As far as I could tell, everyone in Dallas/Austin/Houston/San Antonio lives in gated communities with almost nothing in walking distance and very, very few people walking around.
Thats the same thing with California outside of SF and some parts of LA...
Eh you might as well consider some people living in SF/LA in a gated community. If you Uber/Lyft from home to work to your favorite restaurant you’re not really in the community.
People walk all over LA. It would be weird to look down the street and not see a couple people walking along the sidewalk at any given time. The sidewalks are filled with food carts, fruit carts, random goods merchants, impromptu daily farmers markets, as well as tent encampments.
Pasadena though? Absolutely.
I live in Houston and I'll agree it's not a great place to walk except for a few expensive neighborhoods but I've never notice any gated communities.
Here in Houston we have a few gated communities here and there, e.g., Stablewood, just outside the West Loop and off of Memorial Drive to the south. Agreed about the walking.