Suburbia's Somewhat Undeserved Hate
I've seen so often that architects, planners, artists, films, and academics critique suburbia for being a monolithic wasteland of a place to live - and they certainly can be in some extreme cases. But I'd bet that the majority of us grew up in some sort of suburbia - and I'd ask the question, do you regret it? Would you have rather grown up in a dense downtown and took public transportation everywhere? Perhaps, but something that we have to see about suburbia is its ability to satisfy many needs of young, growing families.
My parents both commute into work. I grew up in the suburbs of DC that spanned across 2 states for miles, and traffic to and from the city was some of the worst. My parents considered living downtown before they had kids, but quickly saw living downtown had its issues too.
Frankly, cities are expensive. Trash fees, parking permits, HOA, and etc are so much more expensive in a place with more density. So with that, and the lingering problems of crime, they decided to move to the suburbs.
This is so common and this reasoning is logical to me, or really any other young couple looking to have a family. Privacy, safety, good schools, a sense of community, the list goes on for why suburbia is so popular.
I love suburbia, as much as I love cities - but I think successful suburbs act like old towns and not repetitive boxes / graveyards. So the humorous criticism that many sad looking suburbs receive is understandable, but let's not forget the shining stars of suburbs designed by architects to meet very real and relatable demands.
Both the areas- downtown and suburbia has its own challenges and beauty! In the inner core city, you will get good infrastructure like public transportation, availability of things but there are problems like expensive land rates and rents, high cost of parking spaces etc. In suburbia, there is more dependency on the cars and other problems. I feel nothing can be categorized as good or bad. It's good what suits you the best! :)
ReplyDeleteI agree that suburbia does get heavily criticized, and some of it isn’t warranted. However, I feel that successful suburbs are difficult to get right. Too small and it doesn’t feel like a community, too large and it’s a repetition of the same thing over and over. Too close to the city and housing prices go up, too far away and car expenses rise. They are good when they work, but many don’t.
ReplyDeleteJon, these were my thoughts exactly. I thoroughly enjoyed my childhood in suburbia. Keep in mind I wasn't commuting to work as a child, but the space was so much more ideal for raising a child from both safety and privacy perspectives. I'm confident there is a more sustainable way to approach exclusively residential areas, but these spaces are not the enemy, they serve a great purpose.
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