You know, when I got my current job, the people in my department said"we tried to find your Facebook but couldn’t" and I said 'yeah that’s because I don’t have one."

13 years later, still don’t.

Though honestly even our work teams chat would probably be too spicy for these motherfuckers. They just want a pretext to keep out anybody. Like some law impossible to follow, that they can selectively enforce.

As said in the other community you posted this in - I don’t think you are crazy for not wanting to drive, but don’t think it’s a good idea to quit because of the accident, either. Your dad is right, everyone does get on an accident eventually. I had a very bad one that totalled my car (someone ran a stop sign) and the trauma made me a bad driver for awhile, so watch out for that. But getting back behind the wheel, overcoming your fear and becoming a competent and comfortable driver is a life skill that will help you, even if you decide that you don’t want to have a car. The life skill of getting back in the saddle after a fall (metaphorically speaking) is an even more important life skill. But driving in particular really is helpful - I mostly bike now, but being able to drive well comes in handy at least weekly.

Yes. We have these, they are generally at gas stations! But as I said earlier, I have never been more than a few blocks from a corner store. They are not groceries though. Beer, diet coke, the Wawa by me has also reasonable food and fancy coffee. But if you need flour and produce, no. It’s only stuff you eat without cooking, ready to go things.

The Walgreens does have more regular stuff, cat food and tape, shampoo, etc. So may be closer to what you are thinking of. There is one of those near me also, but one vs. 3 gas station shops.

Ok. I live in a car centric city but never have lived where I couldn’t walk to a corner store. Even out in the suburbs when I was a kid, we could walk to the store, the library too.

Not to say there aren’t house farms in the exurbs, ringed by impossibly wide and fast roads. But it’s not so prevalent that you can’t avoid it.

I agree on zoning - there’s an empty lot a couple houses down, and another on the river, wouldn’t it be nice if I could build a pub so people didn’t drive to the bar? But truly, there are 3 gas stations/corner stores within a mile of our house, 4 barbershops, restaurants, 2 laundromats, a tattoo shop, a pharmacy, all without crossing any road with more than 2 lanes and 25mph speed limit. We just got a taqueria too, it’s so good! I just want a neighborhood bar because I hate hate driving somewhere for a drink!

A drive through ATM!

Yeah 2 miles here. It’s still the rule, school bus service available if you are more than 2 miles away from school OR would have to cross a dangerous road.

And no, obviously we are supposed to be precognitive and able to tell if something will happen.

That said - I would let my kids walk to the shop themselves only if there was no big road to cross. Drivers here will run kids right over. Everyone knows someone with a family member killed by a car.

You drive 70mph to work? Your home and work are both right off a highway? Then car seems efficient as heck, I would drive too.

That map is just so weird. There is no road next to the highway? Like, why does that transit loop exist if there’s nothing in the middle of that circle, or around the outside of it?

I do intentionally only live within a short distance of the bus, always, and am lucky my work moved really close to where I live. Couple reasons biking to work for me is not much longer than driving - traffic is heavy so car travel can be slow. The sidewalk that stretches from near my house to work has few intersections so is reasonably safe, if there are not many pedestrians I take that, if there are, I go a block off the main road down the side road.

On the sidewalk I’m often riding past stationary cars, my coworkers see me pass them.

That’s inside the city though. The suburbs here are dire, house farms ringed by stroads.

There ARE times I have to walk the bike across a 6 lane road, going anywhere to the north of me I have to do that, it’s not like all the roads are reasonable. That 6 lane road has a bike lane but I wouldn’t dare. But the paths to work, grocery, yoga, my daily routes are ok.

May I ask how car is 10 minutes and bike 53? And walk over 2 hours? I ride the electric bike to work and it’s about 10 minutes ride, vs 4 minutes by car, so roughly double. 20 minute walk, not brisk. It’s hot here too, that’s part of why I got the electronic bike, walking was making me arrive sweaty.