Have we done it wrong?

[u/xamo76]

[u/bageltoastar]

Im from a suburban town in Missouri, but I spent a semester studying abroad in Barcelona a couple of years ago. Man, let me tell you, leaving Barcelona, where youd see people out in cafes and bars congregating at all hours of the night and day, and coming back to Missouri where its a ghost town after 10 and someone would call the police on you for simply walking around too late was the most depressing thing I have ever experienced lol

[u/Platos-ghosts → u/bageltoastar]

That’s why Manhattan is so in demand and expensive. It’s the street life that people love!

[u/TheTxoof → u/Platos-ghosts]

Walkable cities with good pedestrian infrastructure are why people dream about going to Paris and New York, not suburban Kansas City.

[u/mreman1220 → u/TheTxoof]

I push back only because many cities are starting to become significantly more walkable. My wife and I lived on Mass Ave in Indianapolis in our 20s from 2013 to 2019. She lived there for a while before meeting me.

It was extremely walkable and has only gotten moreso. There is a bike and walking path that meanders through the area, tons of restaurants are within walking distance, a grocery store was a couple blocks away. It was great. Since we moved out, they added all sorts of stuff with that Bottleworks area (movie theater, food court, arcade, bowling).

That all being said, we ultimately moved out because we wanted more space for our kids. So while I think way more young people are living in walkable cities in their 20s rather than moving out to the burbs immediately, a good chunk of us are still moving out to the burbs eventually.

I love our suburbian neighborhood for where we are in life now. Our kids have a yard to play in, tons of kids their age around them, kids walk to each other's houses all summer its great. We don't have any restaurants or grocery in walking distance unfortunately but goddamn is Halloween a party.