4 ms·

> I love how I can just jump on a bike here and be at a large supermarket in 5 minutes If you live in a large US city, this can still be very manageable. There

> I love how I can just jump on a bike here and be at a large supermarket in 5 minutes If you live in a large US city, this can still be very manageable. There are two large grocery stores and a small one as well as a Target and a metro line within a 5 minute walk of my house. Apart from the metro line, we didn't really prioritize the grocery stores, etc when looking for a house. That said, there are many downsides to living in big US cities as well.

x3iv130f 5y ago
Those places tend to be unafordable longterm for anyone making even twice the median salary.
- rubidium 5y ago
  Not in the Midwest.
  - dagw 5y ago
    What are some nice, livable and affordable cities you can recommend in the Midwest where you don't need a car?
    - keawade 5y ago
      As someone who has lived in the Midwest for the past ten years I think you’ll be hard pressed to find this. In Lincoln NE, for example, all new housing for at least the past 30 years has been in car-dependent suburban developments which has resulted in all but the Haymarket district of downtown being car dependent. That district has been mostly livable without a car for the past couple years after a grocery store was built there. I say “mostly” because as soon as you want to do anything outside of The dozen or so blocks of the Haymarket a car quickly becomes required again. This is a common theme of walkable areas in the US and Canada. They do still exist but because of the development patterns of the past 30+ years they are small islands in an ocean of cars. Their scarcity also drives up prices and makes them less affordable than surrounding areas.
    - kgermino 5y ago
      I’m in Milwaukee, WI. Houses in my neighborhood are a bit expensive - starting around $300k for a SFH - but you can live a very full life without a car. For myself: we have a car for visiting people outside the city and going to the lumberyard, but groceries, schools, parks, hospital, etc are all in walking distance and downtown is about 10 minutes away on the bus
    - selectodude 5y ago
      Chicago
    - jeffbee 5y ago
      Any college town, to a fair approximation. Also Carmel, IN for some reason.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
- paledot 5y ago
  That is ultimately a problem of scarcity. No one is building walkable communities, so the only remaining walkable communities are the "historic" ones that, surprise, everyone wants to live in because the alternative sucks. Elastic demand, inelastic supply.
  - bsanr2 5y ago
    The channel mentions regularly that this isn't because of a lack of demand, but because of restrictive zoning laws and building codes that forbid it.
- throwaway894345 5y ago
  Jobs in those places also tend to pay a lot higher than the median salary.
znowcone 5y ago
Doesn't sound like a lot to be honest. This is what I'm used to in Germany, say around 1km radius, everything walkable: * 1x big REWE, 3x small REWE, 1x Real, 1x Netto, 2x ALDI, 3x LIDL, 1x Turkish grocery store, 1x Asian grocery store * Too many kiosks too count (tobacco, drinks, snacks, maybe like a convinience store) * Too many bakeries to count * 2 tram/metro stations, soon to be 3 * 5 bus stations (not counting the weird ones) What they probably meant was they can hop on a bike and be in /any/ supermarket they fancy in this time. Your city seems pretty good compared to what we're usually seeing from city planning in the US though.
- hef19898 5y ago
  That does sound like the Ruhrpott if I had to guess!
  - znowcone 5y ago
    I feel like it could be an elaborate social engineering attack, but yes bingo :)
    - hef19898 5y ago
      The Kiosks gave it away! I've never seen such density of them anywhere, incl. Berlin. And definitely not Bavaria! They are pretty cool, so!
- throwaway894345 5y ago
  Oh, that wasn’t an exhaustive list, just the places my wife and I go. We also have various american, african, asian, and middle eastern corner stores and a dozen restaurants, Dollar Store type shops, liquor stores, and some other things I’m forgetting. But I also live between a large park and a body of water so there’s presumably less area in my “1km radius” than yours. Either way, my point wasn’t that my US city is better than European cities, but rather that it’s more walkable than most American cities.

x3iv130f 5y ago

Those places tend to be unafordable longterm for anyone making even twice the median salary.

rubidium 5y ago
Not in the Midwest.
- dagw 5y ago
  What are some nice, livable and affordable cities you can recommend in the Midwest where you don't need a car?
  - keawade 5y ago
    As someone who has lived in the Midwest for the past ten years I think you’ll be hard pressed to find this. In Lincoln NE, for example, all new housing for at least the past 30 years has been in car-dependent suburban developments which has resulted in all but the Haymarket district of downtown being car dependent. That district has been mostly livable without a car for the past couple years after a grocery store was built there. I say “mostly” because as soon as you want to do anything outside of The dozen or so blocks of the Haymarket a car quickly becomes required again. This is a common theme of walkable areas in the US and Canada. They do still exist but because of the development patterns of the past 30+ years they are small islands in an ocean of cars. Their scarcity also drives up prices and makes them less affordable than surrounding areas.
  - kgermino 5y ago
    I’m in Milwaukee, WI. Houses in my neighborhood are a bit expensive - starting around $300k for a SFH - but you can live a very full life without a car. For myself: we have a car for visiting people outside the city and going to the lumberyard, but groceries, schools, parks, hospital, etc are all in walking distance and downtown is about 10 minutes away on the bus
  - selectodude 5y ago
    Chicago
  - jeffbee 5y ago
    Any college town, to a fair approximation. Also Carmel, IN for some reason.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
paledot 5y ago
That is ultimately a problem of scarcity. No one is building walkable communities, so the only remaining walkable communities are the "historic" ones that, surprise, everyone wants to live in because the alternative sucks. Elastic demand, inelastic supply.
- bsanr2 5y ago
  The channel mentions regularly that this isn't because of a lack of demand, but because of restrictive zoning laws and building codes that forbid it.
throwaway894345 5y ago
Jobs in those places also tend to pay a lot higher than the median salary.

znowcone 5y ago

Doesn't sound like a lot to be honest. This is what I'm used to in Germany, say around 1km radius, everything walkable: * 1x big REWE, 3x small REWE, 1x Real, 1x Netto, 2x ALDI, 3x LIDL, 1x Turkish grocery store, 1x Asian grocery store * Too many kiosks too count (tobacco, drinks, snacks, maybe like a convinience store) * Too many bakeries to count * 2 tram/metro stations, soon to be 3 * 5 bus stations (not counting the weird ones) What they probably meant was they can hop on a bike and be in /any/ supermarket they fancy in this time. Your city seems pretty good compared to what we're usually seeing from city planning in the US though.

hef19898 5y ago
That does sound like the Ruhrpott if I had to guess!
- znowcone 5y ago
  I feel like it could be an elaborate social engineering attack, but yes bingo :)
  - hef19898 5y ago
    The Kiosks gave it away! I've never seen such density of them anywhere, incl. Berlin. And definitely not Bavaria! They are pretty cool, so!
throwaway894345 5y ago
Oh, that wasn’t an exhaustive list, just the places my wife and I go. We also have various american, african, asian, and middle eastern corner stores and a dozen restaurants, Dollar Store type shops, liquor stores, and some other things I’m forgetting. But I also live between a large park and a body of water so there’s presumably less area in my “1km radius” than yours. Either way, my point wasn’t that my US city is better than European cities, but rather that it’s more walkable than most American cities.