logoalt Hacker News

cogman10last Monday at 2:42 PM0 repliesview on HN

> most people lived on farms

Not in the UK but yes in the US (in the 1900s, only 10% of the UK population farmed. Most were in the service industry and manufacturing). There's also a very different city layouts in the UK vs the US.

If you were a farmer in the US in the 1900s, you'd mostly likely ride a horse.

> How many of the customers of the Warhammer store walked there from their house?

Almost 0, but a very large percentage got there via bus and walked from the bus station to the store. For these older cities that's just how it has to be because there's no room for parking.

In the context of the 1900s, biking and walking is how people would get around in the UK, they'd simply not go downtown as often. In that city in particular there are a TON of old walking trails from the outskirts to town center. I know because I walked them.

You might think "Well, it's a 1 or 2 miles away, that's just too far" but honestly when all you are used to is walking it's not. It was just more expected that taking an hour long walk happens.

> How many came from a different cities because it was the closest store?

For that city, almost 0. It's way too isolated. Even today in england you'll find a lot of people that very rarely leave the city they were born in.

> but I expect the majority of customers are not walking. Maybe they drive, maybe they take transit.

Most of it will be park and walk. You are correct in assuming that they'll likely take transit or drive to a closer location. However, because not every store has parking like the US, it's most likely that they'll have to walk some distance to and from the store however they decide to get there.

If you click around the shrewsbury city in google earth street view, what you'll notice is very few cars in the city center and a lot of people walking around.