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Most Americans would rather live in a big house in a car-based community than a small house in a walking-based community. (www.pewresearch.org)
submitted 7 months ago by to c/fuckcars@lemmy.world
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[–] 32 points 7 months ago (15 children)

I've had it both ways, and there's nothing that compares to having your own house and land with privacy away from noisy neighbors.

When I lived in a city there were more things to do, and I could bike to work, but the crowding feels like a social prison. Also I saw some people get shot, and thieves stole things from my porch repeatedly.

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  • [–] 27 points 7 months ago (9 children)

    I grew up in exactly that kind of environment; really, the land (and the wildlife that comes with it) is the bit I miss the most. I'd take a very modest house on a decent plot of land in the middle of the woods to living in a city.

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  • [–] 19 points 7 months ago* (8 children)

    I want to live in a modest house within walking distance of downtown and unspoiled wilderness. How do I make this happen?

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago

    Look for an older town, built out before cars.

    I have a lot of that where I live

    • walkable downtown, centered on a train station - settled since 1600s, bedroom community of a major city
    • first zone for single family homes so I do have a small yard/driveway/basement yet still walkable to center of town
    • I got one of the “new” houses, built in 1946 out of very solid materials, with a usable basement, yard, and driveway. For example, my own EV charging
    • just a few blocks away is a sizable reservation of undeveloped land and a six mile loop of ridge trail - we occasionally get coyotes that presumably live there
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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (2 children)

    Any small town in New England

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (1 child)

    Such as? I feel like New England is like 90% sprawling suburbs like the rest of the country.

    Also by downtown I do mean a real downtown with actual amenities.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago

    A lot of bigger cities do have car-dependent sprawl around an unaffordable city center like Portland, Hartford, Burlington etc but a lot of the smaller towns are much more walkable and community-oriented, where you can probably afford a quarter acre lot within walking distance of a downtown. Brattleboro is a good example but getting pricey, Bennington maybe, Hanover NH, Montpelier, Farmington ME etc.

    You're not going to find Boston-level amenities in i.e. Brattleboro but you'll get a minimum of a coffee shop or two, a brewery, a few good restaurants, shops, etc. plus small-town community and an affordable home

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  • [–] 17 points 7 months ago* (2 children)

    Agreed. I live in a walkable city and would love to live somewhere with no neighbors who think blasting "She thinks my tractor's sexy" on repeat eight hours a day is perfectly fine.

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  • [–] 11 points 7 months ago

    Perhaps. However, we have to acknowledge that there's a price to be paid for this - particularly an environmental price - and it's not the householder who pays that price. If where we lived didn't have consequences for other people then it wouldn't be an issue. But when these decisions lock in urban sprawl, car dependency and excess emissions, they become everybody's business

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  • [–] 0 points 7 months ago

    More needs to happen than just infrastructure changes. It's a a giant educational issue. Individualism is pushed as being the most important thing in the west. This leads to the majority being wildly inconsiderate. Individualism is central to consumerism/capitalism. It always comes back to capitalism.

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