this post was submitted on 16 Apr 2024
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In North America, we think 100 years is a long time. In Europe they think 100 miles is a long distance.
So 1h30 is long for americans? I don't get it.
Honestly have no idea how far 100 miles is. 100 km however is not too bad.
A mile is 1.6KM, so 160 KM
that's about 62.5% of 100 miles.
Miles -> km = multiply by 1.6 (roughly the golden ratio, is how I remember it). So about 160 km.
Does 1 hour 40 minutes help?
Yes. Too long a drive
That is 5883,33 km with a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
I know people that travel more than that in Spain only to buy a kitchen table.
Yeah, that's nice. It's a 100 mile/160Km round trip to buy groceries, (if I need more than some bread, frozen pizza, or a few canned goods), for me or go to the nearest hospital to see a doctor. A lot farther if I need a specialist.
You have to be travelling at a particular speed, so no.
My bad, that would be assuming 60mph/100kph travel speed with a normal traffic.
So if you'd say "one hour's travel going at 60 miles or 100 kilometres an hour on average", wouldn't you rather just say 60 miles or 100 kilometres?
These days people can't seem to envision distance very well. So they don't really care "how far" something is, but rather "how long" does it take. You probably don't know actually know what the measured distance is to the nearest grocery store is from your home, but you know how long it takes to get there. Whether that's by foot, bicycle, bus, train, car or plane.
You have a better mental image of time rather than distance. So it's easier to envision for you. Time seems to be a much more used everyday measurement for travel. And does away with needing to know how many "hogshead per mile" or "baguettes per kilometer" a destination might be. After all, that's most likely someone else's problem and not yours. Is it the best way? I personally don't think so, but it's a common method.
Well, in the USA perhaps. You do hear things like "ten-minute walk away" elsewhere but if you just say "it's ten minutes away", you may as well say something like "it'll be three o'clock when you leave". And of course, if you only ever drive, you could be averaging 2mph or 100mph, so a ten-minute drive away isn't even one distance. Means nothing.
Edit: just seen your other comment saying how far away things are in miles and now I have an idea, as if to illustrate what I mean. I remember being a kid and my dad telling me "xyz is one mile away" and it's been locked in ever since.
OK, so without looking it up. What is the distance between New York City and Seattle? Or Berlin and Paris? You don't really know how far nor can you "see" that distance in your mind. But you have a really good idea how long such a trip will take.
And like most things in day to day life, the context of the discussion is the indication of travel. Again, you probably can't say exactly how far away the store is, but you do know how long it takes you to get there by foot, bus, train, car, or airplane. Think about how you actually talk about such things in a normal, everyday conversation. When asked, do you tell everyone that the grocery store is 1.2 miles/1.93Km away?
I don't in fact! But I'd still guess those distances in units of distance, personally!
I thought I'd already told you we say things like "ten-minute walk away"? "My nearest supermarket is about 350 yards away" is what I'd say.
100km would get you to the other side of my city.
Not guaranteed in Moscow.
I was thinking "Greater Sydney is surely larger than whatever city this American is going to say they were from".
I clicked on your profile and quickly realised that Sydney is probably the city you were referring to begin with.
Melbourne, so even larger still.
But yeah they’re both some wide boys for sure.
Depends which metric you go by. Melbourne urban area is larger but Sydney sprawls out more overall. What I didn't know until just now is that Brisbane is even larger by that metic at almost 16,000 km², which is pretty fucked
In any case, Aussie sprawl is a real problem. It would be nice if our high density wasn't built so shit so people would actually be willing to live in them as opposed to all these single family suburban homes.
Yeah I’d love shit like you see in that Spanish city with those dense blocks of a few story high buildings everywhere, looks nice.
Although if we want people to build up we need to crack down on the standards of apartments, because I don’t know about Sydney but they’re fucking atrocious down here.
Yep, equally as fucked up here. Nobody's gonna buy a place that has borderline non-existent soundproofing and insulation, shit amenities nearby, and a not insignificant chance of becoming uninhabitable due to structural issues. And you'd still probably be looking at around a million for that.
As much as I hate the sprawl, people don't really have much or a choice with the state of things.
I think you mean Barcelona, right?
I mean that "city" is probably 90% single family home suburban sprawl but yeah