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The distance I will totally back up. As a kid in a suburban area, I couldn't do anything without parents to drive me - meet friends, head to a decent park, go out to a movie.

Of course, this can be fixed when you're old enough to get a car, but that adds a) expense for the parents, and b) a lot of danger. Having 16- and 17-year-olds driving everywhere might not be the best idea.

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I remember riding a bike pretty much everywhere within about a 20 mile radius of home (including a couple nearby small cities). (To be honest though I don't think any of our parents realized just how far we travelled or they might have objected -- on the other hand, I don't think they were that likely to start driving us everywhere back then either.)

In West LA in the 90s? No way any sane parent would let their kids bike on city streets.

One of the things that's actually made me optimistic about suburban California is the proliferation of bike lanes. Definitely makes the whole environment more livable, for kids especially, and makes public transit a lot more practical for everyone.

I grew up in an older suburb that still had sidewalks, so I could walk to friends houses, the park, and even a movie (the local theater is actually closer to my parents' house than my local theater is now in Brooklyn).

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