OracleOutlook
🇺🇸 Fiat justitia ruat caelum
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User ID: 359
OracleOutlook
🇺🇸 Fiat justitia ruat caelum
15hr ago
Guess you've never seen one of these: https://sipmask.com/products/sip-airtight-drinking-valve-safely-drink-through-mask-with-straw
Also, obviously, alcohol sterilizes your mouth so you don't have to worry about Covid while you're drinking. /s
OracleOutlook
🇺🇸 Fiat justitia ruat caelum
16hr ago
I once lived in a condo that was next to a grocery store, it would also be a 2 minute walk max. I shopped 2-3 times a week. Back then, if I wanted milk or anything else that couldn't fit in my cloth shopping bag, I'd drive anyway. And that was without dealing with five flights of stairs, are you including the time it takes to walk upstairs in the calculation?
At my current place, it's a 20 min drive to the grocery store anyway, so a 20 minute bike ride isn't particularly more inconvenient.
From this conversation I have mostly learned that people who live in cities and people who live in suburbs don't understand the most basic facts of each other's lives, yet somehow we both live so that's something.
OracleOutlook
🇺🇸 Fiat justitia ruat caelum
1d ago
I'm tempted to point out that the hardware store will likely deliver or that Home Depot stores in the NYC area have light trucks which can be rented for a modest fee.
The same would be true of suburbia so I don't see the point.
Ok, if that's too implausible, what if you're in Manhattan and have young toddlers. You need a gallon of milk a day. How do you get the milk from the grocery store to your apartment? How often do you go shopping to be able to reasonably carry a gallon of milk plus whatever other food ingredients you need to keep your young family fed?
OracleOutlook
🇺🇸 Fiat justitia ruat caelum
1d ago
Let's say I'm in Manhattan, I purchase a condo or something, and want to paint the walls. How do I get 5 gallon paint buckets from a hardware store to my new abode?
No, most people would need to own a car or have a friend with a car or at some point use an uber. I don't dispute that. Though I think the same would be true of any city as well, and delivery options/remote work has flattened the difference considerably.
My entire point was and is "I think this neighborhood is one of the ideal examples of urban planning and wish there were more neighborhoods like it."
OracleOutlook
🇺🇸 Fiat justitia ruat caelum
1d ago
I've lived without a car twice and each time I had to account for weather, but honestly you might not appreciate how mild Redmond is. It "rains" almost every day but it's rarely stronger than a drizzle and doesn't go on that long. There were only a couple times a year that I thought it wasn't safe to take kids out, and those times were due to smoke.
In college I would do most grocery shopping at a Target that was reachable by a bus, but once a Wegmans was open I walked there despite it being what Google says is a 50 minute walk. I would regularly jog down there anyways just for fresh air. It wasn't an imposition to stop at Wegmans, fill up a reusable bag and then walk back. It didn't strike me as impractical or difficult.
My point is that someone designed a neighborhood (Redmond Ridge) in such a way that, despite having a car, I elected to walk 90% of the time. And this is a nice balance between surburb and city and more neighborhood planners should try to emulate this design.
I am not someone who does well in "real" cities. I find them exhausting.
OracleOutlook
🇺🇸 Fiat justitia ruat caelum
2d ago
I'm basically telling you I did this and you are still saying it's impractical.
OracleOutlook
🇺🇸 Fiat justitia ruat caelum
2d ago
Lol, you got pretty close to the mark with your example.
...Ok, you can't live every lifestyle there. I guess there are people who want to go to a gym for the community factor instead of just exercise at home. And there are people who want to dance...
But if your demographic is "married mother of 4" then you have:
4+ playgrounds that are close enough that a toddler to walk to.
Elementary, Middle, and Preschool also within easy walking distance.
Community center within walking distance.
Library drop off/pick up within walking distance.
Really great crosswalks and sidewalks and good laws/culture that mean cars have to stop to let people cross the road at designated crosswalks.
