I’ve never been in the USA. Is it really that bad? I’ve heard that the USA have basically eradicated their own culture, because they destroyed their city centres in favour of suburbs, which need to be subsidised constantly. And therefore, cities sprawl. Is that true?
Yes it is really this bad and in a lot of cities there is even anti homeless architecture being built. Entire cities in the United States basically got turned into suburbs and roads overnight. For many Americans they cannot even walk outside their neighborhood without having the police get called on them in their own suburban sprawl or getting a gun legally pulled on them and potentially legally killed with no recourse on the shooter. This country is hell on Earth minus our theme parks and local parks and some of the cities that still exist normally today.
It’s called hostile architecture and it’s things like arm rests in the middle of a bench so you can’t lie down on it, or sloped windowsills so you can’t sit there.
I once saw a bench with a statue of a person sleeping on it. Wtf?
“To prevent the unsightly possibility of someone sleeping on this bench, we should put a statue of someone sleeping on this bench! Leave the useless bench there but also fuck you!”
In my city, there are buses, but because there’s sprawl to the edges of the huge county, and all the people in the suburbs drive and don’t want buses, and the county (not the city) is in charge of transportation, it’s starved to the point of near impossible inconvenience.
There are plenty of people living inside the city now, we’ve got a nice downtown, with people living there, but at this point it’s all set up to favor automobiles. Like I intentionally live in a short walk distance to bus stops that could get me anywhere the buses go, but I use the electric bike and can get anywhere faster than the bus. Transfers are so bad because the buses are so infrequent.
I think I start to understand. But how is it possible to move this many people with cars? I mean, for example, a family of four would then need, four different trips and essentially two different cars because if the adults do not work at the same place, how are they going to get to work on time? Or am I imagining it wrong?
Well, in my family of now just 4 we do have 2 cars because my husband and I each had one when we married. Nowadays this is the commute.
Mornings:
I take the bike
College kid takes my car, drops off high school kid then drives to her school
Husband takes his car to work
There is actually a direct city bus from our neighborhood to both the University and the high school, but because both are farther than my work and they run so infrequent it makes them need to leave so early, so I let the kids use the car.
(When there was one car it was a bigger loop sometimes, or sometimes there is a school bus available, so the kids can take that. Or the school was sometimes only a mile or two (3k or so) then the kids walk.)
Evenings:
I take the bike
Husband drives
College kid drives
High school kids gets a ride from a friend or takes the city bus BUT that bus comes only once an hour so if he misses it, he will walk, about 4 miles.
I’ve never been in the USA. Is it really that bad? I’ve heard that the USA have basically eradicated their own culture, because they destroyed their city centres in favour of suburbs, which need to be subsidised constantly. And therefore, cities sprawl. Is that true?
98% true.
(The other 2% is historic districts and college towns.)
Yes it is really this bad and in a lot of cities there is even anti homeless architecture being built. Entire cities in the United States basically got turned into suburbs and roads overnight. For many Americans they cannot even walk outside their neighborhood without having the police get called on them in their own suburban sprawl or getting a gun legally pulled on them and potentially legally killed with no recourse on the shooter. This country is hell on Earth minus our theme parks and local parks and some of the cities that still exist normally today.
What is “anti-homeless architecture”? Genuine question.
Edit: Also, thanks for the detailed answer.
It’s called hostile architecture and it’s things like arm rests in the middle of a bench so you can’t lie down on it, or sloped windowsills so you can’t sit there.
I once saw a bench with a statue of a person sleeping on it. Wtf?
“To prevent the unsightly possibility of someone sleeping on this bench, we should put a statue of someone sleeping on this bench! Leave the useless bench there but also fuck you!”
Fuck. That.
In my city, there are buses, but because there’s sprawl to the edges of the huge county, and all the people in the suburbs drive and don’t want buses, and the county (not the city) is in charge of transportation, it’s starved to the point of near impossible inconvenience.
There are plenty of people living inside the city now, we’ve got a nice downtown, with people living there, but at this point it’s all set up to favor automobiles. Like I intentionally live in a short walk distance to bus stops that could get me anywhere the buses go, but I use the electric bike and can get anywhere faster than the bus. Transfers are so bad because the buses are so infrequent.
I think I start to understand. But how is it possible to move this many people with cars? I mean, for example, a family of four would then need, four different trips and essentially two different cars because if the adults do not work at the same place, how are they going to get to work on time? Or am I imagining it wrong?
Well, in my family of now just 4 we do have 2 cars because my husband and I each had one when we married. Nowadays this is the commute.
Mornings:
I take the bike
College kid takes my car, drops off high school kid then drives to her school
Husband takes his car to work
There is actually a direct city bus from our neighborhood to both the University and the high school, but because both are farther than my work and they run so infrequent it makes them need to leave so early, so I let the kids use the car.
(When there was one car it was a bigger loop sometimes, or sometimes there is a school bus available, so the kids can take that. Or the school was sometimes only a mile or two (3k or so) then the kids walk.)
Evenings:
I take the bike
Husband drives
College kid drives
High school kids gets a ride from a friend or takes the city bus BUT that bus comes only once an hour so if he misses it, he will walk, about 4 miles.