Believe it or not, there are not any supermarkets near that giant subdivision. Melissa Center doesn’t have any real ones and nothing that would pass for a convenience store either. There is only one road out of that whole place at the main gate and your choices are to either go North or South on the interstate highway and that is about it.
You could, in theory, take a bicycle about 5 miles to the nearest Brookshires supermarket but the only way to get there is Interstate Highway 75 or one of its access roads. It is illegal to ride bicycles on interstate highways so you are left with the access roads. Google Maps suggests it could be done somehow but I am not sure how feasible it is or if you could even make the entire way legally. I know it wouldn’t be safe because even the service roads are high speed and not designed for bicycle traffic. Keep in mind that it is Texas so you would be dealing with some extreme heat during parts of the year as well. It is doable once or twice as a stunt for an extremely fit person but you screwed if you don’t fit into that category.
Like I said, that is just one example of thousands of others based on a similar idea. You really can’t get food, medicine, or anything else unless you have a car or have someone willing to drive you to get it. There is absolutely no public transportation and little regard is given to anyone that doesn’t have a car so you don’t even see sidewalks or safe ways to ride a bike if you had to.
I just drove by there this morning. I honked and waved but you didn’t even look up!
The freeway access road for 75 also has rather narrow lanes. You would have to walk/ride in clumps of 100 degree dirt to make sure no Texas pick ups clipped you. You could go over on 380 to 5 a little safer, but still no sidewalks and quite a bit longer trek to get to stores.
Sorry, 380 goes thru McKinney. I think I mean 121.
Oh Honey Bunny, you know how much I love you but I don’t live anywhere near there. I would have waved. Some of my relatives live in that subdivision and others live in ones just like it. It is a very real concern. They aren’t getting any younger and I live almost 2000 miles aways from them. I have no idea what they are planning for the next 20 years. They have these giant houses with swimming pools and perfectly safe and sealed community but no where to go outside that except by private car.
It sounds great until you are 75, 80 or 90 and lose your driver’s license because of medical issues and absolutely cannot get get basic needs taken care of anymore without a driver on demand. I have tried to talk to them about that but the Baby Boomer generation seems to have no concept of the idea of getting older and the idea of not being able to drive a car is foreign to them. There may be something to that. My grandfather is 87 and still cruises the streets in his decked out Cadillac (quite well too) but I am pretty sure that isn’t a safe option for most people of that age.