Was at a friend's birthday last night (with my fiance) and got talking to a guy who was visiting from the states

He said they don't have sidewalks in American suburbs , that if you want to go anywhere you can't just walk to the local shop or school or park, you have to take the car instead.

I'm just like mindblown, like wtf really? I literally went home and googled it cos I thought surely it's not true, but apparently this actually is the case?

Like seriously America why??? Everywhere else in the world has sidewalks. Everywhere.
Why?

Depends. Some do and some don't. This goes for certain neighborhoods in Los Angeles as well. It is awkward trying to walk, let's say a mile or half mile to the local convenience store or supermarket when the little streets surrounding the larger boulevards do not have a sidewalk.

I have noticed this in two places in LA, really old poor neighborhoods that have been around since the 1920s or some affluent neighborhoods that are more recent in being built (1990s to present).

that's socialism

We have singular states that mog all of Europe

It’s a big place

Some areas have sidewalks some don’t

I imagine it’s the same in almost every country actually but the scale is different cuz you live in some tiny county and call it a country. Dfs.

Suburbs are a cross between the country and city. Then there are the new, planned communities/suburbs with cookie cutter houses have sidewalks just around that complex not to town or anything. Many places all over the world have no sidewalks.

depends on the area. some do some dont

Everywhere in CA does. Moved to TX and think its stupid how there are no sidewalks.

brb 60mph roads with no sides to stop if car broken down.
brb 60 mph road with plazas on the side, have to slow down to 5mph to turn right and have people speeding behind and on the side because no dedicated lane to turn in plaza

No point putting in walking routes when the average American weighs 350lbs. They can barely walk out of their front door to their car. Would be a waste of tax payers money.

Yeah but it kinda makes sense to me now how Americans get that fat

Like in most countries, kids walk to and from school. But if there's no sidewalks then mums got to drive them, and then obviously they're not going to walk to their friends houses after school cos they literally can't

It'd be dangerous and/or impossible to go for a run or walk around the block, people would literally have to drive to the gym if they want to exercise. Usually walking and running are the cheapest and easiest forms of exercise and usually very accessible regardless of ability or income, but with no sidewalks, not quite so accessible or even safe.

Yeah it just seems so weird to me

Only place I'd ever been to in USA was New York and part of New Jersey and they had sidewalks there, it never occurred to me that they wouldn't have them in other parts

Have also been thru lots of European and Asian countries (and Australia/NZ of course), the only other country I've ever been to that didn't have footpaths was Rarotonga but that's so small it only has one road that goes right around the whole island and the speed limit is only 50km anyway

Sidewalks are awesome.

Until one is in front of your house. That can change your opinion of it.

You are marrying the guy who didn't want to go to your race?

We have sidewalks going past every house in NZ

Unless you live out on a farm in the countryside

I don't see why it'd be a problem?

Yeah most don't.

Cant have people in the neighborhood walking their dogs!! They have to do it on the road in the way of cars instead.

Huh? He did come to my race. He was super supportive actually, helped me at the aid stations and came and walked the last couple of KMs in with me (it was 104km and I was feeling a bit crippled by the end)

And yes we getting married in a few months

Many of the fancier areas in CA don’t have sidewalks

Crazy huh? Don't want kids walking to school or playing with their friends either I guess., better they stay indoors and watch their iPads

Edit: or play in traffic

Your vastly overstating the traffic and amount of room and norm of walking on the side of the road in areas with no sidewalks

Meh.

You’ll find sidewalks in densely-populated areas and areas where everything is compact, generally depends on the neighbourhood and how close together things are, it can even vary within a neighbourhood and there may be fewer sidewalks on streets with houses that have front attached garages

My new neighbourhood has no sidewalks, many people own ATVs / UTVs and drive around in them

Why do you need a side walk to walk? Just walk on the side of the road?

Nope. Most American suburbs are built as unfriendly to pedestrians as possible. The higher income the area, the less likely it is to be walkable. Most people live in winding cul de sac streets miles away from the nearest sidewalk. The main roads leading in and out of their neighborhoods are usually busy 4-6 lane boulevards impossible to cross on foot too. Usually suburban towns will vote to keep bus routes out of their communities too out of fear of “undesirables” having access to their amenities.

It’s a shame too. I hate American suburbs, yet I am forced to live in one because the city is so crime ridden and poverty. I would move back to the center of the city in a heartbeat if they eradicated homelessness and criminality, but unfortunately our country has a huge problem with both that only continues to spread and force hard working honest law abiding people to the outskirts of major U.S. cities.

Canada had a better strategy. They relegate their poor welfare leaches to housing projects in the exurbs, then turn their downtowns into the affluent centers of each city. As a result, Canadian cities are cleaner, safer, have better public transit, more connectivity, more retailers and other amenities.

America sucks at urban planning srs.

The USA has the worst urban design on planet earth.

In the 1950's, Every American was RICH and wanted to live like the JETSONS, so they started making roads everywhere.... STACKS of interchanges, interstate highways, huge parking lots, etc etc etc.

Everything was designed around cars.... Because the JETSONS, brah! IT'S THE FUTURE!

Turns out you just end up with traffic jams, and owning a car is a MASSIVE economic cancer on the population.

But by now it's too late. We are stuck in this living hell.

If you ever go to an old city like in europe, the pedestrian infrastructure is HNNNNG because the cities were all built BEFORE cars existed. As far as urban areas are concerned, it's a utopia.

That's one of the dumbest things ive ever heard.

Depends do you live in the ghetto or in a nice neighborhood. No one is trying to go for a walk with joggers nearby. Sidewalks are reserved for communities that are known to be safe (aka white communities)

but you got 8 more million illegals coming what are you complaining about????

A lot of rural residential areas don't have them. Only places in my town with sidewalks are the over-55 neighborhoods.