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At some point I finally realized that most cities in the US are designed for cars, not humans. I still haven't figured out why humans who live in the USA aren'

At some point I finally realized that most cities in the US are designed for cars, not humans. I still haven't figured out why humans who live in the USA aren't bothered by this. They really seem to enjoy living in the thrall of their 4-wheeled overlords. They'll even arrange their lives to ensure that the car gets upwards of an hour of exercise per day, at great great financial cost to themselves. Oftentimes to the detriment of their own health, too, since they usually forego their own exercise for the sake of the car's. It's absolutely bizarre.

rwhitman 13y ago
Great book on the cars-first disaster of urban planning that I read years ago if you're interested: http://www.amazon.com/The-Geography-Nowhere-Americas-Landscape/dp/0671888250 http://www.amazon.com/The-Geography-Nowhere-Americas-Landsca...
- jefurii 13y ago
  I heard horror stories of Japanese salarymen living in monotonous apartment blocks, returning to the wrong apartment by accident if they didn't pay attention. But American suburbs are just like that: block after block of identical houses, the same 1-n designs on the same lot plans, with the same front yards. In many neighborhoods it's even frowned upon to decorate your house so that it looks differently from the rest of the cookie-cutter houses. No shops or anything to break up the monotony, and when you do drive to the closest strip mall it's just a bunch of franchises and chain stores. No wonder we don't walk in the U.S. -- everything is too far apart, and it all looks the same anyway! I lived in Japan in my twenties after growing up in a California suburb. I loved walking around there. In most places there simply was no grid; in places with a grid it was often broken up by geography. Many places had been inhabited continuously for hundreds of years. It's an incredibly visually rich environment.

rwhitman 13y ago

Great book on the cars-first disaster of urban planning that I read years ago if you're interested: http://www.amazon.com/The-Geography-Nowhere-Americas-Landscape/dp/0671888250 http://www.amazon.com/The-Geography-Nowhere-Americas-Landsca...

jefurii 13y ago
I heard horror stories of Japanese salarymen living in monotonous apartment blocks, returning to the wrong apartment by accident if they didn't pay attention. But American suburbs are just like that: block after block of identical houses, the same 1-n designs on the same lot plans, with the same front yards. In many neighborhoods it's even frowned upon to decorate your house so that it looks differently from the rest of the cookie-cutter houses. No shops or anything to break up the monotony, and when you do drive to the closest strip mall it's just a bunch of franchises and chain stores. No wonder we don't walk in the U.S. -- everything is too far apart, and it all looks the same anyway! I lived in Japan in my twenties after growing up in a California suburb. I loved walking around there. In most places there simply was no grid; in places with a grid it was often broken up by geography. Many places had been inhabited continuously for hundreds of years. It's an incredibly visually rich environment.