India vs America – How Indian cities are better

I’ve been in the USA for almost a year now and have had ample time to look at and view the structure of urban development in this country. Of course, there’s no doubt that due to greater affluence, there is a higher standard of living over here, but when it comes to India vs America from the point of view of the structure of the cities and villages, there’s no doubt in my mind which is better. For my Indian readers, let me try and explain how US cities are organized.

US cities and Zoning Laws

Let me start off by saying that what you see on TV regarding US cities isn’t true. On TV, you only see the big cities like Chicago, New York, DC, Los Angeles etc. Those are like the Indian cities of Delhi, Chennai and the like. Most of the US (95%) is organized into areas called suburbs – like our villages. Unlike the villages in India however, people are moving into the suburbs instead of away from them. So they’re growing. And as a person who has lived in Indian cities both big and small all his life, I can tell you first hand that the suburbs of America are a nightmare.

The major features of US suburbs is something called zoning. Zoning means that residential areas where people live are completely separated by large distances from areas where you can shop or go to work. This in itself would be ok, but for one hitch. The density of the suburbs is so low, that there is almost zero public transportation. No buses with any degree of proximity, and no trains that can take you within the districts themselves (only between districts).

Image Credit: Barrie Sutcliffe

This means that there is no viable means of transportation other than cars. And for someone like me who doesn’t drive at all due to environmental issues, it’s completely unlivable. Just imagine – to step out of the house to get a tube of toothpaste, you can’t just walk upto a kirana store nearby. You have to drive! You have to drive everywhere, with no exceptions. And in cars. Forget motorcycles. Most bikes here are specialized for power racing and are more expensive overall than cars. Also, the cold weather makes driving impossible for most of the year. In other words, you can’t suddenly feel like having a cup of coffee and stroll over to your local chai shop.

Cycling is also not viable since the distances are simply too large to cover. What I would give for some small little grocery stores littered around like in India! Where you can just step out in your sandals and walk across for a quick bite and a bar of soap maybe. In 25 years, I have never had a problem with living in any Indian city without a car. Even in Delhi University, a rickshaw would take you to Kamala Nagar in 10 mins for Rs. 5! Here there are no cabs on the streets you can just hail down like autos. You have to call one to your doorstep.

US suburbs are lonely places. There is nothing on the roads except for cars. While walking down the road, you see no humans at all! It’s just the whoosh of cars all over the place. In India, if you step out, there are people everywhere bumping into you, boys playing cricket on the roads, dogs roaming around – you feel that you’re not alone. Here you never meet any living creature on the roads. Just birds.

Image Credit: Beppie K

India vs America – the car culture

The US is a car based society. It’s unfortunate that Indians want to be like that as well. But in my opinion, it will never get as bad as it is in the US. For the simple reason that the US suburbs were built from the ground up keeping cars in mind. So there are large spaces and wide gaps that you can cross only with cars to work and to shop for the smallest thing. In India, the cities and towns are already built and you can’t demolish them. So you can always walk here and there. We’re lucky. We’re also lucky that politicians keep bickering and can’t make up their minds what to do. True, this prevents good long term policy from being enacted, but it also prevents stupid policy being enacted like that of suburban development in the US.

Image Credit: Rich_Lem

So to those of my fellow Indians who are thinking of coming to the US. Forget the image. It’s not a nice place to be. Don’t come here. You’ll miss the heat and crowds before you know it. You’ll miss the ability to walk to your local tea stall. You’ll miss driving on bikes. You’ll be stuck in a smelly tin can day after day for 405 hours each year. How this can be anything that anyone wants, I have absolutely no idea.

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