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America’s urban rebirth is missing actual births

theatlantic.com

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Re: America’s urban rebirth is missing actual births

#381

Post by fatnoah »

madhadron wrote: post #14

I look at it a little differently. The urban cores in the USA are actively hostile places for anyone to be. You step outside your door...into an empty hallway of doors. You take an elevator or stairs down to a place with a few mailboxes, then step outside. Outside, you have a narrow strip of concrete, possibly with a few trees, that you are allowed to inhabit. Beyond it is as asphalt with two ton steel contraptions w…

>I look at it a little differently. The urban cores in the USA are actively hostile places for anyone to be. You step outside your door...into an empty hallway of doors. You take an elevator or stairs down to a place with a few mailboxes, then step outside.

I'm sure such places exist, but I've lived in a city (Boston) for many years and this description doesn't apply to the areas I've lived.

Somewhat ironically, the places in Boston that are closest to your description are the ones where they bulldozed large swaths and tried to remake things in a more people friendly way.

Re: America’s urban rebirth is missing actual births

#382

Post by mercutio2 »

munificent wrote: post #186
coldtea wrote: post #4

> There are many reasons New York might be shrinking, but most of them come down to the same unavoidable fact: Raising a family in the city is just too hard. Harder than in the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, up to 80s? Millions of dirt poor immigrants raised children in the city just fine, and tons of working and middle class people were born and raised there. I seriously doubt it's "too hard" in any other sense, except job/ren…

> Millions of dirt poor immigrants raised children in the city just fine, and tons of working and middle class people were born and raised there. What choice did they have? Birth control wasn't widely available until the 60s.

Hormonal birth control wasn’t widely available until the 1960’s.

But effective condoms were widely deployed to the non anglophone armies in World War One, and had existed long before then.

It’s true that there was a theocratic campaign against all birth control from the 1920s that finally succumbed in most countries in the 1960s, but that’s not all of history.

Re: America’s urban rebirth is missing actual births

#383

Post by fatnoah »

jinushaun wrote: post #67
madhadron wrote: post #14

I look at it a little differently. The urban cores in the USA are actively hostile places for anyone to be. You step outside your door...into an empty hallway of doors. You take an elevator or stairs down to a place with a few mailboxes, then step outside. Outside, you have a narrow strip of concrete, possibly with a few trees, that you are allowed to inhabit. Beyond it is as asphalt with two ton steel contraptions w…

I’m raising a child in NYC right now. What is this dystopia you are describing? It’s the opposite of my personal experience. NYC is such a kid friendly place to raise kids: Museums, zoos, aquariums, free events for kids, concerts just for babies, parks, swimming pools, little league, soccer league, skate parks, etc… we have it all. I can’t fathom how people raise kids in the suburbs. They must be so bored… You have a…

My wife and I did the unthinkable by moving back to the city (Boston) when our son was about to start kindergarten. Our friends and neighbors acted like we were moving to the moon. Parents we connected with in the city prior to moving looked at us like we were idiots for even considering NOT moving to the city. It all depends on your perspective.

Re: America’s urban rebirth is missing actual births

#384

Post by tathougies »

watwut wrote: post #332
tathougies wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would not describe these women as 'subjugated'. First of all, most can work if they choose, because they are all college educated. In at least one family I know, the wife is college educated and capable of earning more than her husband. They just choose not to, and their families take whatever hit that means. I mean, I tell my wife all the time she should work if she feels like it (she is a software engineer actual…

> I also don't want to work, because it'd be more fun to be with babies all day and make more of them. I mean, this is just not true, you know. Being with babies whole day every day is not fun for overwhelming majority of adults, neither male nor female. They may see meaning in it, but like, fun it is not. And it definitely is not easy fun when you are on fourth or fifth baby, meaning care about siblings too. Also, m…

Sorry let me rephrase. If she would like to work and me stay at home id be happy with that. Children are work but they are by far the most important

Re: America’s urban rebirth is missing actual births

#385

Post by tathougies »

watwut wrote: post #332
tathougies wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would not describe these women as 'subjugated'. First of all, most can work if they choose, because they are all college educated. In at least one family I know, the wife is college educated and capable of earning more than her husband. They just choose not to, and their families take whatever hit that means. I mean, I tell my wife all the time she should work if she feels like it (she is a software engineer actual…

