Drive Thru I wish!!

I think that it is half because of how the US is so spread out and half because of the love affair with the car.  I gave up my car years before I left the States, and outside of NYC and a handful of cities east of it, everything is set up with the idea that people drive everywhere.

The fact that public transport is sketchy in a lot of places (sometimes impractical) was used as an excuse I think for people to hold onto their cars.  Now that people are getting to the point where they can't afford to run them, there isn't the money to change how the US approaches convenience.  What is convenient for people in cars is usually a huge pain in the ass for everyone else, which I am sure more people are starting to see.

When I would use public transport to do grocery shopping in a rust-belt city, unless I went to Aldi or our co-op, I'd have to traverse a massive parking lot with no pavement for pedestrians to walk (in most cases).  That's not because putting one in would be impractical.  Honestly, it's because businesses didn't want to encourage the type of people who use public transport.  Don't think that's true?  It was such an issue that a worker commuting home from a local upscale shopping mall was killed crossing the road to get to a bus stop because it was put in such a bad location, and the mall admitted that they had wanted to discourage people who used the bus.

Anyway, I admit at one point I used drive-thrus a lot.  If I were ever to get my licence again, I would refuse to use one.  I don't blame people wanting them really. I blame people not realising what being so dependent on cars and favouring that sort of business can do to a culture, the environment, etc.

ETA: Not that the UK's perfect when it comes to public transport and not encouraging a sense of entitlement for people driving.  The fact that I have to yield to someone turning into my crosswalk (or approaching it for that matter) unless it's a zebra (which I am so afraid to use after seeing so many tear through them) or a green man is ridiculous.  We are either seen as a lane of traffic or we become an after thought to the scheme of traffic, which to me is ridiculous.

Is this actually an issue?  Most places that have a drive through option at a bank also have a walk in option.  

It can be. One visit to NJ before we got married and I was out walking, that was fine as the small town had pavements, but I needed to use an ATM, there was a bank with a drive-thru so I walked into the bank and was looking for an ATM inside as well, when I asked they said "it's outside in the drive-thru", so I was expected to stand in line with the cars!!! I then remembered the Wawa store had one inside so went there instead.
I've also been to drive-thru ice cream parlors, drive-thru pharmacies......in NJ there's no need to ever leave your car as they pump the gas for you!

I've also been to drive-thru ice cream parlors, drive-thru pharmacies......in NJ there's no need to ever leave your car as they pump the gas for you!

I love that they pump your gas for you in NJ.  I think they did that to create jobs some time ago or for safety reasons.

It can be. One visit to NJ before we got married and I was out walking, that was fine as the small town had pavements, but I needed to use an ATM, there was a bank with a drive-thru so I walked into the bank and was looking for an ATM inside as well, when I asked they said "it's outside in the drive-thru", so I was expected to stand in line with the cars!!! I then remembered the Wawa store had one inside so went there instead.
I've also been to drive-thru ice cream parlors, drive-thru pharmacies......in NJ there's no need to ever leave your car as they pump the gas for you!

I could go for a WaWa Hazlenut coffee with vanilla creamer right now.

I hate drive-thru! I remember DF being confused at the drive-thru liquor store; I believe his exact words were, 'How is that in any way a good idea?' *giggle* We always went inside the fast food places because the drive-thru queue was usually so long that we were often in and out before the car that would have been in front of us, even if we sat in! I hate that in the suburbs you have to drive everywhere and people stare at you if you're walking. I think the car-centric construction of places is part of the reason for the obesity epidemic, the over-dependence on foreign oil (and thus the craptastic foreign policy) and the terrible environmental record of the US.

I love that they pump your gas for you in NJ.  I think they did that to create jobs some time ago or for safety reasons.

It was/is for jobs. 

Public transport here in York is awful compared to what I was used to in New York City.

It just makes me do more walking. I can't be arsed to wait for the bus, so I'll just walk the couple of miles it takes to get to my destination.

