Fight the gas prices

[Nystul]

West vs Mid-west. Possibly different, culturally. Because you CAN walk (Or take the bus) to places, people keep that possibility at the front of their minds.

I don't think this is so much a matter of region as it is town and country.

I grew up in a rural patch, and I would walk or run miles just for fun, but there was nothing. No sidewalks. No place to go except one bank and one convenience store about half a mile away. Then nothing for a good 3 miles. The speed limit was 55 mph, with nice deep ditches.

Now in the suburbs, you have slower speed limit and sidewalks. But there is still not all that much within walking distance. Everything is set up for the commuter, and all of your shopping needs are available on the beltway. Wherever you need to go, parking will not be an issue either.

But when you live in a college town or some poor urban neighborhood (which is basically what a college town is, after all), everything is crammed together. There is no parking space anywhere. There are lots of sidewalks and everything is pretty close. Depending on where you live, you may have to walk further to get to your parking space than to get to the nearest restaurants or convenience store.