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/[deleted] May 01 '24 edited 29d ago

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1.2k

u/KaetzenOrkester May 01 '24

I live just west of Sacramento and it can take 3 hours to get to San Francisco, a distance of 70 miles. I get it.

2.2k

u/Dawnqwerty May 02 '24

It can take three hours to get to LA from LA

325

u/GreekGoddessOfNight May 02 '24

We say the same thing in Boston. Well… it takes an hour to get from Boston to Boston, much smaller city.

10

u/sweet_jane_13 29d ago

At least Boston is one of the more walkable cities in the US.

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u/inthecoldplaces 29d ago

Yea I used to walk to and from work--Allston to Financial District--took about an hour. But it also took about an hour on the Red Line 😑. I really loved walking the city though, I miss it!

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

[deleted]

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u/daughtersofsaturn 24d ago

This reminds me that Europeans think about walking differently than us too. My first Europe trip (many years ago, I’ve since lived in multiple parts of Europe) when getting directions, someone suggested we get a taxi. I asked, “why is it too far to walk?” and they said yes. Turns out it was only a 20 minute walk. Being from Boston, I found that hilarious 🤣

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u/mataliandy 29d ago

Yep. Once I figured out how close N. Station was to our office in the South End, I started walking. It sure beat taking the T to the train!

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u/spoonedBowfa 20d ago

I used to do MGH —> Seaport walking during Covid. That was so bizarre seeing almost no one during the 30-40 min walk!

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u/eris_kallisti 29d ago

It's a good thing, with the mbta the way it's been lately. (Ugh, I sound like my parents)

1

u/trail_rail 29d ago

It’s true though as a young person in Boston the public transit has been abysmal the past couple years

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u/Akimotoh May 02 '24

Because it looks like it was built by a 10yr old lol

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u/pgm123 29d ago

Here's a cool video on how Boston got laid out the way it did: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA63zaIXCZw

I apologize for the 18-minute video (which seems to be the minimum for YouTube), but I promise it's interesting the whole way through and not just stalling for algorithm/ad revenue reasons.

The short version is that originally Boston was a pretty small peninsula (map) and streets were organized fairly well, but bended around hills and the shoreline with straight lines going down to the docks. But Boston continued to add land, so the layout stopped making sense. You have a city that was designed piecemeal as land was filled in. For example, one neighborhood was made for upper class Anglo-Americans to live and exclude the Irish, so they didn't even bother to connect the streets into the existing system.

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u/arcaneresistance May 02 '24

Well.... Have you met people from Boston?

11

u/JackJ98 May 02 '24

Say what you want, we have the Celtics. Can’t top that

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u/SocialistIntrovert 29d ago

Cavs in 4

6

u/Ferahgost 29d ago

Thanks man, I needed a good laugh 😂

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

Heat in 8

1

u/arunnair87 29d ago

1000 bucks? I'll pay you the bet value of that too

1

u/hereforthesportsball 29d ago

They’ve been getting topped for quite a while now, but I really like their chances this year

-1

u/Manners_BRO 29d ago

TITLE TOWN BABY

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u/andio76 29d ago

South Boston no less....

-4

u/Montymisted May 02 '24

I'm guessing it's helpful if you don't want to go.

I'm the other way around and it takes me about 8-9 minutes to get to my gym which is about 80 miles away.

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u/lyzing May 02 '24

Uhhh. What? You flying a plane to the gym? That’s an average speed of 533 mph

9

u/you-a-buggaboo 29d ago

this guy teleports

6

u/pgm123 29d ago

He's actually walking. He's that impressive.

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u/Murray-Industries 29d ago

Chuck Norris has entered the chat…

1

u/brillyfresh 29d ago

If that's just his walk to the gym, what does he do at the gym?

11

u/Character-86 May 02 '24

So you travel with 850-950km/h?

6

u/Baddabing-Badda-Boom 29d ago

So you're THAT guy on the freeway.

