Born in the 'Burbs
So for me, there are two kinds of suburbs. Both deal with the same problems of transportation, mixed use, public transportation, etc, but other than that they are pretty different. You’ve got good suburbs, the kinds that are planned to not really be strictly planned if you get one I’m saying. The other suburbs are strictly regimented, tear more than a few trees and look like tightly packed rows of little boxes in a field.
I grew up in the good suburbs, a neighborhood called “The Woods.” I lived on a cul-de-sac, huge backyard with a trampoline and a sandbox, I had friends on the same street, my sister had friends on the same street, it was the life. The Woods was fairly large, a few hills, abundant trees (hence its name), besides the roads there were what we called green belts, which was a straight open field that ran through the neighborhood. Like I said, the neighborhood was big, but there were only a few entrances, limited the amount of auto traffic. This allowed freedom to walk or bike and explore. On summer nights we would walk along the green belt to the neighborhood pool and spend the afternoon there. As a kid, this was the ideal place to grow up. It’s worth noting that I’m a very nostalgic person, but the suburb life was the life for me.
Another neighborhood in Tyler is actually a newer development meant to optimize the number of houses you can fit. The developers mowed down trees before lots were even bought. My friend lived in this neighborhood and at one point there was a small forest behind his house that we could run around and explore. However, within a year, the forest was completely cleared and replaced with a cookie cutter house that backed right up to their house. As a result, they put up a tall fence.
The suburbs, when done properly are not a bad thing in my opinion. I believe that with issues such as relying on your car to get from place to place, the times are catching up. I mean you can order all your groceries on amazon now. From my personal experience, growing up in the ‘burbs was great.
Suburbia can be done in an elegant way, such as "The Woods" you spoke of. Designing suburbia in a way that is focused on the experience of the community and not the amount of people that can be crammed into a few acres. The later suburbia I described is one that has become more frequent as the profitability of the development trumps the livability.
ReplyDeleteI think there can be many layers to suburbia; distance from the urban, access to public amenities, proximity to other people, prefabrication, income, etc. I don't think that all suburbs are bad- but I do think that they change the way in which we interact with one another, they change the way we live, and ultimately they change our environment-built or not. The challenge now is retaining a sense of place and culture alongside the comfort of single family homes.
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