> I also don't want to work, because it'd be more fun to be with babies all day and make more of them. I mean, this is just not true, you know. Being with babies whole day every day is not fun for overwhelming majority of adults, neither male nor female. They may see meaning in it, but like, fun it is not. And it definitely is not easy fun when you are on fourth or fifth baby, meaning care about siblings too. Also, m…

Sorry let me rephrase. If she would like to work and me stay at home id be happy with that. Children are work but they are by far the most important.

As a child I wanted to be a stay at home dad, which i realize makes me somewhat odd, but we are odd people

Re: America’s urban rebirth is missing actual births

#386

Post by InitialLastName »

metildaa wrote: post #8
qserasera wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody wants to "try harder" and be similarly poor

Six kids and two parents surviving on one regular income could buy a 3 bedroom house in the past. Not great living conditions for those 8 people, but housing did not used to be such an expensive proposition to buy or rent.

What kind of monster would put more than one child in a bedroom though \s.

Re: America’s urban rebirth is missing actual births

#387

Post by prazgaitis »

saiya-jin wrote: post #301
simonebrunozzi wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, good point, but you should be more precise: strollers with HUMAN KIDS in them. I swear that at least one in two, perhaps even more, of these strollers today tend to have dogs in them. At least in San Francisco.

Seriously? Is there some actual sane reason, ie protecting dog from scorching sun, or people are just bonkers?

i guess if you have a stroller laying around, and your dog can't walk so well anymore, why not?

Re: America’s urban rebirth is missing actual births

#388

Post by freewilly1040 »

AvocadoPanic wrote: post #355
Symmetry wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't doubt that increasing their own home values is part of it, but here in the North East where I live when I hear co-workers making the case for restricting housing development they're concerned about one of two things. Either that if their town was more affordable the wrong sort of person would move in, they'd go to school with their kids, and either harm their kids or teach them bad habits. Or that more people…

We're also concerned that there may be too many kids for the existing school, especially higher density residential construction, and then existing homeowners will be asked to pay for the expansion / new school.

How do you think that existing school got built? It wasn’t dropped from the sky.

Re: America’s urban rebirth is missing actual births

#389

Post by raiflip »

asveikau wrote: post #375
ssharp wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know it's okay that other people don't want the same thing as you, right? It's difficult to go anywhere without putting yourself in a "deadly metallic stress machine", whether it be a car, plane, train, boat, etc. I suppose if you have that much fear of transportation, living somewhere with ample options within walking distance is best.

So other than call me afraid or claim I want to monopolize opinions in the universe, have you addressed the point that a good train system is much less deadly and much less stressful than single occupant vehicles?

It's always weird how people in the suburbs complain everywhere about how crappy cities are and yet if you turn around and say you like them they get all defensive...

Re: America’s urban rebirth is missing actual births

#390

Post by rootusrootus »

eeeeeeeeeeeee wrote: post #320
rootusrootus wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They must be so bored… Your preconceived notions of what suburban living is like are just as inaccurate as the perceptions of city life of the person you responded to.

Then why do people from suburbs flock to the cities for their entertainment? Or build their suburbs right on the edge of cities? Suburbs are boring. I grew up in them and much of my family still lives in them. I understand why people live in them — cost and space for raising kids, but they are definitely boring. And most of the people I know that live in them wouldn’t disagree, it’s a necessity driven by cost.

Nobody I know flocks to the city for anything. Sometimes we drive in to the urban center, most of the time we do not. There are lots and lots of things to do without going downtown. Lacking for entertainment, or being bored, neither is something I've ever had a problem with.

I think a lot of people here think suburbia is some vast wasteland of houses as far as the eye can see. Sure, that exists in some places, but a lot of us live in vary diverse suburbs with mixed residential, retail, commercial, etc.

I also have to say I have not met anyone who lives in my area because it's cheaper :). If anything I could save a few bucks by moving closer to the urban core. Again, I'm sure the cost thing is true somewhere but America is a pretty big place.

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