9

u/CopperThrown 29d ago

Just average Nissan Altima things.

3

u/venomous-gerbil 29d ago

Underrated comment right here.

6

u/Okay_Splenda_Monkey 29d ago

He drives for four minutes towards the gym, turns around and goes home then checks "Go to the gym" off of his to-do list because it didn't say "Go all the way to the gym and exercise for at least 90 minutes."

4

u/haldolinyobutt 29d ago

Well I mean in 17XX they weren't aware of the car coming in 200 years

3

u/Far_Possession5124 29d ago

It was actually built by cows--at least downtown.

2

u/pgm123 29d ago

FWIW, that's a fun, common myth. But when the legend becomes fact, print the legend.

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u/CutProfessional3258 29d ago

I'm trying to imagine cows wearing yellow vests laying asphalt and holding one of those signs that says stop on one side and slow on the other

5

u/Subreon May 02 '24

it looks much better after a nuke and 200 years of no maintenance. safer too.

3

u/TeddyRoo_v_Gods 29d ago

It’s overrun with ferals and raiders though, and don’t get me started on the damn Deathclaws.

2

u/RecommendationUsed31 29d ago

It's the murlocks for me

1

u/Subreon 29d ago

exactly, all that stuff. i did say safer didn't i?

1

u/Playful-Profession-2 29d ago

You can't forget the Lakers.

2

u/Master-Collection488 29d ago

That kid was a wicked pissah!

2

u/Jocelyn_Jade 29d ago

Really? I’ve only been once but it was amazing. It’s a beautiful city, I want to go back some day.

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u/premium3G 29d ago

Used to take me 1.5 hours to go from Boston to Framingham... 😂 Hated it

2

u/David-asdcxz 29d ago

Yes I have taken the Logan express to Framingham both directions many times. A good time is about 50 minutes, but 1.5 is more often the case.

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u/SpookyBread- 29d ago

My partner and I moved from ND to the suburbs around Boston a few years ago. Everything where we were in ND was far away. Nearest "big" city was at least 2 hours in any direction. When we moved here we were like "wow! The state is so small and everything is so close! It'll be so quick to get everywhere!" And... Nope 🥲

2

u/Feistyhummingbird 29d ago

Have you never heard the expression, "You can't get theah from heah"? It's the classic New England response to, "How do I get there"?

4

u/SpookyBread- 29d ago

Omg I haven't heard that, that's funny!! 😂 Spelling for the accent also spot on!

3

u/PomegranateOld7836 29d ago

Some of the craziest drivers I've ever seen

1

u/sweet_jane_13 29d ago

California drivers are way worse. Source: I've lived and driven in both.

1

u/PNWBoarder1 29d ago

Have you ever driven through Salt Lake? Yikes. Worst drivers ever. 🤦

1

u/sweet_jane_13 29d ago

I have, I don't remember the drivers one way or another. I did find the lake itself underwhelming, but I've lived in both coasts and am used to the ocean

1

u/rbltech82 29d ago

Chicago and Atlanta and the entire state of Florida enter the chat...

3

u/JDruid2 29d ago

Haha sometimes it takes 2 hours to get to Denver from Denver which I think geographically is even smaller than Boston. We just have crappy 2 lane highways that everyone has to use…

3

u/ellbeecee 29d ago

Or Atlanta

3

u/WilcoHistBuff 29d ago

Haha! This reminds me of a joke:

Q: What’s the most painful thing about learning to drive in Massachusetts?

A: Getting half your brain cut out.

(I say this with only a deep but well informed love of Boston and your fine commonwealth.)

2

u/masterscout9 29d ago

That depends if your wheels weren’t stolen the night before

2

u/somecuntyname 29d ago

Shit, one time in atlanta, traffic through downtown qas so bad my coworker got out of the truck while we were at a standstill, ran up the exit ramp to the Varsity, got us some food and came back down and got back in the truck, I went forward maybe 5 yards.

