

As a Londoner visiting San Jose - I was appalled at how difficult it was to simply cross the street to go from one section of strip malls to the other. Cars zoom by, there were two sets of lights which took nearly 15 minutes of waiting to navigate and on top of that drivers look at you as if you're some sort of pariah (felt like it at least!). Very, very different to what I'm used to in London and sad to be honest. The valley is an incredibly beautiful part of the world and it seems urban planners decided to cover it with miles of single story buildings and car parks.

Zigurd 11y ago
> ...and on top of that drivers look at you as if you're some sort of pariah (felt like it at least!) In America you're probably a bum, have a drunk driving conviction, or are otherwise outcast or not where you should be. If you are waiting (and waiting...) near a bus stop early enough in the day you might be taken for an honest but low-wage worker. But if you are on a dilapidated bike in some parts of town it's a sure bet you are on your way to a mandated alcoholism recovery program.
- throwawaygrey 11y ago
  I'm not sure if you're trying to be ironic but just in case you are, I'm sad to report that everything you've written, the majority of the time is true. Most people in America that ride around on dilapidated bikes, hang out at bus stops, etc., are the dregs. The truth isn't politically correct.
- fennecfoxen 11y ago
  > if you are on a dilapidated bike in some parts of town On the other hand if you're on a $3000 racing bike along the edge of the Bay then chances are you're an "honest" tech-worker commuting down to your job at Google from your swanky apartment in San Francisco's Mission district.
  - umeshunni 11y ago
    "swanky"..."Mission district"
    - fennecfoxen 11y ago
      hey, I said the apartment was swanky, not the street outside in front of it.
      - deleted 11y ago
        [deleted]
  - simonebrunozzi 11y ago
    What's up with Mission district? I live there. I wouldn't call the area swanky. Just curious, no offense taken of course.
fennecfoxen 11y ago
> As a Londoner visiting San Jose - I was appalled at how difficult it was to simply cross the street to go from one section of strip malls to the other. The problem is that the strip malls are designed for access by car. That means being close to multi-laned expressways, at least in most of the suburbs. San Jose proper actually has a decent (for the US) public transit system, including Caltrain, the VTA light rail, and a bunch of buses. They're optimized for commuter service, though, and will only take you few interesting places. The downtown area of San Jose, though, is pretty walkable and isn't too dull (sure, it's no San Francisco or London, but what is?) San Pedro Square has some nice restaurants, and you can head from there to the park and then up Paseo de San Antonio to the university and cute coffeeshops. If you're up for more of a trek (or a few more stops on the light rail) there's a decent little Japantown a little ways to the north as well.
- anpk 11y ago
  I disagree that San Jose has a decent public transit system. Even if you have to use caltrain, you have to drive to the caltrain station which makes it incredibly difficult for tourists and non car owners.
- andreyk 11y ago
  When I moved to the Bay Area I got a little (not terribly priced!) studio apartment walking distance from downtown San Jose. As you say it certainly is no Big City downtown district like SF, but I must say I feel very happy with the decision - there are quite a few good places packed into the small downtown that I can just walk to whenever I feel like it, and the light rail is right there to take me to work. Having a reason to walk every day is actually great, I far prefer it to being stuck in traffic instead. I don't even have a car, but just using buses+light rail+caltrain has worked really quite well thus far for the times I want to go to nearby towns/SF.
SilasX 11y ago
I know what you mean! I've lived in places in Texas that, by all rights[0], should have been walkable, but in practice weren't for the very same reasons: 1) Social inertia: you're going to be the only one doing it, and feel like a pariah. It also feels like you're holding everyone up because they basically expect to be able to turn across a lane that now has a pedestrian. 2) Poor design: you have to take a bizarrely circuitous route that makes you ask, "okay, did anyone actually try using this before final approval?" Especially sharp contrast going from my office in SF to the Googleplex in Mountain View -- in the former, I could stroll around, take a walk, go wherever. At the Googleplex, you end up having to take unofficial routes between buildings -- walk up a sharp driveway (shared with cars) rather than the out-of-way sidewalk, dart across a busy street while traffic is held up, sometimes waiting on the median for the other side to clear up. Yuck. [0] Example A: Lived in apartment catty-corner from my (large) university in a small town. Much of the route didn't have a sidewalk, just a curb and some dirt/grass. People would actually ask if you needed a lift! No, just walking to my apartment, 1/3 mile away! Example B: Lived in an apartment directly across the street (a two-lane, slow one) from a shopping center and less than a half mile from a bar -- but again, drivers don't expect you to cross the street or walk alongside it, and no sidewalk to the bar. (Just realized this post has a ton of words that are different in British English.)

