does anyone else have suburbophobia?

[yurbud]

For some reason, I have a fear of being sucked into the soulless suburban lifestyle of living where there are no sidewalks because there's no place to walk to, and all my neighbors live the same bland, colorless life of strip malls and Target.

I'm a lot less obsessed with buying a house than most people for this reason, and it makes me a little leery of dating people who do dilbert jobs because they tend to like that shit.

To me, being in the suburbs is like being dead. CS Lewis wrote a book on hell, and it sounded familiar: the bigger the sinner, the bigger their house, and the farther it was from other houses and even other people.

[LeftyMom]

1. I'm scared of the ginormous SUVs apparently opperated by Helen Keller

in mid-seizure.

[yurbud]

2. a woman almost hit me in one making a u turn while on cell phone

and I was a pedestrian, so she probably wouldn't have noticed.


That fits the same pattern. Gigantic vehicle that you drive alone.

[lizziegrace]

3. Find a copy of "The End of Suburbia"

I promise you when you've seen it, you'll either move out into the middle of nowhere and live off the grid and grow your own food or move into the center of a village or town.

[yurbud]

4. I own it. I think there's a slight fallacy to the end of oil crisis

It will come to an end, and there will be a crisis, but doable alternatives exist.

How severe the crisis is depends on how long our government stays in the back pocket of the oil industry.

[Jed Dilligan]

5. I call it

Whitemanistan

[NMDemDist2]

6. ROFL, great line! n/t

[yurbud]

14. that actually makes it sound more colorful than it is. More like

White man is standing (in his yard with a hose).

[tjwash]

63. Hey...

...I resemble that remark. :hi:

[ikojo]

7. Technically I live in a suburb of St Louis...

HOWEVER..it is what's called an inner ring suburb so it's not like the burbs out west where everything and almost everyone looks the same. I would not want to live further west because of the homogenization and Stepfordness of it all.

[yurbud]

15. I wouldn't technically call something a suburb if the houses on your

block didn't look they were built at the same time by the same guy.

[Gormy Cuss]

52. I live in a suburban neighborhood built in the early 1960s

Many of the houses were thrown up like identical little boxes of ticky tacky but over time the owner modifications have dulled the sameness and a few infill houses by crazed architects and creative contractors detract from the sameness even more. Landscaping is idiosyncratic and for the most part not fussy. There are no sidewalks but it's a walkable distance from an old fashioned small downtown in the adjacent city and more importantly, people DO walk in this neighborhood so the drivers are a bit more careful.

I'm a city person but the economic reality is I would be able to afford only a small box condo conversion far from the areas where I like to hang out. I would not live in a cookie cutter new suburban house farm if there were any other choice, nor would I want to live in the newer neighborhoods with HOAs that dictate seasons for Xmas lights, where the cars can be parked, lawn height, lawn signs, house colors, fencing, etc.

[CatholicEdHead]

8. I never like going through surburbia

With the winding, dead-end cul-du-sac, one way in and out areas. It is a bit scary.

[yurbud]

16. crap I forgot about that--makes it kind of a nightmare maze

In Orange County, those pretzel streets go for hundreds of miles--you could run out of gas and starve to death before you found your way out.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

30. I nearly did run out of gas in a suburb once

For reasons too complicated to go into here, I was driving my stepfather around, and he has freeway-phobia, so we were taking "scenic routes" through the suburbs.

Somewhere in Eden Prairie (Minneapolitans will understand what I'm talking about), the "get gas now" warning light came on. I was really worried about finding a gas station, but I spotted a four-lane highway in the distance, and sure enough, we managed to find a gas station just in time.

[yurbud]

34. Yeah, I taught at a suburban community college and asked students

where to get a quart of oil like a 7-11 or something. They said the nearest one was in the next town over, 20 minutes away.

[CatholicEdHead]

81. Yes, the SW Mpls suburbs are the worst

The Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Wayzata area is beyond belief. I had to drive through less urbanized parts of Minnetonka over Memorial Day weekend and that day I think one out of every three cars easily cost $50K or more. I also drive MN 19 on the south side of the cities from time to time and that also hits me hard, with all the development on the east side of Lonsdale and New Prague. In Lonsdale it is like two totally different cities right next to each other. You have the newer, look-alike developments still under construction and you go a half mile into town it is a totally different atmosphere. I get the impression from the highway there is an "us vs them" mentality. The new Lonsdale clinic, new grocery store and gas station are all in the "new" part of town. The "old" part of town is your typical small rural town of not more than a thousand. All this development in those areas has happened only in the past 5 years. And to anyone not familiar with the cities, we are talking a good 45min (depending on traffic, much more in poor weather) from the inner 494/694 loop and 60-90+min to go farther in the inner cities.

[Gormy Cuss]

51. The euphemism 'cul de sac' for dead end street cracks me up

because in French in means bottom of the bag, or more precisely, the ass end of the bag.

