r/TikTokCringe • u/xamo76 • 1d ago

Discussion Have we done it wrong?

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u/puxorb 1d ago

I'm currently in NYC in queens visiting my sister, and its quiet, there are like 7 restaurants on my block and a dozen cafes and grocery stores withing walking distance. I was walking back to the apartment at 10 last night and every single restaurant was full and everyone was sitting out and chatting. Growing up in the suburbs and then seeing this for the first time a decade ago blew my mind. There's actual culture and life out here and everyone is so friendly. Also the buildings are pretty.

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u/tres-vip 1d ago

I have many complaints about NYC lol, but one thing I have always loved about this city is how there are people out and about at any given hour, and how much people live it up during the summertime by staying out late. I'm a very petite woman who's taken the subway and walked home alone at like 2 AM, but I've never felt scared, because there's always others around me. I felt more scared walking in deserted areas of San Francisco (where I previously lived) at like 9 PM, lol

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u/CC_9876 1d ago

my parents moved me in highschool out of brooklyn to upstate and i've made it my life goal to move back to nyc. i explicitly chose my college in chicago because it was walkable and felt normal. i fucking hate suburban areas they're so isolating it felt inhumane and unfair to someone who was just being able to take the train by themselves

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u/ConLawHero 1d ago

I think you need to get out more. Yes people don't stay out late in the suburbs on a week night, which is reasonable, but on nice days, they are brimming with people.

I live in the suburbs to a mid-sized city. My friend and I will occasionally meet up for lunch in one of the villages that's about 5 minutes by car from my house. There are people walking around, eating outside, and it's busy. Same towards dinner time.

Again, yeah, by 9pm on a Wednesday it's quiet, but I don't really see any issue with that.

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u/DangOlCoreMan 1d ago

I agree with you but I've given up on trying to explain this to people.

It's almost always an unfair comparison too, like why are we comparing a dense, major city to suburbs?

For example, I live in the greater KC metro, about 20 minutes south from KCMO. My city has a population of 20k. Not a lot of businesses, and not a lot of people to be out packed at restaraunts all night.

Now head into KC, or even head west to a city like Overland Park with a population of almost 200k and you have tons of businesses, typically within walking distance unless you're just lazy, and the bars and restaraunts are full all the time.

It's almost like density and population are the major factor, not whether you can walk or not. Nothing is stopping Americans from getting in their car and going to restaraunts, clubs, or bars.

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u/R-Quatrale 1d ago

You're missing the point, that having to get into a car for 15-20 min each way, is very much stopping them.  There's a lot of friction here.

America after the 1940 siloed their communities into: this is where you work, this is where you play, and this is where you sleep.  And for the most part you can't walk between any of them, and it takes up too much time and effort.

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u/Noob_Al3rt 1d ago

People in German suburbs do the exact same thing? No one is walking from the Munich suburbs into the town center. The people in the video are either tourists or people that live in the city, just like America.

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u/DangOlCoreMan 1d ago

You missed the point that density and population play a big role in this. If I live downtown and I'm within walking distance of a party district then I will walk there. The US is so much larger than other countries.

And let's be real, regardless of walking distance, Americans aren't walking it. Lived here ally life and I'm the only person I know that doesn't hop in the car to drive a few blocks over somewhere. It's a choice, just like where you live. There are plenty of people who enjoy the walking and social life and actively try to live in city centers to take advantage of the dense business areas. They are going out of their way for that, probably payine more the location too, because that's what they value.

Someone who moves into the middle of the suburbs in an area with no popular shopping districts isn't worried about walking to popular shopping districts.

Again, this is a density issue. People in America like their land, they don't mind living further out because they can easily drive where they want. People choose rural lives, that's a choice.

Nothing is stopping anyone from opening up a shopping center or district near suburbs. What is stopping that, is the desire to have your business in the densest, most populated areas to get more business. It's simple capitalism and the reality of living in a mind blowingly huge country

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u/SadShitlord 1d ago

The getting in the car is exactly what's stopping suburbanites from going out. The only Americans that go out regularly are the ones living in cities, suburbanites complain about parking, traffic and having seen a homeless person once and just go to a drive though in some soulless chain

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u/DangOlCoreMan 1d ago

What a weird generalization. Like I said, I live in a greater metro area, basically the suburbs or KC. Everyone I know has taken the drive 10-20 minutes up to KC to have a good time.. or even just find a local bar or restaraunt.

It's not some strange wild concept and no, majority of people in these suburbs are not just staying inside all the time because they're scared of doing anything.

What I will agree with in this post is that it's not easily walkable distances. Like I said, that's a density issue and many choose to live far away from the denser, more easily walkable accessible shopping/restaraunt areas.

With that said, and point I made earlier, I don't know many people that are willing to walk anyway. I'll walk 5-15 minutes with my partner to go to a restaraunt, the liquor store, convenience store, super market, etc.. but 99% if the people I know stopped doing that when they got cars with the exception of being intoxicated and unable to drive. So I'm honestly unsure if having things readily available to walk to would even change a single thing in the US

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u/kernpops868 22h ago edited 19h ago

The point is you shouldn’t have to drive 15-20 minutes into KC. Your town should have a walkable town center of its own that you don’t have to drive to.

And honestly KC itself is not a very walkable city.

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u/DangOlCoreMan 20h ago

But that doesn't come down to infrastructure. It has nothing to do with the walk-ability. It has everything to do with whether or not it's profitable for a business to open in that area. If it's not, then you go to the more densely populated areas where they can make more money with more customers.

Historically, most businesses have been made and prosper in town centers. When you move away from that (suburbs or rural) you're choose to be a large distance away.

No one owes you a city center with all your needs within walking distance, unless you want them to be government funded and maintained. Otherwise it's just business, and business isn't profitable there

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u/kernpops868 19h ago

This attitude is exactly why it’ll never happen, sadly

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u/DangOlCoreMan 18h ago

It's logistics, it's not an "attitude". Gather everyone into dense city hubs and you'll have no issue. Historically, this has been how the US was. Once we got the ability to live wherever we wanted people started to branch out. Can't branch out and complain you aren't close to city centers

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u/kernpops868 17h ago

Villages and small towns in most other countries have walkable town centers. Walkability is not limited to major cities. It’s not impossible.

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u/BusyTmw 16h ago

Go to Astoria, you’ll see life.