As far as your specific requests:
(1) Anytime Fitness is a 24 hour gym that is a 12 min bike ride or half an hour walk.
(2) The QFC is a 12 minute bike ride, which tbh I don't know many people who want to walk with groceries but biking with a trailer is fine and meets the "no cars" point. And there are bike lanes and trails. If you want to walk it's about half an hour which isn't a bad walk either, though I wouldn't want to make it with a gallon of milk in each hand.
(3) Ixtapa is a much nicer restaurant and a very easy walk.
(4) Palmer's East is in Redmond Town Center? There's a bus pick up by Rosa Parks Elementary (about a 10 min walk from your selected house with a stroller) that goes straight to Redmond Town Center approx every 1 hour. (DART Route 224) This is a harder requirement because I don't think this is as popular an activity in the area. Most live shows are in Seattle proper, which is a pain to get to whether you're on bus, car, boat, or bicycle.
(5) Redmond Town Center also has a Guitar Center, does that count? Otherwise there's a lot of other cool things within easy walking distance of Redmond Town Center. Big 5 Sporting Goods, Zumiez, etc. Home Depot is a little further away but is that a thing that might be worth finding your friend with a truck anyway?
OracleOutlook
🇺🇸 Fiat justitia ruat caelum
2d ago
Is the criteria "urban means they cannot afford a car" or is the criteria "urban means they don't need a car for 90% of the time?"
OracleOutlook
🇺🇸 Fiat justitia ruat caelum
2d ago
I can also say that in practice you can go months without needing to drive unless you want to go to a specific grocery store.
OracleOutlook
🇺🇸 Fiat justitia ruat caelum
2d ago
You could theoretically live in this neighborhood without a car: https://maps.app.goo.gl/SaPWqXz55VwMcyqh9
It has a couple bus stops, lots of parks, restaurants within a short walk, gainful employment (at Space X), a QFC, and other places. However, walk around on Google Maps and it will feel very suburban.
None of the parks have restrooms. The houses largely have property values in the millions. I think in the US "suburban" means area without extra crime but you still rub elbows with your neighbors.
(Honestly I think this neighborhood is one of the ideal examples of urban planning and wish there were more neighborhoods like it. Just with more reasonably priced homes, but maybe it doesn't work with reasonably priced homes.)
OracleOutlook
🇺🇸 Fiat justitia ruat caelum
3d ago
One thing people complain about on the drugs is anhedonia. Less desire for food, drugs, sex, caffeine, etc. I could see this turn into a spree of purchasing better and better things trying to chase their old high.
OracleOutlook
🇺🇸 Fiat justitia ruat caelum
5d ago
It prevents the Chinese from investing in Greenland, which they have been doing in the form of buying up mining rights. They've even tried buying the abandoned Grønnedal naval base in Greenland in 2016. That was rebuffed with pressure from Washington but there was no guarantee CCP-backed Chinese companies wouldn't keep trying and one day succeed.
https://pure.diis.dk/ws/files/4834625/Chinese_investments_in_Greenland_DIIS_Report_2021_05.pdf
But it is something that is more likely to happen in a city than a suburb, which is where the comparison is. In a suburb I don't have to calculate the lenght of time it takes to go down an elevator or up a stairwell.
I would prefer to walk/bike. Cars are bulky, they separate you from the outside world, you have to find a parking space and worry that one mistake will create a huge expense and inconvenience to you and another person. I would much prefer to live in a neighborhood where I could bike 20 minutes to a grocery instead of drive 20 minutes to a grocery. This is my point. Walking is good, the fresh air and exercise is good, cars are inconvenient. It is possible to design suburban environments where driving is a weekly thing instead of a daily thing and I wanted to shill for that.
It is also good to have a car to fall back on if the weather is bad, but that part is very location-dependent. I've walked through 2 feet of snow but all the sidewalks were cleared regularly. The place I live now I hesitate to drive in the rain because it's that strong and blinding and the roads can pool up fast. In which case it doesn't matter if I'm walking or driving, I'm waiting for the weather to clear either way.
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