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Isn't that just.. basically everywhere?
Not in a lot of places in the US, super not in cities. Yeah you can get away without spending money but the expectation is there, and often baked into how people socialize as well
Well that sucks
I live in a small Australian city.
There are 100s of kms of beaches, most with free BBQs and showers.
100s of kms of walks, hikes, bike paths.
There's mountain bike stuff, skate parks, dirt jumps, basketball courts, soccer fields, lakes.
There's loads of parks. Some of them have heaps of stuff for kids.
We have a village square also. Just a bigbgrass area in the city with free WiFi and often events and things.
All of these things are public spaces with no expectation of spending money. My city isn't unusual in Australia.
That's what I/we want in North America, but for some reason people always think they have to drive a vehicle to within one meter of their desired destination.
And also that anyone existing in a place without spending money is probably a criminal, especially if they're not white.
This is what peak freedom looks like, like it or not
We do, unfortunately, have the "especially if they're not white" part in Australia as well. I'd definitely say we're doing better though, for example far less PoC die as a result of the police here.
That's when living becomes loitering, so you'd better keep moving.
Australian's want to drive everywhere too.
There's a fairly commonly held distaste for cyclists here.
We don't have these things instead of a drive-everywhere culture. We have them in addition to that.
To be fair, we do have far better public transit systems than most of the US. When I was a teenager, I could easily go to the library after school, then catch a bus home afterwards. Our libraries also offer far more than just books in most cases. There were community groups, video games and consoles, a café that was community run twice a week with really cheap coffee. It was always a better place to study for me when I was doing my high school certificate.
Our local library is amazing.
There's a huge area to sit and read, or work, or for groups et cetera. The view from there down the main street to the harbour is fantastic.
There's also a separate area which is accessible to students 24 hours. You show them your enrolment and they give you an access card.
Honestly I'm really proud of our local library.
Ye that's how it's here too