…they’ve fallen apart because the outside world has almost no places left where people can freely gather.
I’m sorry that has been your experience; it has not been mine. I can walk to several wonderful parks, I can bike (or take a $3 bus) to the beach, and I have world-class cycling destinations out my door.
Alternately, I have three or four libraries within about a 20m walking distance.
That said, yes, I do live in a high CoL area, so perhaps that was the point you were making.
I mean, that genuinely sounds amazing. Though I’ll note that paying to go places is still an issue for the youth and the poor. When I was in college, and when I lived in California, there was a similar variety of options, though, driving was a necessity in San Diego.
If you’ve ever heard of suburban hell though, that’s pretty much what I was referring to. There’s a small library about a forty minute walk from me, across at least one highway and partially without sidewalks. A ten minute walk to a park that can seat fifteen, there is a scenic bike route, and no buses. And yet it’s a vast improvement over what I saw in Texas.
The loss of unregulated, uncapitalized public spaces is a well recognized phenomenon (also termed ‘third spaces’), one that grew even more pronounced during Covid.
I’m sorry that has been your experience; it has not been mine. I can walk to several wonderful parks, I can bike (or take a $3 bus) to the beach, and I have world-class cycling destinations out my door.
Alternately, I have three or four libraries within about a 20m walking distance.
That said, yes, I do live in a high CoL area, so perhaps that was the point you were making.
I mean, that genuinely sounds amazing. Though I’ll note that paying to go places is still an issue for the youth and the poor. When I was in college, and when I lived in California, there was a similar variety of options, though, driving was a necessity in San Diego.
If you’ve ever heard of suburban hell though, that’s pretty much what I was referring to. There’s a small library about a forty minute walk from me, across at least one highway and partially without sidewalks. A ten minute walk to a park that can seat fifteen, there is a scenic bike route, and no buses. And yet it’s a vast improvement over what I saw in Texas.
The loss of unregulated, uncapitalized public spaces is a well recognized phenomenon (also termed ‘third spaces’), one that grew even more pronounced during Covid.