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Comment by itsaidpens | Hacker News Reader

Any data if the suburbs and car culture contribute to this?

I went looking because I believe it does, and found a Consumerist article, "People Love Their Cars Because They're Lonely", discussing a journal article, "Truly, Madly, Deeply: Consumers in the Throes of Material Possession Love".

I believe it does because the greater distance cars allow you to travel mean the areas you spend your time in are less likely to coincide with the areas others spend time in, so unlike the small town I grew up in, people don't become familiar, then friendships don't form. The car also allows shopping in large supermarkets, which result in the local shops closing down, and chance to become familiar with faces of the staff and fellow customers is lost.

I've been at parties and been recognised ~"I see you cycling along xxx", which I can't imagine happens to people who drive, both due to the enclosed nature of cars and the speed.

https://consumerist.com/2011/07/22/study-people-love-their-c...

https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/658338

My experience is that people don't get familiar (and certainly don't form friendships) on commutes, whether it's on foot or by bike or by car or whatever.

Urbanization certainly doesn't solve it.

Agreed. People riding busses and trains for 10+ hours per week aren't exactly in better shape than people with equivalent car commutes.

People living in sprawl and in nonwalkable places are more likely to be overweight, get less exercise, and spend less time walking

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2629517/

I was talking about work life balance and discretionary time, not physical fitness.

Also some people have physical abilities such that walking is not a valid lifestyle choice. For instance, two year olds.

I'm pro-walkable spaces. But it's not across the board superior to other arrangements.

Normally walkability also correlates with density of both businesses and houses which also encourages people to live closer to where they work. Compare that to a business park in the middle of the suburbs which requires a long distance commute to reach it.

> For instance, two year olds.

Probably easier to push a child on a stroller through a walkable area than to put it in a car and drive to a location. Less time-consuming and better for the environment as well.

As well as walkable spaces being better for the elderly who can't legally drive and the handicapped who can't legally drive as well.

Agreed. Walking past random people on the sidewalk doesn't help any more than walking past random people in the supermarket (which you surely do even if you live and die by a car in the burbs).

A supermarket is an area designed for one purpose only which is to buy food. Everything else is given an afterthought or no thought at all. Compare that to a plaza or street which is made to encourage human interactions with benches, tables, cafes, libraries, and quiet areas made for simply relaxing.

Not how it works IME but YMMV. When there are benches and tables, I see that they are sometimes used for socializing by groups of people who already know each other and decided to meet.

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