Non-fast food drive thrus

[ladiedeathe]

I live in Wisconsin, USA. In the winter here a temp of -10 degrees F (-23 C) would not be unusual. Our deepest recorded depth of snow during ONE storm was 83 inches which fell over 8 hours.

My bank is 18 miles away. The chemist is 1.7 miles away, and the grocery store 1 mile. Can you imagine not driving in the winter? Can you imagine getting out of the car in the winter to walk if you didn't have to? In 1996 temperatures hit -55 degrees F (-48 C), with a windchill making it -75 F.

Drive thrus aren't lazy- they make winter living possible.

[hyzenthlay]

Are there no businesses situated in town centres that people can walk to? This is what confuses me, why someone has to drive to and park at the bank. Here, we'd either drive into town and park in the car park, or get the bus into town, and 'town' is somewhere you can walk around and take care of all your business and shopping.

I live in the Southwest US. It is 2.5 miles to the nearest convenience store, 5 miles to a grocery store, 5 miles to a branch of my bank (which is still about a half mile away from said grocery store and is separated by a 6 lane surface road) and 20 miles to my work.

As there is a river running right through town public transportation to many places would be at least a 1 hour ordeal using 3 buses. We don't have enough bridges.

I use the drive through at my bank because their parking spaces are narrow and scary, and at fast food because if I'm getting junk food it's after my workout and I'm too gross to be seen in public    And when my kids were little and ill it was a relief to be able to drive up to get their prescription.

I don't use drive through's out of laziness, sometimes they are just the convenient option for a people that are mostly car drivers.

[Sophia]

I am surprised no one has mentioned drive-thru dry cleaners.  Maybe because it is an errand I hate, I love a drive-thru dry cleaner. 

I am also surprised no one has mentioned ... I forget the name.  Restaurants where you sit in the car and they bring the food to you.  Popular in the 50's, but still around as the Sonic or A&W chains. 

We are just more car-centric here.  Where I live in Texas, walking any distance is weird enough to attract police attention if you aren't wearing work-out clothes or with small children or dog(s).  I know of two people who were charged with public intoxication while they were quietly walking home after drinking. 

I ALWAYS use the drive-thru at the pharmacy.  A cousin is a pharmacist working for large pharmacy chain.  Even if they have the script ready they are instructed to say "It will be ready in 10-15 minutes".  That isn't enough time to annoy the customer, but enough time for them to buy lots of stuff they didn't know they needed.  In the drive-thru, they just give it to you.  If I am getting something, it is because I or a loved one is miserable. 

Although, I get a bit grumpy about the existence of drive-thru coffee shop.  I don't know why.  I also don't like to use them at fast food places.  Maybe because I always seem to request stuff left off.  The error rate is much less inside than the drive-thru.  Although, if I am alone and listening to an audio book I will sometimes use the drive-thru and eat in the parking lot.  That way I only have to pause the story twice. 

[jaxsue]

From my UK viewpoint, drive thru establishments that aren't fast food are definitely... odd, and like it or not, on the surface they do conjure up an image of "what, people can't be bothered to get out of the car?" whereas I'm sure if you dig deeper there are logistical reasons for it.

However, in thinking about it, American towns don't seem to be set up the same way ours are (I'm not even sure what the average town or city centre is like there - I have images of everywhere having strip malls and no town centre to speak of). We have banks on every high street and shopping centre so it's easy to pop in while you're in town. There aren't the same amount of local banks that you guys have - they're pretty much all high street chains. The banking system also seems quite different - we tend to have our wages deposited automatically and pay everything by direct debit, while the US banking system seems to lag behind in that respect with some people still having to deposit a paycheque and write cheques to pay their bills. So, I can see there's more need to 'go to the bank', whereas here, well - I can't remember the last time I even had to set foot in one. Everything's done automatically and I keep an eye on it with my online banking.

I can see the value of a drive through pharmacy - I hadn't thought about the sick kids, but that's a really good point.

The only drive throughs I've ever seen here are McD's, BK and KFC.

Allow me to address the bolded parts. First of all, the USA is really big, especially compared to most European countries. There is a lot of variety in towns. Some are all strip malls, others villages with a town center. There is not "one" type of US town. Take my town, for instance. Founded in the mid-1600s, it is quite old for an American town. It has a very traditional town center, with stores that require that you park on the street and walk. In fact, most towns I've lived in have town centers, "downtowns" in our lingo.

Secondly, the banks: many of us do have direct deposit. It's quite normal, in fact. Not sure who you know here in the states, but if they're getting a paper check, that is actually becoming more and more rare. I do all of my banking online, and I'm not unusual. So, the person who is telling you this stuff is not in the majority.

[jaxsue]

In Australia, we have drive thrus but it's just for places like McDonald's or KFC. But from what I have heard, drive thrus are a bit if a thing over in the US, even for banks and wedding chapel ps.

Honestly, I find this not only odd but rather lazy. Is it too much trouble to get out if the car?

I do admit, the donut-shaped drive thru one if my friends told me about when she visited LA sounded fun.

I find your assessment to be judgmental, but I'll bite anyway.

