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Why Suburbia Sucks

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Re: Why Suburbia Sucks

#181

Post by bryanlarsen »

makecheck wrote: post #178

The article lists a lot of major issues with suburbs, and I saw them all when I used to live in one. Something that wasn’t really mentioned is how utterly boring some of the everyday life choices are. And yet, because none of the choices necessarily sucks , people remain “just happy enough” and never really yearn for anything better. I’m sure this setup is great for corporations but it is sad for human beings. Just o…

According to Tyler Cowen, the best food in America is found in suburban strip malls. It's found in ethnic restaurants that are in strip malls because the rent is cheap and there's a pocket of their community in that same area.

Re: Why Suburbia Sucks

#182

Post by patrickburke »

maxsilver wrote: post #119
humbleMouse wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Come visit uptown Minneapolis some time. It is a vibrant place with thrift stores, co-ops, and delicious restaurants with fresh food and cheap happy hours. You can rent a studio/1BR for as low as $600. Houses can be had for as low as 100k. I currently rent a 1br with a huge deck and skyline view of Downtown for $900. I can walk to the co-op and coffee shops, don't need a car for anything except getting to my silly su…

> Houses can be had for as low as 100k. Can they? I'm looking at Redfin right now, and they claim the average home price in Uptown, Minneapolis, MN right now is $600k. There's a few cheap 1 bedrooms apartments, but anything else is way in the realm of "completely unaffordable to all but the extremely wealthy" I see lots of cheap housing in Minneapolis. But it's all suburban in nature. (Either actually suburban, or 't…

Seems to be somewhat true. https://www.redfin.com/city/10943/MN/Minneapolis/filter/prop...

Re: Why Suburbia Sucks

#183

Post by arkades »

abalashov wrote: post #166
arkades wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Basically America is bad because we had space for cars when they were invented? I think you did an admirable job of expressing my source of dissatisfaction with the article. That, and the author interjecting his personal preferences as architectural dogma - his passage about "No Street Enclosure" was very much of "I grew up in the tight spaces of old European cities, therefore preferring the tight spaces of old Eur…

very much of "I grew up in the tight spaces of old European cities, therefore preferring the tight spaces of old European cities is a psychological default universal in humankind". Except I grew up mostly in suburban northern Indiana, suburban Houston, and suburban northeast Georgia. :-)

Whenever the author of an article I criticize shows up, I feel like I was over-bearingly rude. Was I?

Re: Why Suburbia Sucks

#184

Post by pieterhog »

Suburbia kills us ADHD-people. Guess I'm not the only one here who sometimes feels an urgent need to move. And what is more convenient than walking (or biking) to the grocery store, your office, the metro tube, the bar or your friends' house?

I grew up in Holland and Spain. No problem to walk or take a bicycle there. I've lived in New York City and it was fine (better then Barcelona for running and bicycle, because of cleaner air). But other US cities are just soooo stretched you that you can not do it on a bicycle. Not to mention that time in sone Canadian suburb when they called the police, for chrissake, because I walked on the pavement. Normal person don't walk, only thieves do,apparently ?

Anyway, aren't suburbs "motion unfriendly" Is this changing nowadays? Now that it's known that being outside, & moving makes many people feel good?

Re: Why Suburbia Sucks

#185

Post by abalashov »

arkades wrote: post #183
abalashov wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

very much of "I grew up in the tight spaces of old European cities, therefore preferring the tight spaces of old European cities is a psychological default universal in humankind". Except I grew up mostly in suburban northern Indiana, suburban Houston, and suburban northeast Georgia. :-)

Whenever the author of an article I criticize shows up, I feel like I was over-bearingly rude. Was I?

Not at all!

Re: Why Suburbia Sucks

#186

Post by jey »

humbleMouse wrote: post #70

I am surprised to see all of the pro-suburbia comments here. I enjoyed this article and found it lines up with many of my criticisms of suburbia. The suburbs to me are a soul sucking place that gives me the heebie-jeebies. With that said, my opinion reflects my experience living in Minneapolis. When I visit other cities like Seattle or San Francisco, I am turned off by the ridiculous density and the inability to go t…

> inability to go to a coffee shop and not wait in a huge line (looking mostly at SF here)

To me that sounds like an extrapolation from only observing high-traffic areas like SoMa, not the neighborhoods most people actually live.

