this post was submitted on 24 Sep 2024
271 points (96.2% liked)

Ask Lemmy

27027 readers
834 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

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

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago (2 children)

The railway used to be the default for rural areas. It could be again.

[–] bluewing@lemm.ee 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

So how does rail solve the Last Mile problem? It does no good to say "take the train" if the nearest train station is 60 miles away. And is it the best use of a train to run tracks to a town/village with a population 150 people or less?

[–] dustyData@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Light rail and buses? Even the most remote rural towns in Japan have small shuttle buses that serve even the sparsest areas. The great thing about public transit is that it is actually scalable if there's political will to make it happen. A shuttle bus can connect a rural neighborhood to a big train station within 60 minutes. The cool factor of transit is mix and matching several types of transport to cover the most area with the highest mobility for the widest array of people.

[–] bluewing@lemm.ee 2 points 2 months ago

Japan still has a higher density of population and far less landmass to cover. My nearest neighbor is over a mile away. Are you going to build a bus route or light rail just for me? Or through county, state, and federal forest lands? Logistics is a bitch.

[–] Olhonestjim@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Only where the rails went. We'd have to replace all the roads with light rails.

[–] Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It would take more than that. The problem is almost not solvable under present economic and political conditions.

[–] Olhonestjim@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Oh, I agree. There are wide swaths of the country that rail cannot service. Individual homes out in the sticks, farmland, etc. they'd need a car or truck just to get to the train station.

[–] Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

Not for last mile, but should be a much larger part of the picture.