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.
- For me it’s either 600m to a small corner shop or about 1.1km to a larger store. - I do 3km periodically for another store, but I wouldn’t do it in 30c weather. I’m barely willing to exercise in 25c weather. - The next closest store is 16km away 😭 - Good to know my friend is full of shit about this being the same for y’all. - I have three stores within 200 m, one of which is open 24/7, another of which has a massive selection in fresh cheese, meats, fish, and baking goods. - Sorry, but I was in the US last summer, and I really feel bad for you guys regarding the whole food and walk-/bikeability situation. 
 
- About the same here, just a bit longer to the larger store 
 
- That’s cycling distance. A nice bike ride to pickup shopping. 
- 400m, or 500 in the other direction. - BUT: no one around here would walk 3km. Hell, most people won’t even walk the 500m. 
- 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. 
 
- 500 meters. If the store were at 3km I’d bike there, not walk. I feel like 500m is still an okay walking distance, but at some point I regularly went to a store 800m away and I already preferred to bike there. Walking 3km is definitely a bit of a time investment 
- 3 Km is what? A half hour walk? I’ve lived in multiple European countries in my life and never been that far from a supermarket. - I mean, I definitely have walked that much daily. My longest walk to work I can remember was maybe 40 minutes. In some places where I’d take public transportation for like 20-30 min I’ve walked for an hour when I felt like it instead. - For groceries I don’t think I’d take that with me that far walking unless it could go in my backpack. But seriously, if you don’t have a shop in that radius around you in Europe you need a car anyway because you’re out in the middle of nowhere. - But also, in European supermarkets you can normally get big grocery hauls delivered that far away. Just go there, buy your stuff, pay, book a delivery. Lots of old people who can’t carry heavy weights do it. They still go to the shop, though. 
- Europeans aren’t a homogeneous blob - we’re individuals. There’s no universal consensus among us about what counts as a reasonable distance to the grocery store. - Good thing I’m soliciting a range of opinions instead of just believing my friend then, right? - It’s your friend’s claim I’m criticizing - not yours. - Don’t mind me, I’m just looking for stuff to shove in his face later, because I’m kinda irritated by his claim too, lol. 
 
 
 
- 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. 
- 3km is kinda far, even with a bicycle, I have a small shop down the stairs and a medium supermarket at 5 min walk 
- 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. 
- I’m in Vienna, Austria. I have 5 supermarkets and 3 pharmacys in a 10 minute walking radius. 
- 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. 
- I live in the pedestrian zone of a semi large German city. There’s three grocery stores within pissing distance. - My last flat was a little more remote in comparison but still nowhere near 3km to the next store. I wouldn’t be willing to walk that far for groceries tbh. I enjoy taking walks but not with a shitload of food I have to haul all the way home. That’s a cycling or public transport route for me. - If I was you I’d take a large hiking backpack or rolling suitcase, walk to the store an hour ahead and then ride the bus back home. 
- 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. 
- One more opinion: 3km is definitely too far for groceries, that’s driving distance. It’s half an hour walking each way, the return loaded with bags? Forget about it. - I live on the edge of a small-ish town and it takes me 15 min to the nearest supermarket, and that’s quite a lot, everyone on this streets bikes there, in about 5 min. From there towards the center you don’t need to walk more than 5 min to get groceries. - I’d say having to walk more than a 10 minutes for groceries already affects the apartment value. 








