You just knock the snow off your shoes, it's not that crazy.

A shoe you've "knocked the snow off" is still full of snow, just less of it. It's also full of slush and salt.

Not really? It's negligible if you have a mat.

Things can be judgement calls. It's not like everyone takes a strict always on or always off ruling. If someone is going to track some obvious crap inside that's a different story than if they were walking around in normal conditions.

But northern locations are colder. Being shoeless is cold, especially on wood floors.

First shoes in this context is outdoor shoes, that doesn’t mean being barefoot.

Second northern locations tend to have properly insulated and heated indoors, rugs, possibly floor heating, … when the cold is common it’s easier to spend more on heating and comfort. For instance in Japan central heating is only common in Hokkaido, maybe also Aomori.

(My responses are US-centric, since that's where I live)

> that doesn’t mean being barefoot.

It does if you're at someone else's place. or in your socks, which is roughly the same.

> northern locations tend to have properly insulated and heated indoors, rugs, possibly floor heating

That is far from the norm in my part of the US.

Don't get me wrong, if I'm a guest and asked to remove my shoes, of course I do! And without comment. But it does make for uncomfortably cold feet in the winter.

But our outdoor shoes are too hot to wear inside. They are also heavy and so a relief to get that weight off your feet

You can wear slippers

socks and slippers?