Fuck Cars

One of the really interesting things about reading this thread is noticing how these places clearly mean different things to different people.

Like one person says how "can somebody not want a pub in their neighborhood?" A pub and a bar might not mean the same thing to everyone. To some people a bar might mean something much closer to a night club and a pub something much closer to a restaurant.

Gas station doesn't mean convenience store to me AT ALL. To me it's only a place for buying gas. I would never go to one unless I was buying gas at the same time.

Is what I call a green grocer/fruit market what other people call a grocery store?

The questions abound...

40% do not think an elementary school should be within a 15 minute walk?!?!? (16 not sure 24 no)

That's wild.

the only ones i don't have within 15 min walk from me

• a university
• a hospital

I do have a local GP within that distance though so i'm fine with not having a hospital within walking distance. Plus there is a hospital not too far away, just not within 15 mins.

I have a college about 25 mins walk away too

I live in the centre of a large british town though so having everything on my doorstep is kind of expected

Groceries, (crappy) park, pharmacy, 2 bus stops, light rail stop serving three lines, at least 15 restaurants/food carts, a bank, a gas station (and a standalone convenience store), a hospital, a barber shop, and a few bars.

For the missing, good transit access fills in the gaps mostly:

• Day care: I don't have kids, so I don't know this one. There probably is day care in the area.
• Post office: I'm in kind of an awkward area for some amenities, and that includes post offices. Post drop boxes are plentiful, but an actual office takes some travel.
• Shopping mall: I don't frequent shopping malls, but there the light rail links up with some. Most are dying, but one is doing well. This is a shrug.
• Movie theater: A few minutes on the light rail, no problem.
• University: Portland State University is an urban university that I work at. I can access it by bus or light rail.
• Sports arena: There are at least two sizeable sports arenas, the Moda Center and Providence Park, on the MAX light rail. The light rail gets heavy use from Portlanders who don't want to deal with parking.

There are two exceptions:

• Good parks: The area actually has a lot of great parks, but there is a freeway blocking the nearest one. I can take transit, bike, or walk a while. That's doable, but it adds a lot of time if I just want to go lounge around in the outdoors.
• Elementary Schools: If I had kids, the area would be not great. It's a 25 minute walk, which is a bit much. That said, one of the "bike bus" programs would be perfect since the route isn't that long.

@ajsadauskas @fuck_cars
In a 15 minute walk, in the Greater #Montreal , I have access to:
- Grocery Store
- (Miniature) Park
- Pharmacy
- Bus Stop
- Restaurant
- Post Office
- Bank
- Gas Station (why‽)
- (Fake) Shopping Mall

Who are these people that responded "No, no I would not like a park or bank or gas station less than 15 minutes from my house!" ?

I can reach everything on that list in 15mins by foot except for a sports arena and a hospital.

@ajsadauskas
And the amount of grocery stores i can reach within a 15 minutes walk must be at least 80, easily.
This town is still structured around small family businesses.
@fuck_cars

How many can you get to with a 15 minute walk from your house?

Jokes on you, I live in the countryside and we have a bar/restaurant and 2 Bus stops and that's it.

@ajsadauskas @fuck_cars The only one I can walk from my house is a bar and a restaurant. I'm so happy.
(p.s. not American)

@ajsadauskas @fuck_cars Of those:

* A bus stop
* A restaurant
* Maybe a park, I haven't timed it?

There's also a convenience store (with no associated gas station), which while expensive has proven handy in emergencies.

I can’t help but think that this is just a ranking of how much people need these things. Everyone needs a grocery store all of the time, so it makes sense to have one nearby whether or not you use a car to get there. But people don’t need a bar or a shopping mall every day. So people might be more willing to have one a bit further away.

@ajsadauskas @fuck_cars I also don't get A Bar being so low. The bar is exactly the place I WANT people to be walking to instead of driving. Perhaps this is just a limitation of the polling method; these responses are mostly just gut reactions, not carefully considered positions.

@ajsadauskas @fuck_cars All but the hospital, university, arena, movie theatre, and bank. Notably all of those are still less than 45 minutes walk and understandable. Also all are under 20 minutes on my bike.

laughs in San Franciscan

@ajsadauskas @fuck_cars i think i only "miss".
- a bank
- a gas station

though i didn't look for them as i don't need them.

(I live slightly to the south of Amsterdam, NL).

Linving in.Montreal. Hospital is about 25 walking. No university but one college under 15. I have the mf olympic stadium at a 10 minutes walk lol. Everything elses checks.

Okay, damn I don't have 15 minute access to a "bar"-bar, and the university/sports arenas are just outside that walk

I can get to everything except the hospital, mall, movie theatre, and University in twenty minutes. If I use public transport I can get to those in about half an hour.