3 ms·

A mile is not close. Disclaimer: I am european. Grew up in ireland. Lots of cars, but unless you're in the countryside or its raining, it's generally walk/cycle

A mile is not close. Disclaimer: I am european. Grew up in ireland. Lots of cars, but unless you're in the countryside or its raining, it's generally walk/cycle to school. In Stockholm now, you are 'shamed' if you drive to school to drop your kids off. "Normal" parents have cargo bikes to bring their small kids to school if it's a long distance (like 500m or more).

devilbunny 2y ago
You must have a lot of schools. I walked or biked about a mile each way to school starting in third grade (age 8-9), and the only reason I didn't do it a year earlier was that the two other kids who would accompany me were a year younger. I only got dropped off if it was raining (that can be quite severe and thunderstorms are common) or if I was so late that I couldn't make it. In the latter case, I walked home. Four years later, my school was miles away. No choice but dropoff lines (private school, no bus service). Had I been in the public school system, I would have needed to bus or be dropped off for junior high (that year and two after it, ~4 mi/6.5 km away traveling on and crossing multiple arterial roads without bike lanes or sidewalks for most of the way), but could have walked/ridden/driven myself to high school.
- cogman10 2y ago
  Housing in Europe is very different from what it is in the US. A lot of it will look something like this [1]. In England, it's actually somewhat unusual to have any space between two homes. Semi and fully detached homes command a fairly high price. Roads were also not built for cars, so they tend to be much narrower than what you'd find in the US. All that means you'll find a much higher population density. You can even find a bunch of cobblestone roads without much effort. I'd also say that cities are FAR more walkable than they are in the US. It's almost the reverse of what it is here, it can be easier to walk to the store than drive simply because there's a billion little pathways that lead everywhere. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraced_houses_in_the_United_Kingdom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraced_houses_in_the_United_...
  - jamesblonde 2y ago
    Ironically, i rode a rented electric scooter over hundreds of year old cobbles yesterday - needed to make a meeting on time. New meets old.
  - jamesblonde 2y ago
    Typical (nice) appartment housing in Stockholm https://whitearkitekter.com/news/kvarter-7-the-starting-point-for-the-unique-stockholm-wood-city/ https://whitearkitekter.com/news/kvarter-7-the-starting-poin...
  - devilbunny 2y ago
    I've traveled enough in Europe, and not just major cities, to understand this about housing. However, what is the average size of a graduating class from secondary education? My high school class was quite small, just under 100, but it was an oddity and classes before and since were more like 120-150. Even in elementary school we had around 75 in each year. It is not unusual in larger metro areas in the US to have over 1000 students in each graduating class.
    - EricLeer 2y ago
      This will probably wildly diver from country to country, but typically in elementary school where 50 kids, and for high school around 100-120.
  - robertlagrant 2y ago
    I was brought up in the UK and not all of it is a city centre. My schools were miles away. We lived in the suburbs.
- jamesblonde 2y ago
  Stockholm is a high density urban environment. Appartment living. 4-6 floor high buildings is the norm. Schools every mile or so would be my guess. Ours is like 300m away. Next closest is 1km and 1.5km. Quite normal, i speculate.
robertlagrant 2y ago
> A mile is not close It's close enough for a 5-year-old to cycle, which is my point.

devilbunny 2y ago

You must have a lot of schools. I walked or biked about a mile each way to school starting in third grade (age 8-9), and the only reason I didn't do it a year earlier was that the two other kids who would accompany me were a year younger. I only got dropped off if it was raining (that can be quite severe and thunderstorms are common) or if I was so late that I couldn't make it. In the latter case, I walked home. Four years later, my school was miles away. No choice but dropoff lines (private school, no bus service). Had I been in the public school system, I would have needed to bus or be dropped off for junior high (that year and two after it, ~4 mi/6.5 km away traveling on and crossing multiple arterial roads without bike lanes or sidewalks for most of the way), but could have walked/ridden/driven myself to high school.

cogman10 2y ago
Housing in Europe is very different from what it is in the US. A lot of it will look something like this [1]. In England, it's actually somewhat unusual to have any space between two homes. Semi and fully detached homes command a fairly high price. Roads were also not built for cars, so they tend to be much narrower than what you'd find in the US. All that means you'll find a much higher population density. You can even find a bunch of cobblestone roads without much effort. I'd also say that cities are FAR more walkable than they are in the US. It's almost the reverse of what it is here, it can be easier to walk to the store than drive simply because there's a billion little pathways that lead everywhere. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraced_houses_in_the_United_Kingdom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraced_houses_in_the_United_...
- jamesblonde 2y ago
  Ironically, i rode a rented electric scooter over hundreds of year old cobbles yesterday - needed to make a meeting on time. New meets old.
- jamesblonde 2y ago
  Typical (nice) appartment housing in Stockholm https://whitearkitekter.com/news/kvarter-7-the-starting-point-for-the-unique-stockholm-wood-city/ https://whitearkitekter.com/news/kvarter-7-the-starting-poin...
- devilbunny 2y ago
  I've traveled enough in Europe, and not just major cities, to understand this about housing. However, what is the average size of a graduating class from secondary education? My high school class was quite small, just under 100, but it was an oddity and classes before and since were more like 120-150. Even in elementary school we had around 75 in each year. It is not unusual in larger metro areas in the US to have over 1000 students in each graduating class.
  - EricLeer 2y ago
    This will probably wildly diver from country to country, but typically in elementary school where 50 kids, and for high school around 100-120.
- robertlagrant 2y ago
  I was brought up in the UK and not all of it is a city centre. My schools were miles away. We lived in the suburbs.
jamesblonde 2y ago
Stockholm is a high density urban environment. Appartment living. 4-6 floor high buildings is the norm. Schools every mile or so would be my guess. Ours is like 300m away. Next closest is 1km and 1.5km. Quite normal, i speculate.

robertlagrant 2y ago

> A mile is not close It's close enough for a 5-year-old to cycle, which is my point.