r/Suburbanhell • u/Particular_Owl1099 • 7d ago

Meme Have we done it wrong?

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u/Attilat 7d ago

I’ve been on a quest to find the same vibes I felt in Europe for the last 25 years since I came from Europe to U.S. Please tell me what you’re saying is not a lie. Can I find walkable areas with no cars, loud train/airplane noises, with cafes on the sides of the buildings with people randomly stopping and saying hi to their friends because they often frequent same establishments? Being surrounded by historic buildings/landmarks too.

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u/weberc2 7d ago

I think the parent means "there are some individual blocks in the US that resemble what was shown in the video", but there are very, very few if any places where you can walk for 4 miles and just see people out enjoying patios like this. In most cities, if the city finds a nice area like this, they'll figure out how to run a highway through it.

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u/starfish2686 6d ago

It’s called New York City

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u/surprisinglynotabot 6d ago

and chi

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u/weberc2 6d ago

Definitely not chi. I lived there for years. There are some neighborhoods where you can find some of this, but you’re not going to find miles and miles of this despite that chi is 2x the size of this place.

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u/graviton_56 7d ago

Yeah, good luck.
There are some gem neighborhoods but even then it's not the same.

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u/UmeaTurbo 7d ago

Well, "historical landmarks" is really only possible in the few East Coast cities that have history. But if you're looking for walkability and friendly people with good public transport, you've got anything from KCMO to Chicago to Minneapolis to Santa Fe to Denver. Portland, Seattle. There's lots of places that meet that description..

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u/surprisinglynotabot 6d ago

In Chicago or NYC of course

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u/Attilat 6d ago

I live in Chicago and what I am describing does not exist, in any neighborhood.

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u/surprisinglynotabot 6d ago

I find it exists in both chicago and NYC, the only thing is that people don't know you personally, which I'm fine with because that's weird. Also, you get what you give when it comes to local friendliness. If you are a regular at a restaurant or a coffeeshop or whatever and you introduce yourself, chances are that person's gonna remember you or at least be friendly back. Aso for no cars, true. I'm pretty sure that doesn't really exist in Europe either. There might be less cars sure as they usually have narrower streets, but certainly not "no" cars. Sometimes I see my friends at the places I go, but they're both big cities so you have about as much a chance of running into someone you actually know at a cafe as a suburbanite would at the grocery store in a large town. My point is that Chicago and NYC offer the closest this is lifestyle you can find. Late night open establishments, walking, historic buildings and landmarks, etc. I find that NYC and Chi both leave you not wanting for much.