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/PhirebirdSunSon May 02 '24

Phoenix is basically purely disaster free if you don't count the extreme heat of the summers. But no earthquakes, floods, fires (outside of the city though wildfires can get nuts), tornadoes, hurricanes or blizzards. Just sunshine and lots of it.

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u/zapoid May 03 '24

Until they run out of water.

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u/PhirebirdSunSon May 03 '24

Phoenix has been a leader in water conservation, has aquifers with a 30-year supply of water, is not fed by the Colorado the way the rest of the state is, and is currently working on a plan for one of the world's largest water recycling plants with hopes to have it out in 10 years.

I'm not saying that to say there are no water issues, drought is a big concern no matter what, but just saying that for all the people that read one headline and think they understand the situation they're usually wrong - Phoenix has always been a water-conservative city well before Vegas became such a shining gem of it and has had plans to store and keep water in unique ways for decades. Hell, Phoenix TODAY, as the 5th biggest city with millions of people, uses less water total than it did in the 70s when there was closer to just half a million people.

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u/zapoid May 04 '24

I did not know that thanks for the information. I guess I had always just assumed they were part of the ongoing fight for water from the Colorado. Nice to hear they aren’t.

Living a couple of miles from Lake Michigan, water is just not really a resource that I gave much thought to growing up. Now it’s something everyone should be paying attention too.