5 ms·

Silently huge issue: Boomers cannot walk. I know many that cannot walk a single block. It's why they want parking right up to the door, won't take transit, etc

Silently huge issue: Boomers cannot walk. I know many that cannot walk a single block. It's why they want parking right up to the door, won't take transit, etc - but it's never the given reason. It's a huge reason American cities are so car centric, too.

nickthegreek 3y ago
Pretty broad paintbrush you got there to mark an entire generation (which I assume you are not part of) as the "problem". Guess when they die off in 2 decades we will be in a walking utopia.
- bee_rider 3y ago
  Perhaps the author of that comment was a millennial. Constant, random shit-talking of our generation was the norm set by uncreative thinkpiece authors as we were growing up, so it can be easy sometimes to fall into that mindset. Blame whoever was writing popular media from like 1995-2015.
  - apwell23 3y ago
    Don't know. I am renting my apartment in my 40s because a certain generation blocked all new housing construction using NIMBY regulatory capture. Now seem to be even buying up all the scraps (with cash) that are left over with their enormous savings from the market bull run and housing boom. While enjoying high interest rates of their savings. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/11/13/housing-market-boomer-buyers-mortgage-rates/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/11/13/housing-m...
- jfengel 3y ago
  No, because we've built a ton of infrastructure around their car-centric culture. Even after they die off, it'll take many more decades to rebuild cities and suburbs around the rock-solid assumption that everybody has a car. And we're leaning even more heavily into it. Self-driving cars change a lot of things, but they still contribute to the notion that things can be arbitrarily far apart. If we're very lucky, it will mean that fewer people will own their own cars, and maybe they'll demand infrastructure where they won't have to pay to go to the grocery store. But even that happens on a nuclear fusion time scale (always 20 years away). So no, we're not getting a walking utopia when the Boomers croak. That can't happen until their buildings and roads also rot away.
  - oblio 3y ago
    In the Netherlands it took them about 3 decades (~1970 - ~2000) to have decent bike infrastructure, in the context of them WANTING in 1970 to change the infrastructure. In the US in 2023, the majority of people don't want non-car infrastructure. So realistically widespread/easily available/universal biking/walking friendly infrastructure in the US will probably happen in 2070, if it happens at all.
ryukafalz 3y ago
Would be nice if our cities and towns were built in such a way that you could get around effectively on a mobility scooter, as shown in this interview: https://www.youtube.com/live/knpDMq6wab0?si=A9pHyOdPC5k6kbgP https://www.youtube.com/live/knpDMq6wab0?si=A9pHyOdPC5k6kbgP
- CalRobert 3y ago
  This is another benefit to decent bike infrastructure. One of the dads at my daughters' school has only one leg, and his kids just ride on the scooter with him, about a mile.
- oblio 3y ago
  Bike infrastructure. Also, why mobility scooters first? I'd hope that people with mobility issues could first reach for: 1. Recumbent bikes: https://www.getcycling.org.uk/recumbents/ https://www.getcycling.org.uk/recumbents/ (first regular ones, then electric) 2. Trikes: https://www.getcycling.org.uk/tricycles/ https://www.getcycling.org.uk/tricycles/ (first regular ones, then electric) 3. Handcycles: https://www.getcycling.org.uk/handcycles/ https://www.getcycling.org.uk/handcycles/ 4. Wheelchair tandems where possible: https://www.getcycling.org.uk/wheelchair/ https://www.getcycling.org.uk/wheelchair/ And only 5. or so should be mobility scooters, where they makes sense. Because of the lack of bike infrastructure/walkable neighborhoods, I think the default in the US is directly a mobility scooter.
peer2pay 3y ago
This is obviously completely anecdotal but I've been noticing the same whenever I’m on holiday here in Europe or abroad. My girlfriend and I like to guess where other tourists we see on the streets are from and one of the most obvious indicators for Americans is that as soon as they hit 40-50 there’s a high chance they're either limping or using a cane or similar. My theory used to be that a lot of them played high-impact sports such as (American) football or basketball in their youths and consequently ruined their knees. But honestly not being used to walking might also contribute
