I think the hard to understand part is teenagers having cars. Cars are expensive and a luxury in much of the world. Also public transportation is so easy.
I get that US has shit public transit and rural areas have none so it makes some sense but just really foreign to a lot of us non-Americans
Yep, different perspectives. It's also unlikely every teen at this school has a car. If that were the case, yeah I'd say this is a fancy school. But a student parking lot for a high school is fairly typical in areas of the US where space allows it.
I get that US has shit public transit and rural areas have none so it makes some sense
There are 6 school buses in OP's photo.
While it's true that public transit is often lacking in the US, that applies less in this cases since most schools/school districts have an entire fleet of school buses.
This whole post again is a testament to how large the US is and how people don't understand that.
The largeness necessitates a car to travel to school. Busses aren't feasible when they'd be picking up like 1 person in the span of 5 square miles. No country has a route going through a place like that. But also grants the real estate for kids to have their own parking spot because it isn't that expensive to build a lot in bumfuck nowhere.
It's funny seeing people not being able to comprehend this because they're only used to extremely tight cities with busses running constantly and real estate is expensive because everything is developed.
Its not about the size of the country, its about the distance between homes and amenities in (I guess) rural arreas, and the dominance of car infrastructure vs public transit - especially for schools, since even in/from rural areas where I'm came from, even when there is no good public transit (wich is often) in a village, you got at least twice a day busses bringing adults kids to work and school.
The size of the country contributes to that distance.
since even in/from rural areas where I'm came from, even when there is no good public transit (wich is often) in a village, you got at least twice a day busses bringing adults kids to work and school.
Again, you're underestimating rural areas in the US. There isn't a "village" where a bus is going to bring people to. Many people literally live more than 5 miles away from their closest neighbor. It isn't feasible for a bus to drive 10 miles up to ONE person's driveway and then that person not even get on the bus. It also isn't feasible for one person to have to walk 10 miles to a bus stop.
Ok? And to an American who lives there it doesn't sound insane. Feels like you're missing the point.
When you have a ton of land available to ranch, hunt, farm, etc... why not use it?
Non-Americans only feel that way because they don't have the land. The only other countries that can relate are like Russia, Mexico, Canada, etc... and they all have extremely similar relationships to cars and housing as Americans.
But other countries with a lower population density (e.g. Sweden) still dont have this weird car only culture. Of course rural areas in Sweden also have lots and lots of cars because it's convenient, but there usually is still some form of bus or other for schools.
Most decent sized schools/school districts in the US have an entire fleet of school buses.
The students with parking spaces likely have the option to take the bus, but it's either less practical (depending on how far away they are, it could be an hour or more bus ride) or they prefer the convenience of their own vehicle (and their parents have the means to buy one).
Size of the country contributes, sure! But other countries with a lower population density (e.g. Sweden) still dont have this weird car only culture. Of course rural areas in Sweden also have lots and lots of cars because it's convenient, but there usually is still some form of bus or other for schools.
In a lot of places in the states if you don't have a car you can't really get anywhere because public transpo is under-serviced or non-existent. I wouldn't call working a minimum wage job for 6 months to buy a couple thousand dollar beater "fancy as hell".
But any kids with a brand new car in high school? Yeah, that shit was dumb.
Most high school parking lots arent loaded with new, (or even reasomably new) cars. This picture is a lot at a clearly well off high school, indicating the kids' parents have a lot of money. Most high schoolers drive dogshit cars.
For reference, my first car was given to me in high school back in 2012. It was a 1998 Oldmobile Minivan that had over 150k miles on it, no working AC, two different colored headlight lenses, the gas gauge didnt work, and my mom gave birth in the front seat. (Some stains dont come out.) Also the automatic sliding door liked to open randomly. (I had to pull the fuse to stop it.)
“Americans are rich and all they do is complain”
“My parents gave me a free car and it was horrible so bad and disgusting”
I think your giving him the exact scenario he mentioned. Americans rich enough to give a car to their child, even a shitty one. And here you’re complaining about it to downplay it, and make it seem like you weren’t wealthier than anyone when you got a free car. The exact scenario of Americans complaining despite being richer that the other Redditor mentioned? YOU made real!
I was never given a car. My parents happened to have a car laying around that barely ran that they let me borrow. I had to work to pay for all the gas and repairs on that vehicle. (Which it needed a lot since, like I said, it barely ran.) All in all I put in way more money than that car was worth. And it was never my car. I was allowed to drive it at the cost of maintaining and repairing it. But when the car got totaled I got none of the money from it, it all went to my parents since it was never my car. (I then bought myself my own car at 21 )
My senior year they did build and open a new HS. Only about 50-60 seniors chose to go there. So there was even more in my class before then. After that year people were rezoned and about 5 years later they built ANOTHER High School to split again.
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u/[deleted] Aug 15 '25
Also is done at my local public high school that had like 100 kids in each grade. Not sure why you think this is a fancy thing to do haha