I’ve heard the legends of having to drive to literally everywhere (e.g. drive thru banks), but I have no clue how far apart things are.

I live in suburban London where you can get to a big supermarket in 10 minutes of walking, a train station in 20 minutes and convenience stores are everywhere. You can get anywhere with bus and train in a few hours.

Can someone help a clueless British lemmyposter know how far things are in the US?

EDIT

Here are my walking distances:

  • To the nearest convenience store: 250m
  • To the nearest chain supermarket: 350m
  • To the bus stop: 310m
  • To the nearest park: 400m
  • To the nearest big supermarket: 1.3km
  • To the nearest library: 1.2km
  • To the nearest train station: 1km

Straight-line distance to Big Ben: 16km

  • TeckFire@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    2 months ago

    Just for fun, I decided to check my distances against yours

    Here are my walking distances:

    • To the nearest convenience store: 1.13km
    • To the nearest chain supermarket: 2.74km
    • To the bus stop: 33.8km
    • To the nearest park: 2.41km
    • To the nearest *big* supermarket: 17.7km
    • To the nearest library: 2.41km
    • To the nearest train station: 24.14km
    • Straight-line distance to Nashville’s “The Batman Building” (closest approximation to a large unique cityscape building): 67.76km
    • Lemming421@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      2 months ago

      - To the bus stop: 33.8km

      Is that a typo, or can you just randomly stand at the side of the road and flag down a bus so you don’t need as many formal bus stops?

      Because that’s wild.

      • TeckFire@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        2 months ago

        Not a typo. There are no buses unless you go to one of the neighboring cities. I live too far from anywhere that has buses. You either have to walk, or… you can drive! Like everybody else in the US without access to any sort of public transportation remotely close to their home…

        Edit: Here’s my nearest walking directions to a large supermarket

    • EatATaco@lemm.eeEnglish
      2·
      2 months ago

      I live in a small suburb right outside of a major us city.

      To the nearest convenience store: .6 km To the nearest chain supermarket: .9 km To the bus stop: .3km To the nearest park: 1.0km To the nearest big supermarket: .9km To the nearest library: 1.2km To the nearest train station: .6km Straight-line distance to big Ben: 5708 km

      You certainly got me on big Ben distance.

      But this is why the question is kind of silly. America is a huge, diverse place. When I lived in NYC, I was probably closer to everything than you. Where I grew up in an almost rural area, the closest thing was over 5km away. And this isn’t even all that bad because I had a friend who grew up in an unincorporated area where she had to drive 30min just to get her mail.