- hasmolo 3y ago
  it's dietary as hell. my father was in great shape at 40, got rich and fat, and just lost a foot to type two diabetes he swears he doesn't have. idk
- bjornlouser 3y ago
  "My girlfriend and I like to guess where other tourists we see on the streets are from..." This is part of why some people don't get out more... the creepy people watchers. Maybe someone in the near future will create an analog to the first person shooter, a first person labeler, that will keep some of these folks on the couch.
  - CalRobert 3y ago
    Casually observing the people around you in a public setting is not creepy.
    - bjornlouser 3y ago
      "There's a chubby one with a cane... American! tee hee. There's another one!"
      - hasmolo 3y ago
        do you think people say mean things about you when you're not there? do you think that people are rude and insulting to others by default? this is a common occurrence for people who act this way towards others. if you engage in the above behaviors, then you likely assume everyone else does too, and therefore are reasonably upset at the mean things and sneering you anticipate others engaging in. it's really important in these scenarios to recognize that your actions and others are most likely not the same, most people don't just shit on strangers for 'fun'.
dragonwriter 3y ago
> Boomers cannot walk. I know many that cannot walk a single block. Boomers are between 59 and 78, so that there are a fair number that can’t walk a single block isn't surprising (Silents are even worse in that respect.) > It's a huge reason American cities are so car centric, too No, its not. Its true that when that trend began, most Boomers couldn't walk, too (for the opposite reason; many were too young, more weren't born at all), but that really wasn't the driving factor. Racism was a pretty big factor, as well as corporate interests.
bluetomcat 3y ago
I've never understood that American obsession with drawing distinct lines between people born in different decades. Boomers, X-ers, millennials, Z-ers are treated like different dog breeds when they are all individual people with varying socio-economic backgrounds.
- Angostura 3y ago
  I find it hugely irritating.
  - hasmolo 3y ago
    we spend a lot of time creating these faux classes so we can engage in americas favorite past time, blaming others for our own actions!
    - achenet 3y ago
      it's not just America... lots of other countries will blame their problems on others... I apologize for invoking Godwin's law, but Nazi Germany is a good example, as were/are communist countries blaming everything on 'the capitalist', feminist blaming things on the patriarchy, European (and possible American) far right parties blaming everything on immigrants... "it's the fault of $OUTGROUP" has been a beloved tool of demagogues everywhere for centuries now. wars of religion, for example, witch hunts... yeah. People will do a lot of awful things to other people to avoid confronting their own flaws.
Eumenes 3y ago
Its not just boomers. Recently was in a major US city, a walkable one, for a work offsite. The plan was office -> happy hour -> dinner. We're talking a 7-12 min walk MAX between places. Entire team insists on Ubering everywhere. Everyone is under 40 years old, mostly out of shape/overweight, but not terribly so. Certainly capable of walking a few hundred steps. I suggested walking and was met with "company is paying for everything, so lets just uber". Ironically, a few people on this team complain about car culture and walkability.
- achenet 3y ago
  my goodness... that's absolutely awful.
- local_crmdgeon 3y ago
  They don’t seem embarrassed by it either, right? I think a big part of the boomer issue is that they associate walking with being poor
  - Eumenes 3y ago
    These weren't boomers but yeah, they weren't embarrassed. Honestly, I felt judged suggesting it.
Angostura 3y ago
> Silently huge issue: Kids today cannot walk. I know many that won't walk a single block. It's why they want parking right up to the door, won't take transit, etc - but it's never the given reason.
- CalRobert 3y ago
  Put the kids somewhere walking is a pleasant activity, and give them freedom to do so, and they will.
  - local_crmdgeon 3y ago
    Children didn’t completely rebuild America around their laziness. Boomers control most wealth, the govt, and every major city planning department. This is their choice and their fault.
    - CalRobert 3y ago
      Agreed. It's why leaving America was a great choice for our family. My six year old bikes to school.