Yes, we have drive-ins, but they're not on every corner and in some places like city centers, are very rare. I live in a mid-sized NJ town. I have to walk into my bank and pharmacy. I don't mind. In fact, I always walk to the pharmacy - it's only a 1/2 mile away.

Drive-throughs are more common here, yes, but if you have a vehicle full of kids or you are sick, a drive-through pharmacy is a god send. I don't use them because I'm trying to lose a few pounds; hence, I walk as much as I can. But I don't judge someone else for using the drive-through.

Edited to remove word that admin requested not be used.

 

[jaxsue]

Most checks I get aren't paychecks. I might pick up something for my sisyer and she pays me with a check, that kind of thing.

My bank has an app that allows you to scan checks for deposit. I love the convenience!

[jaxsue]

On Long Island in New York there is a drive thru convenience store, I think it's called "Dairy Barn".  You can pick up milk, eggs, bread and other basic grocery items, plus coffee and beer I think.  I believe the premise is that it's all about convenience as some of the PP's have mentioned (not having to get kids out of the car, late at night safety, etc.)  I believe it's also safer and more economical for the shop owner.  They are less likely to be robbed in the middle of the night by an intruder, they don't have to have extra staff to maintain the shelves and do cleanup/stocking, etc.    Plus they are usually located in small parcel lots that don't have big parking lots, so the land and rent is ostensibly cheaper.

I go to LI quite often (friends there). I've seen those Dairy Barns. 

[jaxsue]

But the small lots I think are a big thing. Most fast food, banks, and all sorts of other businesses in NYC and even in neighboring Nassau (Long Island) don't have big parking lots, or any parking lot at all. By having a drive-thru they are able to court customers in cars that would otherwise not realistically be able to get to the business at all because they would have no where to park.

Are there no businesses situated in town centres that people can walk to? This is what confuses me, why someone has to drive to and park at the bank. Here, we'd either drive into town and park in the car park, or get the bus into town, and 'town' is somewhere you can walk around and take care of all your business and shopping.

Per the bolded: Yes, there are lots of towns with downtowns (town centers). Not every place here is spread out with mini-malls. I find more of the sprawl in the more recently-developed areas. Where I live, in NJ, you have towns that have been here for 300+ yrs, so we have downtowns with everything you need. I can easily walk downtown and take care of all my needs. That is one reason I chose this town to live in. I wanted that. I didn't want to have to jump in my car for everything.
Add to that, we have a great public transit system - buses and trains - if you don't have a car.

[Goosey]

But the small lots I think are a big thing. Most fast food, banks, and all sorts of other businesses in NYC and even in neighboring Nassau (Long Island) don't have big parking lots, or any parking lot at all. By having a drive-thru they are able to court customers in cars that would otherwise not realistically be able to get to the business at all because they would have no where to park.

Are there no businesses situated in town centres that people can walk to? This is what confuses me, why someone has to drive to and park at the bank. Here, we'd either drive into town and park in the car park, or get the bus into town, and 'town' is somewhere you can walk around and take care of all your business and shopping.

I am about a 15 minute drive from my nearest grocery. My bank is a 10 min drive in another direction. The "town center" is a half an hour drive away in yet ANOTHER direction and only has clothes shopping, restaurants and things like that.

I would love to be able to walk everywhere. I really would. But, practically - I could spend all day walking to my bank and back or I could drive there, be done within and hour and get back home to get the housework done. Or, I could drive to the bank and then drive to the hardware store, grocery, etc to get the rest of my errands done.

And I'm not saying all of the US is like this, but in my experience, it's rare in the US for public transportation to be reliable or even available. It's not (always) laziness that persuades Americans to drive everywhere and use drive throughs. Often, there is no choice but to drive everywhere. And others have pointed out some really good reasons why they use drive throughs (kids, pets, time, etc).

I guess what I'm saying is to be really really careful when buying into the media hype about how "lazy" Americans are.

[Jones]

My downtown center is as follows:
Two overpriced, low-quality steak-and-potato restaurants
Two specialized bookstores (both have a certain selection and if it isn't there, you should go to Amazon because it'll get here faster)
One game and hobby store
One coffee shop
One bar
Sears
children's clothing boutique
Curves
Smoke shop
Two tattoo parlors
Furniture store
Two banks (one with drive through, one without)
Adult movie theater

If you want groceries, gas, to pay your bills, pharmaceuticals, insurance, or virtually anything else you don't go to the "downtown" area. The town stretches out with Lowes and Walmart 2.5 miles to the west of center, and restaurants and feed stores 2.5 miles to the east of center, everything in between. My home is almost exactly 1 mile from center. The closest grocery to my home is 2 miles, but I'm lucky to have a gas station/convenience store a little less than a mile away (different direction from center)

Most businesses are located along the big highway, though a few are nestled in back roads. Not even the highway has a solid sidewalk, it disappears and reappears a few blocks later. Our public transport system (1 year old) consists of a couple tiny busses that run M-F, 7 AM to 6 PM and only go to certain strip malls, shopping centers, the library and one hospital. If I had to do my errands and shopping while depending on the current system, I'd probably walk and use a little red wagon rather than try to plan around the bus schedule and bags of groceries, followed by a 1 mile walk home from the closest bus stop anyway.

