@cstross@Binder Someone moved into a building in town that is literally sandwiched between two pubs. Then started putting in noise complaints and tried to get them both shut down. Because “they didn’t know about late nights”.
@cstross I've seen this kind of thing before and cannot fathom the mentality of someone who posts it unironically. I assume an American, on a related thing I still hear people defend HOAs here as necessary to make neighborhoods like good, despite the fact these institutions suck the soul out of the neighborhoods they govern, creating streets of homogeneously lifeless homes where only differing flowers and brands and colors of pick-up truck parked outside hint at differences.
Who wouldn't want to have shops, cafes, social spaces, etc, within walking distance? What's the objection?
Also, they don’t like “outsiders” coming into their neighborhood
But it’s wrong to say nobody wants to live in neighborhoods with cafes, transit, etc. within walking distance. Those places are the most expensive to live in, for the most part.
(To be clear, I want those things within walking distance)
@cstross
We moved to our current house 20 years ago in part because we are across the street from a bus stop, a 5 minute walk from a neighborhood center with a public library, a market, a bakery/coffee shop, 5 restaurants, a brewpub, assorted other shops, and 3 more bus lines. On top of which we have lots of trees around us.
@cstross. That's a surprising amount of uncertainty over the number of pubs outside your window. Is there some question as to what counts as a pub or do they go out of business then reopen under new management with stunning frequency or...?
@cstross my small town has a thriving high street umpteen coffee shops, plus Fromagerie, an ice cream parlour and numerous restaurants, and a greengrocer and three butchers, two bakers! Plus the usual chains. We walk to town most days, to see what's going on. Unfortunately housing is expensive so young people are driven away. Would love to see housing drop in price. But I'm old and decrepit so no one cares what I thin. 😆
@justinmwhitaker I've also got two or three shopping malls within a 15 minute walk, and another 3-5 within a one hour bus ride of my front door. (Buses pass here every 15 minutes throughout the day.)
It’s important to note that many people who live in suburbs do so because it’s cheaper than living in a dense mixed-use neighborhood. The kind of places Stu describes (cafes and transit in walking distance) tend to be more expensive, out of reach for many people (which shows they aren’t unpopular like Stu claims).
And if Stu lives long enough, there may come a day where Stu can’t drive. Then Stu will have a problem.
@cstross We live in the centre of a provincial town. It's so nice to have everything in really short walking distance. (Well, the restaurant across the street is annoying, but that's because the boss is an asshole, not because it's a restaurant)
@irina For me it's 10 minutes to the railway station, 15 to whatever platform you want ... it's a major main line terminus. The airport is 40 minutes away by tram (there's a city centre in the way) with direct commuter flights all over Europe and daily wide body flights to the US east coast and to the Middle East. Local buses are great: but you don't want to get a coach to anywhere in England—the roads are slow.
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