[iknownothow]

I don't refute that things can be poorly designed in the Netherlands or in Europe in general. It is not a utopia. I'll give it a 6/10, okay on-average, can do better.

The thing is that US cities and suburbs are much worse. Let me quote the title of article

> Walking the Netherlands: From Amsterdam to The Hague

Is walking something you can do in the US except in some rare exceptions? There are suburbs in the US i.e. residential ONLY places where there aren't any side walks. And the closest grocery store may be 10-15 minutes away by car. Doesn't that feel suffocating to have a home but not be allowed to walk out on your own two feet?

[RestlessMind]

> Is walking something you can do in the US except in some rare exceptions?

Depends on where you live

> And the closest grocery store may be 10-15 minutes away by car.

For some people, that's a feature and not a bug. Anecdote - I had a colleague who used to commute from nearby hills because he wanted a house where he can't even see his neighbors.

> Doesn't that feel suffocating to have a home but not be allowed to walk out on your own two feet?

Again, different strokes for different folks. There should be different kind of options catering to different tastes. You want density and walkable cities? Go live in NYC or Boston. You want complete rural wilderness where you don't have to see another fellow human being if you don't want to? There is Alaska or mountain West. You want a big house with a yard in a community where everyone is of the same class and all the daily needs are met (grocery, gas, schools, parks), while being close to a major city to tap into urban amenities (eg. airport)? Go live in a generic suburbia.

[jjav]

> he wanted a house where he can't even see his neighbors

Sure, but that's not a suburb.

[seoulmetro]

If the closest grocery store (essential need) is 10-15 minutes by car, why would anyone walk? That's a long distance to drive for a grocery store and you are no doubt located in quite a low density place to begin with. Infrastructure to walk makes no sense when cars are that much better. In places where your local grocery store is 15 minutes away, congestion (the main drawback of cars) doesn't exist.

[cafard]

> Is walking something you can do in the US except in some rare exceptions?

Depends. Between kindergarten and eighth grade, I caught the school bus for part of sixth grade, otherwise walked or biked. Ninth grade on, I was where the schools were farther away, but I could walk to stores of various sorts.

I don't use a car much these days, though I get to work more by bus than by walking.