I too hate the car-centric culture.  Can't remember where but I've seen drive through liqour stores! 

Also a local bank in western MA had a drive up standalone ATM.

I don't recall saying that the car centered culture doesn't make people more likely to gain weight.  It does.

All I said was that there are very few banks that are only drive through.  Most have a drive through and an actual building.

Also, wow.  Just because I am an able bodied single person for whom walking to get to the bank and then going into the bank, standing in line and waiting is not an issue doesn't mean it is true for everyone. 

One of my friends at home has five kids.  She loves the drive thru bank and I bet the other patrons of the bank do as well.

And I am not suggesting that the above is true for everyone who uses the drive-thru. 

I do think the fact that more people in the UK walk to get a bus/train or just walk means a lower obesity level, but considering the US is at 68% and the UK is 61.3% than obviously it is more than drive-thrus that are the issue here.

Many parts of the UK are also too car-centred because the public transport is rubbish, like in rural areas or many medium-sized towns. The tearing up of railway lines and trams in the 60s was partly in order to increase the car culture.

I don't think anyone was accusing you of anything bookgrl. My post was not in any way a response to yours, I was just stating my opinion. Yes there are people for whom drive-thrus are useful and helpful, but everywhere else in the world people seem to get by without them. Sure, they can be very convenient, but as Chary said, the emphasis on convenience has gone too far in America IMO.

Yes there are people for whom drive-thrus are useful and helpful, but everywhere else in the world people seem to get by without them. Sure, they can be very convenient, but as Chary said, the emphasis on convenience has gone too far in America IMO.

Yes.

I suppose some Americans would faint at the idea of pedestrianized city centre's like York's.

I could go for a WaWa Hazlenut coffee with vanilla creamer right now.

Oh yes......that's what we should have in the UK. Although we do still have some Wawa Hazelnut in our freezer and a jar of vanilla creamer powder that we brought back!

Drive-thrus never really worked for me (especially not banking) because I'm short, so I have these little t-rex arms anyway, and then I pretty much have to get out of the car to insert the card/do the pin/etc.    I'm not a fan of drive-thru in general.  I grew up in Queens in New York, and they definitely were around, but not as dominant as in other parts of the state (especially as you got further upstate).  Also, I never felt like you saved time with them.  I feel like the drive thru line was often longer than the line inside the store.  

I love to drive, but if I'm driving long enough, if I am going to break for anything, I'd rather park and get out of the car than keep my butt in the seat.  Stretch them legs!  

All I said was that there are very few banks that are only drive through.  Most have a drive through and an actual building.

Also, wow.  Just because I am an able bodied single person for whom walking to get to the bank and then going into the bank, standing in line and waiting is not an issue doesn't mean it is true for everyone. 

But that doesn't explain the bank I went to that had a building and a drive through, but the only ATM was in the drive through.

I think DH totally freaked the first time I took him through a drive thru. He had no idea what was going on. We have a drive thru beer distributor in my hometown in PA. If you don't know what you want you can get out and look around, but then they put it directly into your trunk. Very handy if you're buying stuff for a party! In New Orleans they have drive thru daiquiri shops which was pretty strange!

I'm pretty sure America didn't get fat due to the invention of the drive thru. There are plenty of other things that have contributed to it and as someone said, the rise in obesity in the UK (with very few drive thrus) shows there is more going on there. All of my friends in the UK had cars. My housemates would drive into the city centre even though there was a reliable bus and it wasn't a bad walk.  

I would say Ireland was just as car-centric as the US. We managed to live there without a car, but that's because we lived smack in the city centre. As Sweetpeach pointed out, the public transport was so spotty I spent a lot of time walking. Fortunately I could because the city centre was so small. Increase in ticket prices, loss of train routes (you can't even get the train from Galway to Cork), and loss of bus routes has contributed to the Irish reliance on cars.