4 ms·

Well, while we're talking about anecdotes, my neighborhood in a poor Texas town also had a free tennis court. There were a couple more down the road. My in-laws

Well, while we're talking about anecdotes, my neighborhood in a poor Texas town also had a free tennis court. There were a couple more down the road. My in-laws suburb has walking trails end basketball courts.

matthewdgreen 1y ago
If you live in a place with inexpensive land, tennis infrastructure is relatively cheap. If you live in a dense city where space is at a premium, that’s when it gets relatively expensive.
- ajuc 1y ago
  Wouldn't space be more expansive in Europe with 100 people per km2 than in US with like 40 people per km2? How come it's the opposite in practice?
  - anthony_d 1y ago
    > How come it's the opposite in practice? It’s not. “In practice” ≈ “your assumption”
cpursley 1y ago
I think the catch is, Americans have to spend so much time driving for ADLs (activities of daily living) that there is no time to walk over to the local court (if there is one, usually there is not). This is due to the sprawl Ponzi scheme (which spreads everything out). It's also the primary cause behind America's mental health crises (lack of 3rd places, everyone is isolated). And yeah, I'm not talking SF or NYC, but 90% of the rest of the country.
- bluGill 1y ago
  That is false for every american I know. Driving means less time than transit users in every study I've seen - that time is of course more stressful but we spend less time commuting and thus have more time. Working hours can be longer but for many it isn't much longer. There are a lot of couch potatoes that don't use their time, but they have it.
  - ndriscoll 1y ago
    It always blows my mind when I see how many subscribers Netflix has. Americans are so busy driving and working that they don't have time to do anything (cook, grocery shop, exercise, etc.). How are 90M households finding the time to watch movies or binge on TV shows?
    - firesteelrain 1y ago
      No idea. I have Netflix but barely watch it.
    - 0_____0 1y ago
      Maybe they're not actually watching it. I have read that the content guidance recommends that media produced for Netflix et al. have the action described auditorially as well as visually, so people can follow the plot without actually looking at the screen.
    - jjav 1y ago
      > It always blows my mind when I see how many subscribers Netflix has. Not sure how they count, but for example I have a "free" netflix subscription through a tmobile phone plan. So it's easy to pump the numbers. I only watch like one episode of something every other year on netflix, so not exactly a real user of it.
  - cpursley 1y ago
    Are you talking American transit? Because yeah, it sucks. Also, where do you live - SF, NYC?
  - CalRobert 1y ago
    That’s the issue though - bad design is why driving is the only logical choice
    - bluGill 1y ago
      For the purposes of this discussion there is more time to exercise. Yes transit uses in practice get more, but it is incidental and lower quality exercise than someone who uses their extra time on a well developed gym plan. (There are of courseetransit users with a well developed gym plan)
- maxerickson 1y ago
  I commute like 12 minutes and the stores I shop at regularly are in the middle of the drive. My office is more out of town than most jobs here.
  - cpursley 1y ago
    You are an outlier, majority of Americans live in suburbia with a significant commute. And that sounds like a sweet setup. Mind if I ask where you live? Medium or small sized town?
    - maxerickson 1y ago
      Smaller town. The average US commute is less than 30 minutes, people aren't spending all that much time. And with a 30 minute commute, they are likely doing the same thing I am, passing by stores that are reasonable for many of their needs.
      - cpursley 1y ago
        Nice. I watched this earlier this morning and think it could be a good solution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SALP9udFpoA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SALP9udFpoA
marcusb 1y ago
Grew up in a very poor town in Arkansas. Had a public tennis court literally next door. In the 80s, the tennis court saw frequent use. People would get mad when they lost a match or whatever and hit the balls into our yard. My grandmother would go collect them, and we always had a basket full of balls by the door. By the early 2000s, people stopped using the tennis court very often, and the city tore down the chain link fence around the court to use as overflow parking for the adjacent little league fields.
giantg2 1y ago
Are they used though? The poor town that I spent time in has 4 tennis courts in great condition that are almost never used.
- huhkerrf 1y ago
  That wasn't the argument. The argument is that they aren't _available_.
  - giantg2 1y ago
    That was the original standpoint. The great thing about this site is that we can explore topics.

