I randomly moved from Houston to Guadalajara in my 20s and until then I didn't realize that all of my disillusion with life was because I had to drive everywhere and could walk nowhere.
It changed my life to realize how much better life is when you can accomplish everything within walking distance. It impacts absolutely everything.
You even lose weight when you can walk to the store to buy a can of beans and one avocado for lunch instead of having to drive to the grocer once a week and store tens of thousands of calories in your house at all times for you to graze on.
It also impacted my social life because I would run into friends while walking around. Or I'd see friends in a bar while walking home and go join them.
I refuse to settle down somewhere where I can't walk to live. Unfortunately this rules out almost all of the US.
It changed my life to realize how much better life is when you can accomplish everything within walking distance. It impacts absolutely everything.
You even lose weight when you can walk to the store to buy a can of beans and one avocado for lunch instead of having to drive to the grocer once a week and store tens of thousands of calories in your house at all times for you to graze on.
It also impacted my social life because I would run into friends while walking around. Or I'd see friends in a bar while walking home and go join them.
I refuse to settle down somewhere where I can't walk to live. Unfortunately this rules out almost all of the US.