Fuck Cars

My 15-min walk list:

1. restaurants/bars/cafes
2. grocery store
3. some kind of tech store, like Microcenter but smaller with less items because you wouldn’t want a big ass Microcenter near you
4. a park/open air theater or amphitheater
5. gym options (Pilates, yoga, weights etc)
6. pharmacy
7. day care
8. some clothing stores
9. hairdresser/barber/nails
10. bus/train stop

I sincerely disagree that post offices and banks near to be within walking distance when we have mailboxes and online banking. Also, I’d like to be able to drive my car out with ease to get to other cities or states if needed. I assume 15min city urban planning accounts for the desire to long distance travel at will.

@ajsadauskas @fuck_cars There's a couple of weird things missing there I would definitely include, like a doctor's office, a library and a gym.

I'm in a city in the UK and a lot of those are in 15 minutes walk from me. A hospital, university, shopping mall and sports arena and I think a bank I'd have to go into the city centre for, but that's only about 30 minutes walk, 10 minutes on the bike, or a short bus or metro ride. I'm generally pretty lucky in my location.

@ajsadauskas @fuck_cars we've been in coburg and although a few bits of gentrification are getring toe-holds it feels like it hasn't changed much in 50 years. surprised to see bar ranked so low - definitely best to have within walking distance.

we can get to everything except hospital (though there are plans to build one in the next decade or so), sports arena (plenty of pitches around), university, and gas/petrol station (should have one this year or next).

Gas station above elementary school?

I would love this being contrasted with what they get on average, it would probably really depressing.

It's interesting, walking 15 minutes to the next bus stop sounds like a nightmare in a city but pretty good in the country ...

I'm gonna make a few assumptions: One is that this is just a neighborhood in my hypohetical ideal world (or rather, near-ideal). Second: we're talking about high qualiy versions of these places, and not the "just barely good enough to not go under" versions that abound. Last: "should" means "necessity" and not "luxury."

Groceries are a no-brainer.

Parks — hell yes. In fact, I'd prefer if everyone had access to all kinds of nature within "walking" (walking + public transportation) distance: parks, woods, botanical gardens, community gardens, wildlife reserves.

Pharmacies should be obsoleted: drugs should be devriminalized and un-gatekept. People should have the freedom to put whatever stupid, life-altering substance they want to into their body (with caveats like informed consent and heavily recommended medical professional supervision). Distributors could be home-delivery through the post and the over-the-counter section in your local grocery store.

Bus stops... Yes for some neighborhoods, but ideally more trains or trams, especially in suburbs.

Post offices are dying out. Letters and spam are the kinds of things people should have access to in their immediate neighborhood, but are becoming obsolete thanks to the internet (which should be a public utility instead of run for profit). I'm about 50/50 on whether there should still be home-delivery for everyone and all packages, or if there should be local holding centers for most (although, once again, any delivery network should be considered a public service instead of a few companies monopolizing the role), and at-home delivery for the most important packages/incapacitated people.

Banks are a no. Credit union, yes. Or maybe no and just let money become the digital currency it's slowly been turning intobfor the past 40 years. Ideally, society (and by extension this ideal neighborhood) would function without capital.

Gas stations: hell no. Convenience stores yes (or just all-in-one grocery stores). Maybe EV charging stations... Maybe.

Having a barber is way more convenient than people give it credit, and it doesn't benefit from centralization. At the very least, everyone should have a neighbor who cuts hair well.

Bonus round: things that should be within a 30-minute commute (by transit)—mall, movie theater, hospital, elementary school, day care, university, restaurants, bars.

No to stadiums, but yes to sports fields in the parks.

Things not on the list that should be: museums, clinics, dentists, optometrists, psychiatrists, veterinarians, pools, gyms, community centers/general use indoor halls, fire stations, makers spaces... probably others that I'm forgetting.

Sorry that this 15 minute walk is turning into a jog.

I'm in one of the less walkable, more car centric cities, but have made a lifelong effort to live where I can walk to things and have a few bus routes nearby. The buses have been starved and some come only every hour now but I can walk to:

Work

Cafe

Corner store

Bank (but I bank online)

Doctor and dentist (dentist more like half hour walk but sidewalk all the way) also every specialist doctor

A pot dispensary

Drugstore

Several restaurants

And believe it or not, a stadium.

No bar :(

Surprised shooting ranges aren't on this list.

I can't reach any of the above in 15 minutes. In fact I can't reach anything in 15 minutes as it takes me 5 to just reach the gate - very rural middle of nowhere, population 50, with a single road and some street lamps as the infrastructure.

Every American should have a major league stadium within a 15 minute walk.

I live in a city of about 3/4 of million people, just shy of it. Winnipeg Manitoba Canada.

I can walk to every one of those other than a university and sports arena (pro football or hockey, minor community center within ten), within twenty minutes. The movie theater is probably twenty away, everything else is accessible within 15 pretty easy.

It's possible but you gotta get into one of those post war community type places that hasn't been turned over yet..

Shopping mall is the only one on the list I can't walk to in 15 min or less. Love living in a walkable city, it's so rare in America these days.

Missing a gym, physio, and doctors clinic.

Need a proper public house

Have everything except university and sports arena. But for me it makes sense being in the NJ/NYC metro area.

Bar should be way higher on that list. Seems a lot of people haven't experienced the freedom of being able to walk home drunk from a bar, or at least take a subway/bus, without worrying about dealing with a car. Or worse relying on the friend who had a few beers but is still "good" to drive.

Pretty bizarre results. Park and bus stop should be 100.

University, hospital, mall, theatre, arena? Those are massive, you can't have one 15 minute walk from everywhere.

Now bars are the one commercial item that's easy to have around.

Who needs a gas station within walking distance? One need a gas station within 15-minutes driving.

Living in rural US I sadly don't have any of those within walking distance. Some would take over an hour walk, and most are not even accessible to walk. A decent bike ride can get me to a few, but I hate riding on country roads. Far too many people get hit around here.

All but 4, I can get to. University, theatre, sports arena, and shopping mall.

Although those four are a 5-10 minute Uber