nickthegreek 3y ago

Pretty broad paintbrush you got there to mark an entire generation (which I assume you are not part of) as the "problem". Guess when they die off in 2 decades we will be in a walking utopia.

bee_rider 3y ago
Perhaps the author of that comment was a millennial. Constant, random shit-talking of our generation was the norm set by uncreative thinkpiece authors as we were growing up, so it can be easy sometimes to fall into that mindset. Blame whoever was writing popular media from like 1995-2015.
- apwell23 3y ago
  Don't know. I am renting my apartment in my 40s because a certain generation blocked all new housing construction using NIMBY regulatory capture. Now seem to be even buying up all the scraps (with cash) that are left over with their enormous savings from the market bull run and housing boom. While enjoying high interest rates of their savings. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/11/13/housing-market-boomer-buyers-mortgage-rates/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/11/13/housing-m...
jfengel 3y ago
No, because we've built a ton of infrastructure around their car-centric culture. Even after they die off, it'll take many more decades to rebuild cities and suburbs around the rock-solid assumption that everybody has a car. And we're leaning even more heavily into it. Self-driving cars change a lot of things, but they still contribute to the notion that things can be arbitrarily far apart. If we're very lucky, it will mean that fewer people will own their own cars, and maybe they'll demand infrastructure where they won't have to pay to go to the grocery store. But even that happens on a nuclear fusion time scale (always 20 years away). So no, we're not getting a walking utopia when the Boomers croak. That can't happen until their buildings and roads also rot away.
- oblio 3y ago
  In the Netherlands it took them about 3 decades (~1970 - ~2000) to have decent bike infrastructure, in the context of them WANTING in 1970 to change the infrastructure. In the US in 2023, the majority of people don't want non-car infrastructure. So realistically widespread/easily available/universal biking/walking friendly infrastructure in the US will probably happen in 2070, if it happens at all.

ryukafalz 3y ago

Would be nice if our cities and towns were built in such a way that you could get around effectively on a mobility scooter, as shown in this interview: https://www.youtube.com/live/knpDMq6wab0?si=A9pHyOdPC5k6kbgP https://www.youtube.com/live/knpDMq6wab0?si=A9pHyOdPC5k6kbgP

CalRobert 3y ago
This is another benefit to decent bike infrastructure. One of the dads at my daughters' school has only one leg, and his kids just ride on the scooter with him, about a mile.
oblio 3y ago
Bike infrastructure. Also, why mobility scooters first? I'd hope that people with mobility issues could first reach for: 1. Recumbent bikes: https://www.getcycling.org.uk/recumbents/ https://www.getcycling.org.uk/recumbents/ (first regular ones, then electric) 2. Trikes: https://www.getcycling.org.uk/tricycles/ https://www.getcycling.org.uk/tricycles/ (first regular ones, then electric) 3. Handcycles: https://www.getcycling.org.uk/handcycles/ https://www.getcycling.org.uk/handcycles/ 4. Wheelchair tandems where possible: https://www.getcycling.org.uk/wheelchair/ https://www.getcycling.org.uk/wheelchair/ And only 5. or so should be mobility scooters, where they makes sense. Because of the lack of bike infrastructure/walkable neighborhoods, I think the default in the US is directly a mobility scooter.