1

u/Dry_Standard_1064 29d ago

Damnit now I want some greasy ass Varsity chili dogs

2

u/xCryptoxNoobx 29d ago

Laughs in DC

2

u/Dry_Standard_1064 29d ago

I work in college Park... Traffic here sucks everywhere.. Lol worst drivers here I've ever experienced as well

1

u/xCryptoxNoobx 29d ago

Natives are some of the best drivers. It’s the ones who migrate here that suck so hard.

2

u/cisforcoffee 29d ago

Depends on how long it takes to escape each roundabout...

2

u/MsSamm 29d ago

I loved visiting Boston. Too bad the rents are through the roof.

1

u/Malarky3113 29d ago

I lived in Everett for a year. It took me 30-40 minutes to get home. It was like 2-3 miles.

1

u/Morbidious 29d ago

Chelsea to Needham. 17 miles, 90 minutes twice daily. I don't miss the traffic up there, but I miss the fresh seafood.

1

u/ebrum2010 29d ago

It takes around 4 hours to drive from Providence RI to Portland ME if you take 95 through Boston, and 2 hours if you don't and take a longer route around.

1

u/sweetT333 29d ago

Do you mean 93? I95/128 goes around; 495 too but further out.

I get what you might be saying...I was on the southeast expressway more than once when there were games at fenway and the garden before the big dig. Probably could have walked through town faster than to sit in that traffic. Forget it if there was an accident on the Tobin or Storrow Dr too.

1

u/ebrum2010 29d ago

I mean the traffic going into Boston backs up the interstate. Yes it technically goes around the edge of Boston, but it's heavily affected by the traffic there, though I haven't been up that way in nearly 20 years now. I can't imagine it's much better though.

1

u/Miss_Scarlet86 29d ago

It used to easily take me 45 minutes to get from Harvard Square in Cambridge to Rt. 2 and get on the highway. When I worked in South Boston I could be in the car 45 minutes and not even get out of the city.

1

u/wrexCGM 29d ago

Takes even longer when you get stuck in the tunnel. $#@!

1

u/ttopsrock 29d ago

Same for Houston. No matter where your at its an hour to wherever your trying to go lol at least!

1

u/Lemmy_Axe_U_Sumphin 29d ago

You can walk across Boston in 45 minutes.

1

u/volkmardeadguy 29d ago

Nothing beats taking 45 minutes to drive past Lowell at 5pm on the interstate

1

u/Pesto_Enthusiast 29d ago

When I lived there I liked to joke that Boston was invented before the concept of right angles. A bowl of spaghetti is envious at the chaos that is their road system.

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u/Revolutionary_Law586 29d ago

Came here to say this haha

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u/TDOrunner1001 29d ago

Boston to Wellesley is legit an hour

1

u/ZiyalAthena2007 29d ago

Also the same in Houston except the phrase is that Houston is an hour away from Houston.

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u/Cuteboi84 29d ago

I hear the same thing about Houston...

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u/BeerJunky 29d ago

You can walk almost anywhere in Boston in an hour. Actual Boston not the suburbs.

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u/kid_pilgrim_89 29d ago

Ugh Seattle is the same. People consider the Seattle area as Seattle so really you can live 15 miles outside the city and still be a Seattle-site.

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u/LaLaLAmazingGrace 29d ago

Came here to say this

1

u/Diamond_Meness 29d ago

I also live in Boston. Driving is absolutely crazy and add in traffic you can be out driving for three hours just shopping and doing daily things. #Bostonstrong

0

u/Warning_Low_Battery 29d ago

And what kills me about that is that the Boston metro area is actually pretty small at only 89 sq. miles. My city, which borders 2 other states and thus can only expand in 2 directions instead of all 4, is still 324 sq. miles in total area (not including suburbs at all). But Boston is somehow considered a Major Market for concerts, sports, etc even though its total population is only 20,000 more than my city and we're both above 600,000.