4 ms·

I would largely agree with this viewpoint having grown up in the US in a medium sized city. Everything was a few miles away, public transit was present but not

by csydas 3y ago

I would largely agree with this viewpoint having grown up in the US in a medium sized city. Everything was a few miles away, public transit was present but not reliable (missing a bus meant waiting 40+ minutes for the next one), no bike lanes or paths except for one outside of the city, etc. as a child bikes were our only option to meet friends but this meant biking in traffic or on sidewalks, neither pleasant or convenient. While i survived fine, it was in spite of the childhood, not because of it. I still don’t want to bike in a city unless they have well defined and protected bike lanes; too many close calls, not so close calls that ended up in disaster, bike theft, etc. After moving to Europe and seeing how mobile kids are without cars even, i wish i had that growing up, as just seems so much nicer to be able to meet friends and do things without needing a car or having to survive biking in traffic. I’m glad i had internet very early to make hanging out with friends easier and keeping up with what’s going on way easier. instead of having to do a bunch of phone calls or go visit and make plans, we could just do IRC or AIM or Skype chats and it’s much like it is nowadays for planning and joining/declining meetups. I do wonder what my teens years would have looked like if we had the same public transport options as most EU cities do.

filoleg 3y ago
> After moving to Europe and seeing how mobile kids are without cars even, i wish i had that growing up, as just seems so much nicer to be able to meet friends and do things without needing a car or having to survive biking in traffic. Same, but in regards to moving to NYC recently. Seeing just random groups of kids who look no older than middle schoolers riding on subway along with everyone else and just going about their day and visiting places on weekends makes me feel happy for them. Just knowing that people are able to have that kind of experiences I only could dream of having as a child. Makes me feel hopeful, knowing that at least some of the kids in get to grow up like this. I am very confident that helicopter parenting was the biggest hindrance when it came time for me to get out into the real world. The level of preparedness that those kids growing up in NYC will have is a great advantage. Quite a few of my friends who grew up in NYC (and other places with similar cultures around public transport usage; ofc almost all of those other ones were outside of the US) definitely have that “just built different” feel to them. And that feel mostly extends to things like going to places, trying new things, independence/drive, etc., which all feel like extensions of those experiences I described above. Not trying to say “NYC-grown people are special, and people from the rest of the US is all the same and lame,” that’s entirely false. Lots of different parts of the US with people who grew up there having their own unique culture and “built different” feel (SoCal, south-east, north-east, PNW, Texas, etc.). But in terms of that independence and just being able to go places and do things on your own from a very early age (way before you can get a driver’s permit/license in any US state), it absolutely feels like it gives people something that is very difficult to replicate otherwise.

by csydas 3y ago

filoleg 3y ago

> After moving to Europe and seeing how mobile kids are without cars even, i wish i had that growing up, as just seems so much nicer to be able to meet friends and do things without needing a car or having to survive biking in traffic. Same, but in regards to moving to NYC recently. Seeing just random groups of kids who look no older than middle schoolers riding on subway along with everyone else and just going about their day and visiting places on weekends makes me feel happy for them. Just knowing that people are able to have that kind of experiences I only could dream of having as a child. Makes me feel hopeful, knowing that at least some of the kids in get to grow up like this. I am very confident that helicopter parenting was the biggest hindrance when it came time for me to get out into the real world. The level of preparedness that those kids growing up in NYC will have is a great advantage. Quite a few of my friends who grew up in NYC (and other places with similar cultures around public transport usage; ofc almost all of those other ones were outside of the US) definitely have that “just built different” feel to them. And that feel mostly extends to things like going to places, trying new things, independence/drive, etc., which all feel like extensions of those experiences I described above. Not trying to say “NYC-grown people are special, and people from the rest of the US is all the same and lame,” that’s entirely false. Lots of different parts of the US with people who grew up there having their own unique culture and “built different” feel (SoCal, south-east, north-east, PNW, Texas, etc.). But in terms of that independence and just being able to go places and do things on your own from a very early age (way before you can get a driver’s permit/license in any US state), it absolutely feels like it gives people something that is very difficult to replicate otherwise.