Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
Certainly fuel is more expensive in Europe and a big factor in vehicle purchasing decisions. My understanding is that Europeans are more likely to shop daily for groceries though, and therefore don't tend to stock up for a week or a month with big Costco runs. A big run usually requires a larger vehicle. There's no way my TSX would handle the brick of TP and other bulk goods from a Costco run.
Shops tend to be located more locally from my understanding too. I weekly shop for groceries 25 minutes away, for example. Nothing is within walking distance, but I do choose to travel further for the larger selection and savings (low cost price leader).
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None of that just happened - it is based on decisions made over time - both collectively and personally.
Do Americans buy 24 or 30 rolls of toilet paper at a time because we have giant cars or do we have giant cars because we prefer to buy 24 or 30 rolls of toilet paper at a time. (Why do we use TP at all?)
Really it comes down to most Americans not knowing that how we "normally" live isn't typical not only in the developed world but even in our country over time.
People in the USA used to get groceries every day back when people lived in mixed use communities where shopping and housing were in the same place. Then we chose to throw out city planing and allow developers to build subdivisions miles outside of town so that people had to drive to get to work and shop.
The average house size today would be a mansion to people even 50 years ago. Our average new house construction today is 2700 sq ft! So again - do we live in huge houses because we choose to buy 24 rolls of TP at a time or do we buy 24 rolls of TP at a time because we live in giant houses.
Building giant houses also feeds into to the high cost of housing and the fact that some young people can't afford to live in their own communities. (Of course gentrification isn't new - it is just starting to hit small and rural communities)
So we have chosen to live in giant houses, away from work and shopping, and then drive everyday in very inefficient cars. And then we complain that energy is expensive because we have made our entire lives dependent on cheap energy.