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this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2023
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I recently found out that the suburbs in the US have NOTHING other than single family homes.
No small grocery store, no hair salon, no post office, no pub, no tiny kebab place around the corner, nothing. There are areas where you have to drive 30 minutes just to buy bread.
Now I understand why 15-minute cities are such a buzz among Americans.
That's a bit exaggerated. "Corner" stores of any kind are rare in suburbs as they are zoned for residential use only. However, there are often small areas zoned commercial scattered around where a small number of shops are located. I'm pretty sure land use planning requires these things to avoid exactly what you were describing.
I've never been more than 10 minutes from groceries or gas in the suburbs. Now rural life, that can mean some planning if you need anything at all. And if you want to do anything remotely interesting you're almost always going to be traveling some distance. And with very few exceptions cars are practically mandatory.
Edit: times based on car travel, not walking.
Honestly, 10 minutes by car is still pretty far for a somewhat urban environment.
That's the crazy thing to Europeans. Pretty much everywhere you can walk 10 to 15 minutes or drive a few minutes by bike to get to a grocery store or restaurant. From the smallest town to the big cities.