PS Our drive throughs are primarily fast food, there is also a pizza place where you call it in then come get it; there is one new pharmacy that has a drive through. And a couple of the banks. Our liquor store doesn't have a drive through.

[Winterlight]

Where I grew up (Alaska) public transportation was minimal at best. The closest a bus line came to my home was 3 miles away, and that route vanished in the early eighties. Living without a car simply wasn't an option. Especially in winter, when it's regularly -40F.

[marcel]

Most checks I get aren't paychecks. I might pick up something for my sisyer and she pays me with a check, that kind of thing.

My bank has an app that allows you to scan checks for deposit. I love the convenience!

Coming from a country where the cheque has been out of use that most people wouldn't know what to do with one if they got one, even this seems too inconvenient, compared to just transfering the money to the other persons bank account.

[Hillia]

Most checks I get aren't paychecks. I might pick up something for my sisyer and she pays me with a check, that kind of thing.

My bank has an app that allows you to scan checks for deposit. I love the convenience!

Coming from a country where the cheque has been out of use that most people wouldn't know what to do with one if they got one, even this seems too inconvenient, compared to just transfering the money to the other persons bank account.

I have never had access to another adult's bank account to be able to do a direct transfer.  Not every bank supports transfers from outside institutions; my bank only accepts transfers from 1 other national chain.  Anyone else would have to send a check.

[Yvaine]

Most checks I get aren't paychecks. I might pick up something for my sisyer and she pays me with a check, that kind of thing.

My bank has an app that allows you to scan checks for deposit. I love the convenience!

Coming from a country where the cheque has been out of use that most people wouldn't know what to do with one if they got one, even this seems too inconvenient, compared to just transfering the money to the other persons bank account.

I have never had access to another adult's bank account to be able to do a direct transfer.  Not every bank supports transfers from outside institutions; my bank only accepts transfers from 1 other national chain.  Anyone else would have to send a check.

Yeah, here we don't do bank transfers for personal transactions like giving $20 to your friend. One might write a check or just give them cash, or if you and they are both internet savvy you might paypal it to them. How does the bank transfer thing work? Do you have their account number and have to fill out a form with their bank and so on? Not snarking, just unfamiliar with the process.

[cwm]

From my UK viewpoint, drive thru establishments that aren't fast food are definitely... odd, and like it or not, on the surface they do conjure up an image of "what, people can't be bothered to get out of the car?" whereas I'm sure if you dig deeper there are logistical reasons for it.

However, in thinking about it, American towns don't seem to be set up the same way ours are (I'm not even sure what the average town or city centre is like there - I have images of everywhere having strip malls and no town centre to speak of). We have banks on every high street and shopping centre so it's easy to pop in while you're in town. There aren't the same amount of local banks that you guys have - they're pretty much all high street chains. The banking system also seems quite different - we tend to have our wages deposited automatically and pay everything by direct debit, while the US banking system seems to lag behind in that respect with some people still having to deposit a paycheque and write cheques to pay their bills. So, I can see there's more need to 'go to the bank', whereas here, well - I can't remember the last time I even had to set foot in one. Everything's done automatically and I keep an eye on it with my online banking.

I can see the value of a drive through pharmacy - I hadn't thought about the sick kids, but that's a really good point.

The only drive throughs I've ever seen here are McD's, BK and KFC.

Allow me to address the bolded parts. First of all, the USA is really big, especially compared to most European countries. There is a lot of variety in towns. Some are all strip malls, others villages with a town center. There is not "one" type of US town. Take my town, for instance. Founded in the mid-1600s, it is quite old for an American town. It has a very traditional town center, with stores that require that you park on the street and walk. In fact, most towns I've lived in have town centers, "downtowns" in our lingo.

Secondly, the banks: many of us do have direct deposit. It's quite normal, in fact. Not sure who you know here in the states, but if they're getting a paper check, that is actually becoming more and more rare. I do all of my banking online, and I'm not unusual. So, the person who is telling you this stuff is not in the majority.

Where I live, there's a huge difference between "downtown" and "city center" as perpetua describes it. The downtown area here is all high-rise office buildings, high-rise hotels, the big convention center, some old churches, some old theatres, and maybe a bank or two. There's a few fast food places that cater to the lunch breaks of those who work in the offices. But there aren't any real stores for anything. You go downtown for a night out, have a dinner beforehand and go to a show. You go downtown to go to a convention (or the car show, but that's another beast entirely). You can park in one place, pay a huge fee (there is no free parking) and walk around wherever you need to go, then drive back home.

The "city centers" that I was describing are out in the suburbs. The city I grew up in doesn't have a downtown area. It has two strip malls and City Hall and the police station are halfway in between, right behind the high school. The next city over (one of the other shopping areas I mentioned before) has an old downtown filled with boutiques and a new downtown filled with offices. If you need to do a one-stop shopping area, you have to go to the mall where you can get the department stores, electronics stores, specialty clothes stores, and a food court. Then drive to the pet store if you need it, and stop by the grocery store on your way home. There is no one place to get everything.