Too many Americans live in places built for cars – not for human connection

Re:Too many Americans live in places built for cars – not fo... by dividefuel on Thursday August 25, 2022 @12:16PM (#32595901)

I certainly agree that the US planned too much around cars and not enough around walking/transit/cycling.

I am however often skeptical of the comparisons to university life. While walkability absolutely does help foster connection, I don't think you can attribute all of the differences just to that. There are other major differences between life in university and life outside that also make a big difference in fostering connection:

- Only 5,000-50,000 people in universities, compared to millions in cities. You're more likely to live near friends and more likely to run into them.

- The vast majority of people in university are in the same narrow age group

- Most people in university have more free time than those who work full time

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Re:Too many Americans live in places built for cars – not fo... by yeeyeeyee on Friday August 26, 2022 @11:33AM (#32608822)

The biggest apple/orange problem with OPs comparison is that in a university, there is a competitive admission process. Universities are planned, elite communities. You can't do that in a city. "Oh sorry NYC is now for people with 1400+ SAT only, sorry buddy, you're gonna have to go to Detroit."

I guess you can price people out, but that does not really have the same effect as the psychometric screening that universities do.

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