Heck, try to get them to use their legs. We had neighbors two houses over that would always DRIVE to visit us - from their house. They thought our car was broken down whenever I walked half a mile to the grocery. America is weird.
To be fair, when I visited the USA, a cop threatened to fine me for jaywalking until he realised I was British. He then gave me a lift to my destination, because apparently the hood I was in was so dangerous that there was a real chance that I might end up getting shot.
That was the last time I ever tried walking in LA.
I'm not going to say he was wrong, but in my experience people here actively overestimate the chances of being shot.
One time I went to a fairly nice place that had some bars and shopping places. It was a pretty neat area, the people all seemed good, and it was very accessible to walk in. I told my family members and they looked at me with absolutely perplexed looks that I'd go in that area and were surprised I wasn't shot. Most people just repeat what they have heard.
I think it's pretty fair to suggest that the United States (with very limited exceptions) is the least pedestrian-friendly country in the developed world.
>Fair, but that doesn't mean every American is so lazy as to lack the ability or desire to walk places, as was suggested.
Most are but they aren’t any different to other parts of the world. I walked past someone getting in their car this morning only to meet them getting out a couple of minutes later at my local shop.
The only exceptions to this are countries that make walking easy and driving difficult. Without the carrot and stick the majority will take the easy option.
Last time I was in Colorado I got yelled at by a driver for crossing the street (legally, via a crosswalk). Here in the south, motorists are often intentionally aggressive towards pedestrians and cyclists (especially brodozers). Not a very nuanced situation, unfortunately.
Yes. It’s especially interesting to hear people say this when some states in the US are larger than some countries in Western Europe. For example Texas is slightly larger than France, and Montana is slightly larger than Germany. Of course, crossing state boundaries in the US does not introduce you to as much diversity as crossing many country boundaries in Western Europe. However, when you consider there are 50 states in the US, it should be reasonable to understand there can be substantial differences in habits and lifestyle.
I hear this argument a lot, Americans insinuating their different states are effectively almost different countries.
It is nonsense. Americans are Americans. Of course you have regional differences, no different to people from York and Bristol would. But you're not as diverse as you think.
Outwardly I'm sure Brits, Australians, Chinese, Indians etc all get lumped together in your head, despite each of those countries having extremely differing internal cultures spread across the respective countries. That's how the rest of us see Americans - LA and New Yorkers are not different, except in subtle ways only obvious to you.
Americans will use literally anything except the metric system.
And bicycles, I guess.