Re: Why Suburbia Sucks

#187

Post by ZenoArrow »

bklimt wrote: post #84
lordnacho wrote: post #40

As someone who grew up in Europe, I've been to visit friends and relatives in the US quite often. Quite often I think what this guy writes. Between the two coasts, there is a homogeneity of architecture that is quite amazing for a European to watch. In Europe, it's quite noticeable where you are, and everywhere has enough character that you can remember it. In the US, stuff looks like SimCity. I often ask, how did yo…

Chains like Starbucks and McDonald's are popular for a reason. They make products people like. They have optimized for scale and cost. They provide consistent product and service, especially when traveling. In the medium-sized town where I grew up, we always loved it when a new chain restaurant opened up in our town. They made us feel like we got the same options as the big cities.

I understand the sentiment, it does feel good to know your town is 'on the map' so to speak, but I do think there's something to be said for supporting local businesses too.

To give an example, I grew up in a small city. We had a McDonalds, a Burger King, etc... but we also had local burger places that made tastier burgers than those from the big chains. I found those local burger places gave me more pride in where I lived than just that we had what lots of other places had.

I guess what I'm saying is that local shops can add more to a sense of place than the ubiquitous chains. Is that something you'd agree with?

Re: Why Suburbia Sucks

#188

Post by patrickburke »

ricardobeat wrote: post #68
increment_i wrote: post #18

Suburbia exists because people want a quiet, relatively safe place for their kids to grow up. I didn't realize this until I had children myself. I remember reaching my teenage years and cursing the dull, boring, culturally bankrupt suburbian neighborhood I grew up in. I left the minute it became feasible. Fast forward to now, and I'm right back in the 'burbs, in a house where my kids have access to safe streets, park…

You are mistaken to believe that only a suburb fits the quiet & safe criteria (or even is the best fit). A traditional european city apartment, with a central courtyard, parking in the back, mixed use zone, is likely safer and just as quiet, yet you are within walking distance of shops, schools and public transport and are still in contact with other humans. I can't imagine a better environment for raising a child (e…

This might be true but the option for Americans is the American city or the American suburb. A lot of bloggers who rail against the suburbs juxtapose it against some beautiful European city.

I think there's a handful of American cities with good urbanism, where as Europe has presumably thousands.

Re: Why Suburbia Sucks

#189

Post by humbleMouse »

maxsilver wrote: post #119
humbleMouse wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Come visit uptown Minneapolis some time. It is a vibrant place with thrift stores, co-ops, and delicious restaurants with fresh food and cheap happy hours. You can rent a studio/1BR for as low as $600. Houses can be had for as low as 100k. I currently rent a 1br with a huge deck and skyline view of Downtown for $900. I can walk to the co-op and coffee shops, don't need a car for anything except getting to my silly su…

> Houses can be had for as low as 100k. Can they? I'm looking at Redfin right now, and they claim the average home price in Uptown, Minneapolis, MN right now is $600k. There's a few cheap 1 bedrooms apartments, but anything else is way in the realm of "completely unaffordable to all but the extremely wealthy" I see lots of cheap housing in Minneapolis. But it's all suburban in nature. (Either actually suburban, or 't…

The area around the new co-op over by 38th st and 5th ave - yes houses can be had for 100k.

Re: Why Suburbia Sucks

#190

Post by Mendenhall »

Here I am trying to get even further into the rural and country setting with far far less people lol.

I lived city and burbs and for me no comparison, as a kid we would go in the woods outback and make explosives and set them off, try that in the city. Endless bike rides with no adult supervision and wooded areas to disapear too.

No real traffic compared to when I lived in cities, way less ambulances waking me up, gasp yes I like to sleep and dont want to hear the endless drone of humans.

I enjoyed aspects of both city and suburb and completely understand people having preference to either. I just feel this article is very biased by personal preference, the tight closed in spaces he described sound like prison to me but author obviously enjoys. There are very real issues with suburban planning etc, but I find many(not all) who have issue with burbs are people with some sort of political agenda attached to their dislike.

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