You think if the outside would actually offer something instead of depressing scenery: stores and cafes within walking distance, parks and playgrounds, would people prefer to exist outside a lot more?
I could not exist at all in those suburbs. A cafe, various stores, and a supermarket within a 5 minute walking distance is as integral to my lifestyle as owning a fridge. Also having some forest around to go for walks is nice. The only thing walking for 10 minutes in an American suburb will get you is probably more suburb. If you're lucky a McDonalds and 20 acres of concrete parking lot will provide a change of scenery.
This is why I live in California. I want to prefer the outside to the inside. I want fast food to be non-existent. I want walking/biking to be quicker than driving.
Anything that nudges me towards a better lifestyle is a bonus.
Every suburb I've lived in in the USA has had everything you've mentioned, except maybe a supermarket, and that's normally only been ~15 minutes by bike at the most. The only ones I've seen that didn't have parks and nearby shops were wealthy neighborhoods, and its because they didn't want poor people to have a reason to walk through the neighborhood. Even a local neighborhood that was off-limits to military personnel because of the high amount of violent crime still had free recreation areas and a locally owned convenience store.
I plotted a route across that for a sense of scale.
There is no public transportation. For most people there's hardly anything within a 15 minute walking distance, except more suburb. Most children in that area will have to walk over 30 minutes to get to an elementary school, or the one playground. If you want to go shopping (not pictured: there's a mall to the northwest) or have a coffee, you won't fare much better.
At least it got some lakes, some green, and isn't laid out in straight lines. I could've easily found worse places, but that was the first one I landed on.
You think if the outside would actually offer something instead of depressing scenery: stores and cafes within walking distance, parks and playgrounds, would people prefer to exist outside a lot more?
I could not exist at all in those suburbs. A cafe, various stores, and a supermarket within a 5 minute walking distance is as integral to my lifestyle as owning a fridge. Also having some forest around to go for walks is nice. The only thing walking for 10 minutes in an American suburb will get you is probably more suburb. If you're lucky a McDonalds and 20 acres of concrete parking lot will provide a change of scenery.
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