• Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Walkability has plummeted. It’s too dangerous for me to even walk from my house to the gas station about a mile away because there are no sidewalks and cars come hurtling down the road I would have to walk down.

    I live in a small city/large town now. I used to live in L.A. and, unlike a lot of people, I walked all the time. And took the trains. I miss being able to walk to the supermarket or down to the donut shop for breakfast and coffee.

    • DannyMac@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I feel like I live in the least walkable city in the US. I live 2 miles away from work and I’ve walked it a few times and here’s the annoyances I have to deal with:

      • Sidewalks are blocked by obstacles such as overgrown vegetation and cars.
      • Sidewalks are broken up so badly they aren’t safe to walk on.
      • Segments with NO sidewalks around blind curves.

      Basically you have to walk in the road most of the trip.

      But fuckin’ hell, we need to increase taxes to pay for that new jail! I really hate my town.

      • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        This would be funny if it wasn’t so relatable.

        My kids have friends about a block away, and both ways to get there have massive spots of missing sidewalk with almost no space on the edge of the roadway. My neighborhood has decent sidewalks, but we’re a little island surrounded by areas with huge gaps in the sidewalks. In some areas you can stay on the sidewalk if you keep switching sides of the road though…

        It’s like whoever designed the roads forgot that people live in residential areas…

      • garretble@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I live in a midwest city (not even a small one), and it’s so frustrating that sidewalks will just end suddenly. There are no obstacles, it just ends. Or the sidewalk stops on one side of the road and literally picks back up on the other side of the road. But the road is a 4 lane road with a 45mph limit (so everyone does 55+) so it’s too dangerous to cross.

        Last year there was a bunch of construction near me to build a brand new sidewalk down a long stretch of road. …and they just ended it a half block away from the next light so you have to walk in the grass.

        Between stupid garbage like that and bad bike infrastructure (which here is actually not the worst I’ve seen), you definitely feel like US cities hate their citizens.

    • bighi@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      As someone not from the US, the idea of non-walkable cities is so alien to me.

      Before learning to speak English and reading about the US, I wouldn’t even imagine it’s a thing.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        The town I grew up in was very walkable, and I’d like to move back there one day if housing ever gets cheaper, but until then I’m stuck in this town where they want us all to drive everywhere.