Ask Lemmy @lemmy.world dch82 @lemmy.zip 2 mo. ago

To Americans: How far apart is everything in the US?

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

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Just for fun, I decided to check my distances against yours

Here are my walking distances:

To the nearest convenience store: 1.13km

To the nearest chain supermarket: 2.74km

To the bus stop: 33.8km

To the nearest park: 2.41km

To the nearest *big* supermarket: 17.7km

To the nearest library: 2.41km

To the nearest train station: 24.14km

Straight-line distance to Nashville’s “The Batman Building” (closest approximation to a large unique cityscape building): 67.76km
- I live in a small suburb right outside of a major us city.
  
  To the nearest convenience store: .6 km To the nearest chain supermarket: .9 km To the bus stop: .3km To the nearest park: 1.0km To the nearest big supermarket: .9km To the nearest library: 1.2km To the nearest train station: .6km Straight-line distance to big Ben: 5708 km
  
  You certainly got me on big Ben distance.
  
  But this is why the question is kind of silly. America is a huge, diverse place. When I lived in NYC, I was probably closer to everything than you. Where I grew up in an almost rural area, the closest thing was over 5km away. And this isn't even all that bad because I had a friend who grew up in an unincorporated area where she had to drive 30min just to get her mail.
- - To the bus stop: 33.8km
  
  Is that a typo, or can you just randomly stand at the side of the road and flag down a bus so you don’t need as many formal bus stops?
  
  Because that’s wild.
  
  Not a typo. There are no buses unless you go to one of the neighboring cities. I live too far from anywhere that has buses. You either have to walk, or… you can drive! Like everybody else in the US without access to any sort of public transportation remotely close to their home…
  
  Edit: Here’s my nearest walking directions to a large supermarket
  
  Haha

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