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Why Suburbia Sucks

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Re: Why Suburbia Sucks

#21

Post by dietrichepp »

nathanasmith wrote: post #17
ozborn wrote: post #2

I suspect many (perhaps most) of the people reading that article agree that suburbia sucks - the tricky part is fixing it.

>>I suspect many (perhaps most) of the people reading that article agree that suburbia sucks - the tricky part is fixing it. "Fixing" it by doing what? Making it more like the urban core? That place already exists. If you like it then go live there. Obviously many people like the lifestyle of living in the suburbs. There is room in this country for more than one kind of neighborhood.

I live in suburbia right now. I love to walk places—I walk to work, to the store, etc. But my town seems to be built for cars, cars, cars. The exchange with the interstate is huge, and takes forever to cross, by foot, because the signal timing is designed for cars. Then I cross parking lots to get where I want.

I like the idea of having stores with parking in back, having more equal streets rather than privileged highway interchanges, etc. But in the meantime, having the forest closer to me is not worth the cost of spending more time in the concrete sprawl.

Re: Why Suburbia Sucks

#22

Post by zyxley »

ars wrote: post #3

All (most of) those negatives you list I find to be positives. I can't stand those "charming" dense, oppressive cities.

Consider the New England states, where there are a lot of organically-developed small towns that are low-density and low-population but still reliably avoid most of the problems in the article.

Re: Why Suburbia Sucks

#23

Post by 55555 »

Unless this is the speaker of a very similar TED Talk, this guy borrowed tons of soundbites in the process of writing this article.

Edit: just finished reading it. He has plagarized 10+ 'jokes', and most of his content was heavily 'inspired', from this excellent TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/james_howard_kunstler_dissects_sub... . Very very uncool.

Re: Why Suburbia Sucks

#24

Post by santaclaus »

rpedela wrote: post #6

For just one small example of many: life in a subdivision cul-de-sac stops children exploring and becoming conversant with the wider world around them because it tethers their social lives and activities to their busy parents’ willingness to drive them somewhere. There’s literally nowhere for them to go. What is this post talking about? I grew up on a cul-de-sac, and I was always outside playing with my friends. When…

I certainly prefer to live in an urban environment as an adult, but growing up my anecdotal experience was very different than that described in the article. As a kid in the burbs in the 90s, we'd roam all over the place. Hop on the bikes and ride downtown, tool around greenway close to the hood, take the bus to the mall, etc.

Re: Why Suburbia Sucks

#25

Post by jacobolus »

CameronBanga wrote: post #20

I'm trying to find words to describe my distain for this article, but I can't think of anything that isn't seen as a direct attack on the author, which isn't my goal. Basically America is bad because we had space for cars when they were invented? There are plenty of places in America where you can get by without a car. I live in "suburbia". A small city of 30,000 in Indiana called Valparaiso. We have a vibrant downto…

According to Wikipedia, Valparaiso Indiana was a regional transportation hub in the mid 19th century. I suspect it has considerably different city plan than more recent “suburbs”.

Try comparing an online map satellite view of Valparaiso to some new housing development from >1990, and you’ll observe dramatic differences.

Re: Why Suburbia Sucks

#26

Post by KB1JWQ »

jcoffland wrote: post #7

Suburbia, none of the benefits of the country with all the disadvantages of living in the city.

I can see this. It tends to be the "safe" middle group between urban and rural while having none of the benefits of either.

Re: Why Suburbia Sucks

#27

Post by alkonaut »

zyxley wrote: post #16
alkonaut wrote: post #12

Seems a lot of the arguments is based around the fact that suburban developments are poorly designed, not that the idea of suburban life is flawed. The "kids have nowhere to go unless their parents drive them" argument I don't understand - is there something preventing a forest from being next to a block of flats? The point of not living in the city for me is being closer to nature. I live in suburbia because I (or m…

> Seems a lot of the arguments is based around the fact that suburban developments are poorly designed, not that the idea of suburban life is flawed. Well, yeah. A well-designed area isn't "suburbia", it's "a small town that happens to be adjacent to a larger city".

So the term is a sort of derogatory used only for badly designed sprawling suburbs without proper access to e.g nature?

Re: Why Suburbia Sucks

#28

Post by wcummings »

rpedela wrote: post #6

For just one small example of many: life in a subdivision cul-de-sac stops children exploring and becoming conversant with the wider world around them because it tethers their social lives and activities to their busy parents’ willingness to drive them somewhere. There’s literally nowhere for them to go. What is this post talking about? I grew up on a cul-de-sac, and I was always outside playing with my friends. When…

In the burbs near where I grew up, there was nothing to do but drive drunk, if the accidents were anything to go by

Re: Why Suburbia Sucks

#30

Post by colmvp »

I've split my life living downtown (SF, NYC, London, Melbourne, TO) and in the suburbs.

Outside my house the only thing I hear is the wind tossing about with the trees. Can't hear my neighbors or traffic or people on the street. Contrast that to when I lived in areas where the bars or homeless/mentally unstable individuals would keep me up all night.

And I love all the space. Yes, it's a double edge sword. But I have lot more space for my hobbies such as bike ownership/maintenance, musical instruments, photography studio... I can sit in my backyard and just meditate or play music. When I lived downtown, I had to rent space or just forego certain things.

Lastly, I like how there's less population density. Downtown, good luck if you want a seat at the nearby cafe. Whereas my local cafe which has ample parking also has ample open seats.

I'm not trying to say surburbia > urban living. They just have very real differences that suit different people and life stages.

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