[alisonatwork]

I have lived and traveled a lot outside of the city, in North America, Australia and Europe. Trust me when I say the vast majority of rural areas do not have public transport that is remotely comparable to what people enjoy in large cities. I am talking buses, trains, bikes, scooters, all available within a few minutes to take you anywhere you want to go. There is a whole expanse of North America - notably west of the Missouri - where you can't even get into or out of the small towns because Greyhound doesn't run there any more and Amtrak never did.

I have lived in the country. I don't want that lifestyle. Billions of people around the world do not want that lifestyle. They do not want to own a car. They do not want to own a bicycle. They do not want to own a house. They do not want to maintain a garden or have a forest on all sides. They do not want to go to the one nightclub for miles around. They want to have bars and restaurants and theaters and all those things that you are lucky enough to have in upstate New York, but they want it 5 minutes walk from their front door. And they want to choose from 20 different options. They want to get vegan food or bubble tea or something a little more interesting than Dunkin Donuts at 2am.

I understand that there are people who really appreciate the rural lifestyle, but please also understand there are many people who do not.

[jimmaswell]

That's fine if it works for you. The point here is there's lots to do outside the city, even a lot of exclusive activities. I'm tired of seeing it said that there's "nothing to do" outside the city. Maybe if your only hobbies are nightclubs and getting mugged.

Besides that, people who would prefer to not own any car, rent bicycles instead of owning them if they're a bicyclist, and wouldn't want to own a house if they had the option sound like a niche minority to me.

[thirdsun]

> Maybe if your only hobbies are nightclubs and getting mugged.

As someone living in and enjoying rural live with lots of space and quiet I really understand your point, but slightly belittling and disregarding comments like these don't help your argument. It's not that hard to see the attraction of big cities as long as you can imagine that someone might have different interests than you. Of course, this applies to city dwellers unable to see the appeal of rural life as well.

> Besides that, people who would prefer to not own any car, rent bicycles instead of owning them if they're a bicyclist, and wouldn't want to own a house if they had the option sound like a niche minority to me.

I wouldn't put the idea of not owning a car in the same category as your other examples. A car is the first thing I'd get rid of if it wasn't required and I have no doubt that a large and increasing number of people feel the same way.

[jimmaswell]

I don't think most people would choose not to own a car if there wasn't a concern of money involved. Car ownership can certainly be less economical than sticking to transit/biking in some areas, but I think most people in such situations would still hypothetically prefer having the option of driving available.

[fzeroracer]

I don't own a car, nor do I ever intend to do so. Cars are expensive, dangerous and overall something I've never needed to get around.

This means almost all of the rural areas in America are off-limits for me, because not only is the public transportation infrastructure abysmal but it also heavily restricts my options if I wanted to get food, travel or do any form of recreation.

Whenever people bring up living in areas far outside of the city, they never factor in car ownership as part of the equation because they assume that's just a given.

[souprock]

Car ownership is not just a given. Instead of owning a car, you could lease a pick-up truck. That would get you around pretty well, especially if you get one with AWD. Fill the back with cooking gear so you can have food. If you want to be real cheap about that, route the exhaust up into a smoker so that the truck heats your food as you drive.

[pizza234]

> Billions of people around the world do not want that lifestyle. They do not want to own a car. They do not want to own a bicycle. They do not want to own a house [...] they want it 5 minutes walk from their front door. [...]

You're assuming that essentially the entire world ("billions of people around the world") thinks as you do, just because you think so.

I've lived in cities of different sizes (magnitudes of 10⁴ to 10⁶), and those who don't want any personal mean of transport, not even a bike ("They do not want to own a car. They do not want to own a bicycle."), are a tiny minority.

I guess you must be in your 20s/early 30s, since something that actually happens IRL is that when people start to have children, instead of moving to more dense locations, which are more convient according to the theory you expose, move to more sparse locations (towards the suburbs), which actually require a personal mean of transport (of course, this is part of a variety of reasons).