peer2pay 3y ago

This is obviously completely anecdotal but I've been noticing the same whenever I’m on holiday here in Europe or abroad. My girlfriend and I like to guess where other tourists we see on the streets are from and one of the most obvious indicators for Americans is that as soon as they hit 40-50 there’s a high chance they're either limping or using a cane or similar. My theory used to be that a lot of them played high-impact sports such as (American) football or basketball in their youths and consequently ruined their knees. But honestly not being used to walking might also contribute

hasmolo 3y ago
it's dietary as hell. my father was in great shape at 40, got rich and fat, and just lost a foot to type two diabetes he swears he doesn't have. idk
bjornlouser 3y ago
"My girlfriend and I like to guess where other tourists we see on the streets are from..." This is part of why some people don't get out more... the creepy people watchers. Maybe someone in the near future will create an analog to the first person shooter, a first person labeler, that will keep some of these folks on the couch.
- CalRobert 3y ago
  Casually observing the people around you in a public setting is not creepy.
  - bjornlouser 3y ago
    "There's a chubby one with a cane... American! tee hee. There's another one!"
    - hasmolo 3y ago
      do you think people say mean things about you when you're not there? do you think that people are rude and insulting to others by default? this is a common occurrence for people who act this way towards others. if you engage in the above behaviors, then you likely assume everyone else does too, and therefore are reasonably upset at the mean things and sneering you anticipate others engaging in. it's really important in these scenarios to recognize that your actions and others are most likely not the same, most people don't just shit on strangers for 'fun'.

dragonwriter 3y ago

> Boomers cannot walk. I know many that cannot walk a single block. Boomers are between 59 and 78, so that there are a fair number that can’t walk a single block isn't surprising (Silents are even worse in that respect.) > It's a huge reason American cities are so car centric, too No, its not. Its true that when that trend began, most Boomers couldn't walk, too (for the opposite reason; many were too young, more weren't born at all), but that really wasn't the driving factor. Racism was a pretty big factor, as well as corporate interests.

bluetomcat 3y ago

I've never understood that American obsession with drawing distinct lines between people born in different decades. Boomers, X-ers, millennials, Z-ers are treated like different dog breeds when they are all individual people with varying socio-economic backgrounds.

Angostura 3y ago
I find it hugely irritating.
- hasmolo 3y ago
  we spend a lot of time creating these faux classes so we can engage in americas favorite past time, blaming others for our own actions!
  - achenet 3y ago
    it's not just America... lots of other countries will blame their problems on others... I apologize for invoking Godwin's law, but Nazi Germany is a good example, as were/are communist countries blaming everything on 'the capitalist', feminist blaming things on the patriarchy, European (and possible American) far right parties blaming everything on immigrants... "it's the fault of $OUTGROUP" has been a beloved tool of demagogues everywhere for centuries now. wars of religion, for example, witch hunts... yeah. People will do a lot of awful things to other people to avoid confronting their own flaws.

Eumenes 3y ago

Its not just boomers. Recently was in a major US city, a walkable one, for a work offsite. The plan was office -> happy hour -> dinner. We're talking a 7-12 min walk MAX between places. Entire team insists on Ubering everywhere. Everyone is under 40 years old, mostly out of shape/overweight, but not terribly so. Certainly capable of walking a few hundred steps. I suggested walking and was met with "company is paying for everything, so lets just uber". Ironically, a few people on this team complain about car culture and walkability.

achenet 3y ago
my goodness... that's absolutely awful.
local_crmdgeon 3y ago
They don’t seem embarrassed by it either, right? I think a big part of the boomer issue is that they associate walking with being poor
- Eumenes 3y ago
  These weren't boomers but yeah, they weren't embarrassed. Honestly, I felt judged suggesting it.

Angostura 3y ago

> Silently huge issue: Kids today cannot walk. I know many that won't walk a single block. It's why they want parking right up to the door, won't take transit, etc - but it's never the given reason.

CalRobert 3y ago
Put the kids somewhere walking is a pleasant activity, and give them freedom to do so, and they will.
- local_crmdgeon 3y ago
  Children didn’t completely rebuild America around their laziness. Boomers control most wealth, the govt, and every major city planning department. This is their choice and their fault.
  - CalRobert 3y ago
    Agreed. It's why leaving America was a great choice for our family. My six year old bikes to school.