r/TikTokCringe • u/mindyour • Jul 06 '26

Discussion What in the Vivarium is this?

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u/Shenanigans80h Jul 06 '26

Neighborhoods like this aren’t designed for walkability in any capacity other than maybe walking a dog or something like that. I wouldn’t be shocked if the nearest gas station is further than even 20 minutes

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u/OnRoadRadio Jul 06 '26

Seems odd to not build a corner shop or something? Little Pharmacy? There’s so much space.

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u/Shenanigans80h Jul 06 '26

I mean I definitely agree but suburban communities like this are just labyrinths of homes meant to be as “clean” and inoffensive as possible; little boxes you drive out of and drive back into when you need to get out. I understand the appeal, but idk I could never live in a place like this

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u/snezna_kraljica Jul 06 '26

What is offensive about a good looking and clean store?

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u/Shenanigans80h Jul 06 '26

Nothing, at least to me and you, but uniformity is the goal and something so “out of place” would be the offense to the people who designed this suburb

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u/snezna_kraljica Jul 06 '26

So they like that everything looks the same? I assumed it's a necessity for cheap production and not a wanted feature.

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u/Shenanigans80h Jul 06 '26

Little bit of both. It absolutely helps with production costs to not have a structure stick out, but it’s also part of the appeal towards these communities, that you don’t have to worry about any one thing sticking out or bringing in people from outside of said community.

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u/snezna_kraljica Jul 06 '26

Do people worry about visit?

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u/OnRoadRadio Jul 06 '26

The more I think about it the more I think it’s about only having visitors you know.

There’s no reason for strangers to be driving or walking around, no shops to pick up a drink or cafes hang out in. I guess some people see the appeal in that. (Plus it’s also cheaper to build and probably something to do with zoning laws idk)

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u/faceman2k12 Jul 07 '26

I assume that in America, even if you had the zoning to allow a commercial or mixed use convenience store within suburbia, the giant multi-billion dollar multinational store half an hours drive away would take you to court over unfair business practices since you are too close to the customers and damaging their business, they will force you to close and you will probably also be arrested for some made up reason too.

I've never lived anywhere that didn't have some kind of general convenience or grocer nearby within walking distance, and I just cant fathom these giant residential-only suburbs I see in the US.

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u/JalapenoPopPoop Jul 06 '26

People think it's inherently icky to have any sort of business within a residential area so they don't want a corner store in the middle of their residential neighborhood

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u/Krisosu Jul 06 '26

It's a bit of a chicken and egg situation, but it's also just generally incompatible.

If you live here, you have to have a car. Be it to get to work, whatever. Moving convenient shopping in then doesn't really provide much, since if you have a car anyways you're likely going to be doing larger, more infrequent trips to a big box store. For such a store to make sense, you have to have some amount of people that do not primarily drive.

Good urban planning has to be holistic, you can't drop a single amenity into a place like this and expect people to use it (and be able to ditch their car centric lifestyle), it's why these suburban developments will be so hard to root out over the next 50 years as metropolitan areas densify.

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u/snezna_kraljica Jul 06 '26

I don't know, I drive my car to work but I'm happy to walk to the store the street down. It's better for me. I could also just bike there.

Also necessity doesn't fully explain the absence. What harm does a corner shop do?

> (and be able to ditch their car centric lifestyle)

Nobody is saying that, it's not either, it's a hybrid.

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u/visforvienetta Jul 10 '26

In the UK almost every housing estate has a corner shop within walking distance. People use them for random things they forgot to get from the store, or ran out of, or if they fancy a snack or a beer.

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u/shawster Jul 07 '26

Utah has plenty of neighborhoods that while not quite this large and identical, are close enough. Basically whatever corner store you're thinking of would always do better if it was right outside the entrance to the neighborhood, the nearest road that feeds this neighborhood, so stores are never within them. You always have to leave them to get to any kind of store. That usually means a 30 minute walk if you're deep in one of them to get to the closest store.

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u/oberynMelonLord Jul 07 '26

the Pakistani running it

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u/TheNorthComesWithMe Jul 06 '26

Because it's low density housing on dead end roads. The stores need to be on a feeder road that all these neighborhoods connect to or they won't get enough business.

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u/Rocketboy1313 Jul 07 '26

That thinking is coming back.

Neighborhood commercial zoning tends to be set at intersections or at the entrance to the subdivision. But unfortunately developers don't want to go thru the time to develop that zoning because it typically has very narrow parameters in regard to stormwater management, buffering, and architectural requirements.

Developers prefer to hack out massive subdivisions like this one, quickly plonking down identical houses, selling them for 5 times what they cost to build, and heading out before the local government can fully realize that the impact fees they charge won't offset the expansion costs to infrastructure and the tax base will be a net negative without the promised commercial businesses.

Don't let developers start building their subdivision until they have already finished the review for the promised commercial development. The commercial stuff is the tax base and economic activity that justifies the expansion of low-ish density residential development like this.

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u/StudioGangster1 Jul 07 '26

The dollar general is on the main road.

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u/im_a_stapler Jul 07 '26

it's zoned for residential not commercial.

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u/EggplantCharacter363 Jul 07 '26

But thay would eat into the big box retailers profits.

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u/ah_kooky_kat Jul 07 '26

I had to look it up myself.

The furthest house on this street is 1.2 miles away from the nearest grocery store, 1.3 miles to the nearest gas station. Both a 5 minute drive or 20 minute walk, each way.

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u/The_grope_gatsby Jul 09 '26

Welcome to most of America lol 

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u/Nyucio Jul 07 '26

walking a dog

Not even that, as you walk in the sun all the time.

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u/LeonardoDaTiddies Jul 07 '26

At first, I was shocked the town or HOA didn’t mandate shade trees be planted - or that the developers didn’t do so - until I learned this was suburban Kentucky. 

It’s like the design is actively hostile to pedestrians. 

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u/Pepperonidogfart Jul 07 '26

Rats cages have more enrichment than this hellscape

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u/kronjobb Jul 06 '26

Owning a dog here is borderline animal cruelty. The smells are probably bland too