by leonroy 11y ago

Zigurd 11y ago

> ...and on top of that drivers look at you as if you're some sort of pariah (felt like it at least!) In America you're probably a bum, have a drunk driving conviction, or are otherwise outcast or not where you should be. If you are waiting (and waiting...) near a bus stop early enough in the day you might be taken for an honest but low-wage worker. But if you are on a dilapidated bike in some parts of town it's a sure bet you are on your way to a mandated alcoholism recovery program.

throwawaygrey 11y ago
I'm not sure if you're trying to be ironic but just in case you are, I'm sad to report that everything you've written, the majority of the time is true. Most people in America that ride around on dilapidated bikes, hang out at bus stops, etc., are the dregs. The truth isn't politically correct.
fennecfoxen 11y ago
> if you are on a dilapidated bike in some parts of town On the other hand if you're on a $3000 racing bike along the edge of the Bay then chances are you're an "honest" tech-worker commuting down to your job at Google from your swanky apartment in San Francisco's Mission district.
- umeshunni 11y ago
  "swanky"..."Mission district"
  - fennecfoxen 11y ago
    hey, I said the apartment was swanky, not the street outside in front of it.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
- simonebrunozzi 11y ago
  What's up with Mission district? I live there. I wouldn't call the area swanky. Just curious, no offense taken of course.

fennecfoxen 11y ago

> As a Londoner visiting San Jose - I was appalled at how difficult it was to simply cross the street to go from one section of strip malls to the other. The problem is that the strip malls are designed for access by car. That means being close to multi-laned expressways, at least in most of the suburbs. San Jose proper actually has a decent (for the US) public transit system, including Caltrain, the VTA light rail, and a bunch of buses. They're optimized for commuter service, though, and will only take you few interesting places. The downtown area of San Jose, though, is pretty walkable and isn't too dull (sure, it's no San Francisco or London, but what is?) San Pedro Square has some nice restaurants, and you can head from there to the park and then up Paseo de San Antonio to the university and cute coffeeshops. If you're up for more of a trek (or a few more stops on the light rail) there's a decent little Japantown a little ways to the north as well.

anpk 11y ago
I disagree that San Jose has a decent public transit system. Even if you have to use caltrain, you have to drive to the caltrain station which makes it incredibly difficult for tourists and non car owners.
andreyk 11y ago
When I moved to the Bay Area I got a little (not terribly priced!) studio apartment walking distance from downtown San Jose. As you say it certainly is no Big City downtown district like SF, but I must say I feel very happy with the decision - there are quite a few good places packed into the small downtown that I can just walk to whenever I feel like it, and the light rail is right there to take me to work. Having a reason to walk every day is actually great, I far prefer it to being stuck in traffic instead. I don't even have a car, but just using buses+light rail+caltrain has worked really quite well thus far for the times I want to go to nearby towns/SF.

SilasX 11y ago

I know what you mean! I've lived in places in Texas that, by all rights[0], should have been walkable, but in practice weren't for the very same reasons: 1) Social inertia: you're going to be the only one doing it, and feel like a pariah. It also feels like you're holding everyone up because they basically expect to be able to turn across a lane that now has a pedestrian. 2) Poor design: you have to take a bizarrely circuitous route that makes you ask, "okay, did anyone actually try using this before final approval?" Especially sharp contrast going from my office in SF to the Googleplex in Mountain View -- in the former, I could stroll around, take a walk, go wherever. At the Googleplex, you end up having to take unofficial routes between buildings -- walk up a sharp driveway (shared with cars) rather than the out-of-way sidewalk, dart across a busy street while traffic is held up, sometimes waiting on the median for the other side to clear up. Yuck. [0] Example A: Lived in apartment catty-corner from my (large) university in a small town. Much of the route didn't have a sidewalk, just a curb and some dirt/grass. People would actually ask if you needed a lift! No, just walking to my apartment, 1/3 mile away! Example B: Lived in an apartment directly across the street (a two-lane, slow one) from a shopping center and less than a half mile from a bar -- but again, drivers don't expect you to cross the street or walk alongside it, and no sidewalk to the bar. (Just realized this post has a ton of words that are different in British English.)