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Comment by smutticus | Hacker News Reader

This is the American suburbia I know best. Falls Church VA. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&...

Portland is not a good example of American urban planning gone awry. As it's probably one of the most sensible cities in the US.

And yes, unfortunately neighborhoods without sidewalks are all too common in American suburbs.

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Wow. I've travelled to many countries and lived in a few, but I've never been somewhere without sidewalks. I looked at that street view and thought: "that's weird, grassy sidewalks". I had to pan 360 degrees a few times to realise it was people's front gardens, not public space. It feels very alien to me.

Around here, there are laws now that prevent someone from building without providing a sidewalk. Old lots are grandfathered in, I think, but any new development has to also provide a sidewalk.

I suspect it's that way most places, and that's why you find so few without sidewalks. They do exist, though.

> Portland is not a good example of American urban planning gone awry. As it's probably one of the most sensible cities in the US.

Mostly, but there's really 2 Portlands. Downtown & the eastside are dense, mostly flat, walkable and with excellent public transit. The west side is hilly, mostly suburban, and generally neither walking nor transit friendly.

I have you beat. The American neighborhood I know best has no sidewalk or even a curb. :)

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&...

Are you sure that's Falls Church? I don't see a single Super Mutant.

Please confine your references to classic games like Fallout or Fallout 2.

So you need to trespass through people's gardens to walk down the street? Or do people just walk in the street?

In the suburbs you can walk in the street or through people's yards ("gardens") along the edges and no one really minds. Everyone tends drive instead, though, since there aren't any well-connected walkways that lead to any place you'd really like to get to.

In general, people do not walk down the street at all. I used to live in a place that looked a bit like this (except spread out a bit more) in Alabama, and while you'd once in a while see someone walking down the street, it was pretty rare except for kids too young to have cars (under 16, basically).

Bah, Falls Church isn't a suburb anymore; anything inside the beltway is basically just more of DC.

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