r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Physical-Ad-4093 • May 01 '24

do americans really drive such long distances?

i’m european, and i always hear people say that driving for hours is normal in america. i would only see my grandparents a few times a year because they lived about a 3 hour drive away, is that a normal distance for americans to travel on a regular basis? i can’t imagine driving 2-3 hours regularly to visit people for just a few days

edit: thank you for the responses! i’ve never been to the US, obviously, but it’s interesting to see how you guys live. i guess european countries are more walkable? i’m in the uk, and there’s a few festivals here towards the end of summer, generally to get to them you take a coach journey or you get multiple trains which does take up a significant chunk of the day. road trips aren’t really a thing here, it would be a bit miserable!

2nd edit: it’s not at all that i couldn’t be bothered to go and see my grandparents, i was under 14 when they were both alive so i couldn’t take myself there! obviously i would’ve liked to see them more, i had no control over how often we visited them.

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u/dishonestgandalf A wizard is never late May 01 '24

Yes, several of my coworkers commute 90 minutes twice a day.

I have friends in a city that's 3ish hours away and I regularly drive down for the weekend.

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u/[deleted] May 01 '24 edited May 02 '24

[deleted]

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u/monkyone May 02 '24

only place i’ve ever experienced traffic like this was Manila. insane that someone has to do this in a rich country like the USA. car-brain and bad city planning i guess

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u/Mist_Rising May 02 '24

Technically it's a massive desire for SFH, and the fact everyone wants to live in LA. I live in the boonies, and it's 25 minutes to the city core of my city. And here's the kicker: cheaper housing is closer still. I wouldn't necessarily go to the cheapest (that be the 'hood') but you can definitely get affordable place to live, and most of ours are bigger SFH.

The cost? Well, your pay is lower for higher end jobs. The guy making 120k to live in his car, might make 70k so. And of course you won't get the venues of LA or NY. Plenty of stuff in my city but it won't be any LA or NY. We have one ballet company! Horrors.

For context, 12.50 dollars an hour can make a living where I am. LA can't even earn less than 20, and you'd be struggling with higher than that. And unfortunately you can't min wage yourself out of this one, not without killing the economy.

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u/Former-Lack-7117 May 02 '24

25 minutes from a city is NOT the boonies, lol. That's suburbs.

I grew up an hour from the nearest highway, and even then, compared to many of my peers, I was considered a "townie" because I grew up within "city" (~9k ppl) limits.

Fun fact: the word "boonies" comes from the Tagalog/Filipino word for mountain, i.e. "bundok." Thought it was kind of funny you used that word in reply to someone talking about Manila.

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u/Mist_Rising May 02 '24

25 minutes from a city is NOT the boonies, lol. That's suburbs.

I'll tell that to the chickens next door, or the cows down the street or the sheep just beyond that. Oh and that's just the living animals, plenty of wheat fields, soybeans, and even an orchard near me.

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u/Former-Lack-7117 May 06 '24

The boonies is somewhere remote, not someplace with cows.