matthewdgreen 1y ago

If you live in a place with inexpensive land, tennis infrastructure is relatively cheap. If you live in a dense city where space is at a premium, that’s when it gets relatively expensive.

ajuc 1y ago
Wouldn't space be more expansive in Europe with 100 people per km2 than in US with like 40 people per km2? How come it's the opposite in practice?
- anthony_d 1y ago
  > How come it's the opposite in practice? It’s not. “In practice” ≈ “your assumption”

cpursley 1y ago

I think the catch is, Americans have to spend so much time driving for ADLs (activities of daily living) that there is no time to walk over to the local court (if there is one, usually there is not). This is due to the sprawl Ponzi scheme (which spreads everything out). It's also the primary cause behind America's mental health crises (lack of 3rd places, everyone is isolated). And yeah, I'm not talking SF or NYC, but 90% of the rest of the country.

bluGill 1y ago
That is false for every american I know. Driving means less time than transit users in every study I've seen - that time is of course more stressful but we spend less time commuting and thus have more time. Working hours can be longer but for many it isn't much longer. There are a lot of couch potatoes that don't use their time, but they have it.
- ndriscoll 1y ago
  It always blows my mind when I see how many subscribers Netflix has. Americans are so busy driving and working that they don't have time to do anything (cook, grocery shop, exercise, etc.). How are 90M households finding the time to watch movies or binge on TV shows?
  - firesteelrain 1y ago
    No idea. I have Netflix but barely watch it.
  - 0_____0 1y ago
    Maybe they're not actually watching it. I have read that the content guidance recommends that media produced for Netflix et al. have the action described auditorially as well as visually, so people can follow the plot without actually looking at the screen.
  - jjav 1y ago
    > It always blows my mind when I see how many subscribers Netflix has. Not sure how they count, but for example I have a "free" netflix subscription through a tmobile phone plan. So it's easy to pump the numbers. I only watch like one episode of something every other year on netflix, so not exactly a real user of it.
- cpursley 1y ago
  Are you talking American transit? Because yeah, it sucks. Also, where do you live - SF, NYC?
- CalRobert 1y ago
  That’s the issue though - bad design is why driving is the only logical choice
  - bluGill 1y ago
    For the purposes of this discussion there is more time to exercise. Yes transit uses in practice get more, but it is incidental and lower quality exercise than someone who uses their extra time on a well developed gym plan. (There are of courseetransit users with a well developed gym plan)
maxerickson 1y ago
I commute like 12 minutes and the stores I shop at regularly are in the middle of the drive. My office is more out of town than most jobs here.
- cpursley 1y ago
  You are an outlier, majority of Americans live in suburbia with a significant commute. And that sounds like a sweet setup. Mind if I ask where you live? Medium or small sized town?
  - maxerickson 1y ago
    Smaller town. The average US commute is less than 30 minutes, people aren't spending all that much time. And with a 30 minute commute, they are likely doing the same thing I am, passing by stores that are reasonable for many of their needs.
    - cpursley 1y ago
      Nice. I watched this earlier this morning and think it could be a good solution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SALP9udFpoA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SALP9udFpoA

marcusb 1y ago

Grew up in a very poor town in Arkansas. Had a public tennis court literally next door. In the 80s, the tennis court saw frequent use. People would get mad when they lost a match or whatever and hit the balls into our yard. My grandmother would go collect them, and we always had a basket full of balls by the door. By the early 2000s, people stopped using the tennis court very often, and the city tore down the chain link fence around the court to use as overflow parking for the adjacent little league fields.

giantg2 1y ago

Are they used though? The poor town that I spent time in has 4 tennis courts in great condition that are almost never used.

huhkerrf 1y ago
That wasn't the argument. The argument is that they aren't _available_.
- giantg2 1y ago
  That was the original standpoint. The great thing about this site is that we can explore topics.