My elementary school was 1.4km away, the nearest bakery was like 800m, the grocery store was next to the bakery, the library was next to the school.<p>From 10 on I had to go to a secondary school which was 4.5km away, so I usually used the bike, but walked sometimes. At that age I also started using the bus to get to the other side of the city, or to take the bike and go to a cinema 12km away with friends, etc.<p>We obviously had almost no traffic here – except for busses and bikes. And construction vehicles.