What can you get to within a 15-minute walk of your house?
A recent YouGov survey asked Americans what they think they should be able to get to within a 15-minute walk of their house.
Of these choices, I can currently walk to all of them from my apartment, aside from a university (no biggie, I'm not currently studying, although there is a Tafe within walking distance), a hospital, and a sports arena.
How many can you get to with a 15 minute walk from your house?
#fuckcars #walkability #urbanism #UrbanPlanning @fuck_cars #walking
My 15-min walk list:
I sincerely disagree that post offices and banks have to be within walking distance when we have mailboxes and online banking. Also, I’d like to be able to drive my car out with ease to get to other cities or states if needed. I assume 15min city urban planning accounts for the desire to long distance travel at will.
I am also not sure it’s a good idea to have schools because schools are kinda big and require lots of parking space.
American schools are big. There is no need for a huge stadium, and definitely no need for a lot of parking, especially considering that it sits empty most of the time. Schools on my home country are smaller, and we have more of them, and they have zero parking. Even the expensive private schools didn't have any parking spots, the idea seems weird. Frankly American schools appear to intentionally waste space and aren't integrated into their surroundings.
If kids could walk to school without getting ran over, then schools wouldn't need as much parking space. In Finland, where I'm from, 7 year-olds can walk to school without getting crushed by a car. And when a plenty of students are able to get to school without cars, then schools don't need nearly as much parking space.
Yeah it's one of those things where a poll isn't going to be great for something like this. I theory I want all the things within a 15 minute walk. But I understand that many things simply aren't going to be feasible.
To me grocery store, park, pharmacy, and transit should be there for everyone. But with transit everything else should be available. And of course some neighbourhoods will have some of the others while others don't. So people can choose where they live based on the amenities available.
But a post office has been very handy for me when I have packages I need to sign for a package and such. And it's just a little tiny thing with one employee in the pharmacy, so not a full on post office. Seems to be justified, there's almost always a few people in line there, though I never have to wait long. Also you could have some other government services available for a day or two a week. Like if you could walk over and renew your driver's license on Wednesdays or whatever. Having a post office / government services combo place would be very useful.
Whereas I don’t care about a post office. Sure, I have one arguably in walking distance, but I e never walked there and almost never need to go there. Realistically I’ve only gone there for sending Christmas gifts, but now I order them online and have them shipped direct.
I see you’re on a Canadian Lemmy: that may be a big difference. In the US it’s now rare to have to sign for anything. Shipping companies are much more likely to deliver to residences in the evening when people are probably home, and everyone seems to accept a percentage lost. Also, doorbell cams make everyone feel better, even if they rarely make a difference
Yeah I suppose in Canada we can get weed delivered, but you gotta show ID on package delivery to ensure it's not a minor getting it.
Come to think of it, weed deliveries (also things with nicotine) probably accounts for like 95% of my trips to the post office :P
@nifty @ajsadauskas That is a pretty good list. I'm not sure a tech store needs to be in that range. The tech shelf in a supermarket should be enough for immediate needs and big purchases are rare enough that travelling to them is acceptable.
Maybe it's that every 15m area needs one moderate sized speciality store. So the 10 common ones are all available within a few stops on the train line.
You’re right, and I think online ordering is pretty good for the kinds of items I’d like.
They did specify elementary schools, which will have much less need for parking. The one in my neighborhood wasn’t bad, partly because staff also parked at the nearby park, so there wasn’t a single huge lot. Also, it’s an in-town school with a mostly neighborhood clientele so doesn’t need much room for drop offs. It was very nice walking my kids to school when they were little, and even now it’s nice having my polling place at the school so convenient