I was talking to a friend and complaining that the nearest grocery store is 3km from me, he says that Europeans consider that a reasonable distance to the store and I’m just being lazy.
I don’t have a car, I don’t have a bike, and the bus only comes by every four hours. Am I being unreasonable for not wanting to carry groceries 3km in 30C weather, or is my friend full of shit? Neither of us have been to Europe.
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My closest supermarket is 400m away, and the next supermarket over is 1.1km. I walk there daily, sometimes multiple times a day. 3km is quite far and I would not consider that walking distance.
It’s certainly possible to walk that distance once every (couple of) months, if I did not have my bike available for whatever reason? But I would consider regularly walking 40 minutes one way every other day to be far too much. That distance is cycling distance, not walking distance.
On a side-note. Did you just say that the bus arrives only once every four hours? My lord… It might as well basically not exist at that point.
I lived in NYC and now in Canada. Your distances seem about accurate with my limits, though NYers are infamous for walking everywhere, including up and down 6 flights of stairs. It’s certainly not the norm in the US.
Did you just say that the bus arrives only once every four hours? My lord… It might as well basically not exist at that point.
This is a great time to introduce you to the American public transit system.
In Norway. Technically in a city, but it’s very rural. About 30 minutes of walking with a descent of ~150 meters. Carrying groceries back up that hill is a big test of stamina, so we very rarely do it. We mostly drive to the store.
Your friend is full of shit. 3km is a very long distance for walking to get groceries, and I can imagine that you have to deprioritize heavier groceries all the time due to that distance. I’d recommend getting a bike or electic scooter or something to cover that distance. Basically no one in Norway would have 3km to their nearest store with walking as their only option.
I’m in Vienna, Austria. I have 5 supermarkets and 3 pharmacys in a 10 minute walking radius.
We have two supermarkets within five minutes walking distance, if you make it ten minutes, it’s four.
Also within ten minutes walking distance are two middle schools, a primary school, and two kindergardens, several doctors and apothecaries, several shops, and the central bus station.
The latter is a bit of an disappointment, as not only the bus service is low frequency, and it takes an hour+ to the city.
Even fairly rural Europeans will consider that to be at least cycling distance.
I have four supermarkets in a radius of about 500 metres. Not only do I regularly walk, I pretty much buy only what I need for a few days, safe in the knowledge that if I need something now, I can be out & back in under half an hour, also knowing that most supermarkets here are reliably stocked with just what I need.
If I walked 3km in any direction I would pass probably 8-10 grocery stores on the way. But I live in the middle of a small European city. I walk probably 300meters to the nearest one though.
American here… 3km is just under 2 miles, so you’re looking at a 4 mile walk just to get to the grocery store and back?
I wouldn’t walk that, mostly because bringing the groceries back is the problem. Maybe if you had a wagon or a cart or something.
Closest grocery to me is 1.77km, I wouldn’t walk that either. No sidewalks all the way so you’d be feet away from vehicle traffic, and coming home with groceries would be up-hill. No thank you.
I live out in the countryside. The nearest store is about 2.8km away. Put on some good music, get an ice cream for the second half of the trip, it’s a lovely walk. I could catch a bus back, there’s a stop right by the shop, but my timing is generally shite. If I’d be halfway home by the time the bus comes, I’d rather just walk.
When I was in a similar situation, I wish I thought of “one way”. I realized after the fact that many people were walking one way to the store but taking a taxi back with their load of groceries. However I have no idea whether it was actually affordable or if that was their only choice.
You should look into that. How affordable is a taxi if you only take it one direction?
My usual place is 250m from my home, or around 3 minutes walking. There’s like another 5 supermarkets, 5 bakeries, 4 greengrocers and 3 butchers about 500 meters away (off the top of my head, there could be more).
About 200 meters, but I usually take the bike down to the Lidl 1 km away.
Where I last lived I had 200 meters to a small shop and 3.5 km to the local Lidl, which was fine but not ideal.
Getting a bike with a rack might be a good idea for your grocery runs. 3 km is less than 10 minutes on a bike.
I’d ask your friend if they walk 3k to the market, and if the answer is no, tell them to STFU.
the walk is good for your though. You can feel like a badass for doing it, but complaining kind of weakens that.
Eastern part of Germany here. The closest grocery stores are about 2,5km away from my home, but we live a little more rural than most of the people in the thread. I don’t walk that distance for groceries, because they don’t allow dogs in, but one of the supermarkets has a DIY store right next to it, and I do walk there to get smaller items and have a nice walk with my doggo.
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180m to the nearest small supermarket which has a satisfactory selection
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450m-650m to three normal-sized supermarkets which have everything I need in daily life
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1km to a mall which has everything I could ever ask for in life
Yes, I live in the city.
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1km, 12 minutes walking
