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Comment by ape4 | Hacker News Reader

On suburbs: "You will not take leisurely strolls to admire the scenery, for there is neither admirable scenery nor anywhere to stroll."

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Exacerbated by the lack of sidewalks in many suburban neighborhoods. I once lived the equivalent of four city blocks from a grocery store but wouldn’t have been able to get there on foot without walking on the shoulder of a highway.

A lack of connectivity, too. Your parcel might be adjoining the back lot of the grocery store, but you cant get there without walking over a half mile to get out of your cul de sac and to the major road.

Where I live, that only exists on actual county highways or new suburbs. When they get to be 10-15 years old (and if it's grown enough to become a town or something), the local area typically makes an ordinance to have sidewalks.

Not to mention, of course, that if you stroll around, you might look suspicious and some suburbanite may call the police on you.

Neither the lack of strolling nor the heightened suspicion are true of all suburbs in the US.

The author nowhere claims that these things are universally applicable, and is careful to note many exceptions. If enough people read it and think the shoe fits, then it probably fits.

In the city, you get attacked by "youths". So it gets cancelled out.

> In the city, you get attacked by "youths". So it gets cancelled out.

You're showing your true face with this projection and it is a very bad look.

Meanwhile, as somebody outside that land of that weird projection: I've lived in some of the "worst neighborhoods" of my city, as an ethnic group that very much did not fit into that area, and have never felt anything but safe walking down the street. To the best of my recollection my SO never felt worried even as she walked a mile-plus to the train every day, either.

Crime happens, certainly. It is not some terrifying scourge and it also happens to not be isolated to the racial groups you fear or hate or both--and I'd appreciate if you don't dissemble about this one 'cause let's be honest, you're not exactly showing enough subtlety to not scarequote "youths" and we all know what that means in America in 2020.

> You're showing your true face with this projection and it is a very bad look.

I was personally attacked in SF but keep ignoring that there is not problem.

That sucks, I'm sorry to hear that. Now when you extrapolate it out to a statistically meaningful sample, what happens?

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