5 ms·

One of the culture shocks from Europe to US (California) was that there are places where you can't do shit without a car. Like, no place place to walk along the

One of the culture shocks from Europe to US (California) was that there are places where you can't do shit without a car. Like, no place place to walk along the street to get from point A to B.

hannasanarion 8y ago
It's because of the geography. Southern California and Arizona especially were impossible to live in until after Air Conditioning became cheap and widespread in the 1950s. At that time, modernism in architecture and city planning was at its peak: build it big, build it simple, and build it for cars.
- village-idiot 8y ago
  The good news is that droughts will forcefully solve this problem in places like Arizona and SoCal. The bad news is that droughts are coming.
  - bryanlarsen 8y ago
    Desalinization is expensive compared to pumping water out of the ground, but it's dirt cheap compared to ubiquitous air conditioning and/or depopulating cities. The coming droughts will affect agriculture, but not the cities.
- dfee 8y ago
  This thread is filled with strange ideas. I live in San Diego. I know people who don’t have air conditioning, and they’re fine. The weather is mild unless you get 15-20 miles off the coast, and then it’s still not that bad 90% of the time. Where did you get this idea?
  - danans 8y ago
    A lot of the post WWII building in Southern California was in areas 15-20 miles inland where A/C helped, i.e parts of OC and the inland empire. Much of the this was spurred by the aerospace and oil industries. Even in LA itself, the urban heat island effect is enough that many homes have A/C.
- djrogers 8y ago
  Southern California? There are tons of places in LA and San Diego where AC is entirely optional and often not installed. 72 and sunny is a stereotype for a reason...
  - hfdgiutdryg 8y ago
    Those places are limited to a strip running along the coastline.
Tor3 8y ago
I was visiting a customer site near Miami, some years ago. I opted for not renting a car, I could easily go to the customer's site by taxi. But then some components got stuck in customs, and I had to stay the weekend. It turned out that the hotel was its own enclave if you didn't have a car! I couldn't walk to the shopping mall, or a nearby restaurant, I tried everything. Just couldn't get there. It was like being in a Kafka novel. Nightmarish, and utterly unnecessary.
- m_mueller 8y ago
  You mean there were no sidewalks? That's the thing, often in the US I felt very boxed into a place, simply because I couldn't just do a Cartman and 'go home' (or someplace else).
  - AstralStorm 8y ago
    It is probably more than a few miles to get anywhere which makes what in EU would be a simple walk into an expedition. Reminder: originally one (Roman) mile was a measure of thousand paces, while a Dutch, Russian and such miles were related to an hour of marching. (later rescaled in feet)
  - ghaff 8y ago
    You definitely have areas that are not designed for walking at all. I've been in a situation where I could see a shopping mall and restaurants from my hotel across a busy multi-lane road and there was literally no way to get there on foot. That said, it's not the US vs. everywhere else. For example, the UK has lots of charming little villages where you can walk to the pub and a few stores. Once you get out of the village though, some public footpaths notwithstanding, you're mostly talking very narrow roads with no shoulders, much less sidewalks, and no real way to walk off the road.
    - m_mueller 8y ago
      In Switzerland one of the things we'd learn in primary school age was to walk roads without sidewalks - always on the left side such that incoming cars are in front, and by paying lots of attention and walking in single file. Since cars expect at least cyclists anywhere they generally should be mindful of slow traffic.
strictnein 8y ago
California is the ultimate example of car dependency. There are many, many other places to live in the US that aren't like that.
- hfdgiutdryg 8y ago
  California has the better "car culture", but Texas or Arizona has to take the cake for car dependency.
- Keyframe 8y ago
  Of course, that's why I've mentioned California explicitly. Mentioned Texas is similar, and is also notable for my only time when I saw a car tire explode due to the heat.

One of the culture shocks from Europe to US (California) was that there are places where you can't do shit without a car. Like, no place place to walk along the street to get from point A to B.

hannasanarion 8y ago

It's because of the geography. Southern California and Arizona especially were impossible to live in until after Air Conditioning became cheap and widespread in the 1950s. At that time, modernism in architecture and city planning was at its peak: build it big, build it simple, and build it for cars.

village-idiot 8y ago
The good news is that droughts will forcefully solve this problem in places like Arizona and SoCal. The bad news is that droughts are coming.
- bryanlarsen 8y ago
  Desalinization is expensive compared to pumping water out of the ground, but it's dirt cheap compared to ubiquitous air conditioning and/or depopulating cities. The coming droughts will affect agriculture, but not the cities.
dfee 8y ago
This thread is filled with strange ideas. I live in San Diego. I know people who don’t have air conditioning, and they’re fine. The weather is mild unless you get 15-20 miles off the coast, and then it’s still not that bad 90% of the time. Where did you get this idea?
- danans 8y ago
  A lot of the post WWII building in Southern California was in areas 15-20 miles inland where A/C helped, i.e parts of OC and the inland empire. Much of the this was spurred by the aerospace and oil industries. Even in LA itself, the urban heat island effect is enough that many homes have A/C.
djrogers 8y ago
Southern California? There are tons of places in LA and San Diego where AC is entirely optional and often not installed. 72 and sunny is a stereotype for a reason...
- hfdgiutdryg 8y ago
  Those places are limited to a strip running along the coastline.

Tor3 8y ago

I was visiting a customer site near Miami, some years ago. I opted for not renting a car, I could easily go to the customer's site by taxi. But then some components got stuck in customs, and I had to stay the weekend. It turned out that the hotel was its own enclave if you didn't have a car! I couldn't walk to the shopping mall, or a nearby restaurant, I tried everything. Just couldn't get there. It was like being in a Kafka novel. Nightmarish, and utterly unnecessary.

m_mueller 8y ago
You mean there were no sidewalks? That's the thing, often in the US I felt very boxed into a place, simply because I couldn't just do a Cartman and 'go home' (or someplace else).
- AstralStorm 8y ago
  It is probably more than a few miles to get anywhere which makes what in EU would be a simple walk into an expedition. Reminder: originally one (Roman) mile was a measure of thousand paces, while a Dutch, Russian and such miles were related to an hour of marching. (later rescaled in feet)
- ghaff 8y ago
  You definitely have areas that are not designed for walking at all. I've been in a situation where I could see a shopping mall and restaurants from my hotel across a busy multi-lane road and there was literally no way to get there on foot. That said, it's not the US vs. everywhere else. For example, the UK has lots of charming little villages where you can walk to the pub and a few stores. Once you get out of the village though, some public footpaths notwithstanding, you're mostly talking very narrow roads with no shoulders, much less sidewalks, and no real way to walk off the road.
  - m_mueller 8y ago
    In Switzerland one of the things we'd learn in primary school age was to walk roads without sidewalks - always on the left side such that incoming cars are in front, and by paying lots of attention and walking in single file. Since cars expect at least cyclists anywhere they generally should be mindful of slow traffic.

strictnein 8y ago

California is the ultimate example of car dependency. There are many, many other places to live in the US that aren't like that.

hfdgiutdryg 8y ago
California has the better "car culture", but Texas or Arizona has to take the cake for car dependency.
Keyframe 8y ago
Of course, that's why I've mentioned California explicitly. Mentioned Texas is similar, and is also notable for my only time when I saw a car tire explode due to the heat.