Suburbia

[Second Summer]

Are the suburbs really such a horrible place to live?

You can afford to own your own house.

You've got some extra space like in the countryside, and you're still within reach of the pleasurable but oh-so-crowded, polluted and crime-ridden city. Isn't this the best of all worlds?

Your kids can bicycle in the street and go on their own to visit their friends.

You can have a pool in your back garden.

Isn't this simply the life we're all striving to achieve?

Please discuss.

 

[yakherder]

Yeah but then when things get too good all we have left to do is complain.

 

[beancounter]

I've lived in the city and in the suburbs, and I think the suburbs are defintely preferable, for all the reasons you mentioned.

The only real disadvantage, is that the people tend to be on the conservative side. For example, Romney visited the town bordering mine last week.

 

[beancounter]

Yeah but then when things get too good all we have left to do is complain.

I breifly lived in a town populated by wealthy people who chose to "rough it". They lived in large old, poory insulated houses in the middle of nowhere. No traffic lights or street lights, almost 70 miles from the nearest city. Many of them had cows, horses and chickens on their property. I don't recall seeing a single snow blower, or leaf blower, etc.

 

[yakherder]

I could be happy anywhere I think. I lived in everything from the Alaskan boonies to urban Beijing to a tent in Afghanistan. I found a way to enjoy them all. They all have their pros and cons and it's up to you which of the two you want to focus on.

Right now I'm in a town bordering Montreal and it's stereotypical suburbs. Modest amount of space, cheaper than the city, nice house that we built ourselves, and minutes away from the metro leading into Montreal. I'm perfectly happy here.

 

[Second Summer]

I'm curious about the ladies' perspective, if they're going to go all Revolutionary Road on this thread.

 

[Forster]

I've never lived in a suburb or a big city unless one considers a town of 50,000 a big city, which until I visited the in-laws in Ohio I would have.

 

[Lord Snot]

I live in a kind of half rural half urban area. We're surrounded by fields and there are farm shops everywhere, but the London boundary is just a few miles away. It's horribly expensive and very conservative, especially because young people can't usually afford to live around here. If I had a real choice and didn't have to worry about finding a job or money, I would choose to live somewhere less built up and more rural, or perhaps a seaside town.

 

[mlp]

Lived in a small town for the first five years of my life, grew up on the farm where I'm currently living, lived in a small city for five years while in college,lived in a big city for three years while in grad school. and spent most of my life in some sort of suburbia - both a traditional kind and a quasi country kind, where the lots were all three acres or more and the nearest shopping, etc., was at least half an hour away.

As a young person, I enjoyed the city. But living in a city wouldn't have allowed me to share life with all these animals, and I think I would have found it claustraphobic sooner or later. I really need to be able to get away from people.

Where I live currently, I can go for months without interacting with people, except on weekly shopping trips to town, and that suits me probably more than it should. If good vet care were closer (my cat/dog vet is almost an hour from here, and 24 hour emergency care and my avian vet are almost two hours away), and I had backup to take care of my animals in case of an accident or illness on my part, this would probably be ideal for me. But considering vet care, emergency backup and a couple of other factors, the quasi-country situation is best for me.

Suburbia - it all depends on the neighborhood. You can end up with everyone up in each other's business, as far as trying to control them, but without a sense of real community, as far as helping each other out, much like many small towns. And of course, the waste of space - land being stripped by humans so that it's no good for wildlife, and yet not being put to any productive use.

I think that sooner or later, weather and shrinking resources will force a change from manicured lawns and unimaginative "landscaping" and into use for vegetable gardens, etc. Of course, in many European countries, that has always been the case.

 

[Moll Flanders]

I would like to live in a quiet place by the sea one day as I've mostly lived in urban areas and with that comes the social problems and crime although obviously there are a lot of advantages too. If that didn't work out then I would be happy to live in suburbia as it seems like a pleasant way of life to me. I get tired of the police helicopters above my house and reading about another teenager being stabbed. It's depressing!

 

[Digger]

I was born and raised in a small town (current population, 1370) but it still felt like suburbia with all the ranch-style houses and manicured lawns and it was a college town so it had a big-city suburban feel without the big city. I count myself as having been raised in suburbia even though technically I wasn't.

 

[Pickle Juice]

I grew up in a suburb of San Francisco. I don't ever want to live in a suburb again. Too full of fascists who will sue you if you paint your house the wrong shade of blue, or turn you in for feeding the birds or the squirrels. If I ever get tired of living in this ghost town of 231 people I am heading straight to San Francisco. No in betweens for me.

 

[beancounter]

I grew up in a suburb of San Francisco. I don't ever want to live in a suburb again. Too full of fascists who will sue you if you paint your house the wrong shade of blue, or turn you in for feeding the birds or the squirrels. If I ever get tired of living in this ghost town of 231 people I am heading straight to San Francisco. No in betweens for me.

231 is unusually small. No wonder everyone is in your business. You should try a larger town before you write off suburbia completely. (at least 5,000 people, if not larger)

 

[Second Summer]

By the way, you should all watch the video in the OP, it's a catchy song, and a smidge educational as well.

 

[Moll Flanders]

By the way, you should all watch the video in the OP, it's a catchy song, and a smidge educational as well.

This forum is already too patronising for me.

 

[Second Summer]

 

[Freesia]

Ive lived in suburbs for most of my life. My experience is that if you know a lot of people they can be good places to live. If you dont know people than it is hell. All you do is watch TV and stare at 4 walls. There is never anything unusual going on outside other than people walking dogs or cars driving past. In cities there is far more to do and in the country, there is nature. But in the suburbs, houses all look the same, and there has to be some stuff happening to make it not all seem the same somehow.

 

[yakherder]

I suddenly have the urge to rewatch "Suburban Commando" Funny movie, underrated.

 

[lucky_charm]

I always wanted to live in the city in my 20s and move back to the burbs where I grew up in my 30s. Ended up having to move to live in the city centre of a small city/ large town for a job and now I come back most weekends and relish every minute I'm back in the suburbs. Bf has always wanted to stay in the suburbs anyway so I think once my 2 year contract is up if I can get a permanent job in my home city the bf and I will buy a place here.

There are pros and cons to both, obviously.

Living in the city, pros- can walk to shops, cinema, restaurants, museums, lots to do. Can walk to work- no commute. No need for taxis or transport worries after a night out.
Cons- noisy, sometimes so much so that I wake up at 2am with drunk people screaming outside my window. Also noise from flat above. Dirty communal areas, other people put things in my bin, guy gets arrested right outside my flat door and I can see it through the peephole.

Suburbs- pros- peace and quiet, more space, can have pets and have enough room for them, safer, cleaner.
Cons- not many things to do, need to commute.

 

[beancounter]

Ive lived in suburbs for most of my life. My experience is that if you know a lot of people they can be good places to live. If you dont know people than it is hell. All you do is watch TV and stare at 4 walls. There is never anything unusual going on outside other than people walking dogs or cars driving past. In cities there is far more to do and in the country, there is nature. But in the suburbs, houses all look the same, and there has to be some stuff happening to make it not all seem the same somehow.

My suburb has plenty of nature. Also public pools. Tennis courts, ball fields, bowling alley, book store, small movie theater, hills for sledding or sling, fields for cross county, a small nightclub, berry orchards, etc.

Not all suburbs are just static row of duplicate houses.