[dysfunctional press]

9. people always forget the hyphen...

they're the sub-urban areas.

life in the big city rules.

[billyskank]

92. Hyphens always tend to get dropped after a while

Like email...once upon a time that was e-mail, but eventually it made it as a word in its own right.

[izzybeans]

10. It's not that bad, it's actually worse. They build sidewalks and

they lead to nowhere, if they don't lead you right to McDonald's or chili's.

[yurbud]

18. that's the other creepy thing--you could be in California, Illinois, or

Virginia and they would all look the same.

[yurbud]

19. creepier variation on the theme: some people parked their RVs at Walmart

and call it a vacation.

So they drive from one soulless burb to a Walmart in some other town, park their rig, get out their lawn furniture, and go in for icees and shit as needed.

Walmart lets them do it cause it's good for business.

That is one of the saddest, most fucked up things I have ever heard.

[Iniquitous Bunny]

21. That's just sad.

Not to be judgmental here, but in this case I will be:

[LSK]

36. NO, some people actually LIVE in their RVs

They are NOT on vacation, they are just getting a FREE spot to sleep overnight.

Can you be more FUCKING judgemental about something you HAVE NO CLUE ABOUT???

[yurbud]

38. the people in the article weren't homeless if that's what you mean.

[pitohui]

95. they are called "full timers" and your description was not accurate

"full timers" do not just put out their lawn chairs and sit in the parking lot of walmart

they do make a point of buying groceries, fast food meals, from the walmart etc to thank them for their policy of allowing the free camp space -- which is only good manners when someone is giving you a freebie

however, they do actually get out and explore the area they are visiting, they do not just go from walmart to walmart, the point is to have a base to park the RV so that these people, who are almost always older retirees, can then have the opportunity to explore the mountains of the ozarks or other areas where walmart offers this benefit

this is a safe way for retirees to park, travel, and have a base camp for seeing the country

most over 70s can't just pitch a pup tent on the top of denali you know

[rushpaper00]

11. I'm already a victim!

:(

I hate the fact that you seldom see any children outside playing, your neighbors are not very friendly, and you feel like a robot.

[yurbud]

20. call 911 and have them take you somewhere with a subway

meaning an underground train, not a sandwich chain.

[mwooldri]

25. Yes what is up with the suburbs around here?

I lived on a housing estate in my youth in a new development of a village - I guess the nearest equivalent of suburbia here. I played in the street, walked to school, worked in the local shop. I could ride my bike where I wanted to.

Over here my sister-in-law is afraid to let her daughter out of the house.

Mark.

[Throd]

12. It ain't all that bad in the suburbs.

It has it's plusses and minuses. I recently moved to a suburban community after spending the last ten years in the not very nice part of Long Beach. So far most of the people I have met have been rather friendly. I would caution against making assumptions about people based on where they live. Sure, as I drive past all the houses I see a lot of Hummers and Escalades in the driveways driven by women with Republican hair. But I also wonder how many people drive by my house and assume that some fundie dickbag lives there just because of the zip code.



Things I miss about the city:

Diverse restaurants and bars
Art galleries
Live music performances
The feeling of vibrancy and vitality


Things I don't miss:

Pollution and trash
Traffic
Tagger grafitti
Gunshots

[yurbud]

22. I don't have a prejudice toward the people as much as lifestyle and

isolation.

Urban doesn't necessarily equal violent.

I live in Santa Monica and can walk to a diner, grocery store, four different theaters, and some pretty good restaurants, and the worst crime I've been a victim of here is having my bike stolen and the very occasional police helicopter over my head.

[mwooldri]

28. Well I guess I've found everyone's ideal place to live:

Ocracoke Island, NC.

IMO if I had the money and the means to support myself there I would.

I could let my kid(s) (if I got more it would be kids) out of the house and be confident they'd be safe. They could walk to school, the shops, play outside... man... I love that place esp as a holiday destination. Yep, there are no wal-marts, (or chain stores of any kind come to think of it) and you have to catch a boat to go anywhere else. But IMO I'd love to live there if I could. Yes, even with hurricane seasons and that.

Mark.

[JVS]

46. Urban also doesn't necessarily equal less isolated.

I've been living in cities for the last 8 years, seldom do I meet a neighbor. Most people I know are through work. In fact I found out that one of my coworkers lives upstairs one day when we had a fire alarm in the building. The only other neighbor I know is someone whose door I knocked on once when I forgot my keys.

[martymar64]

73. Santa Monica Rules!!!

Got my A.A. at Santa Monica College. One day on my way to class, I was crossing the street and almost got run over by Lou Ferrigno. I was sad when the Oar House closed, met several of my ex-girlfriends there. I like the 3rd Street Promenade back in the old days before it became yuppified (for a taste of what it looked like, watch PeeWee's Big Adventure, that's where his bike was stolen.). I also miss going to the King's Head.
I miss SaMo soooooo much! :-(

[yurbud]

88. yeah, they took out a good lefty bookstore and put in Benneton

[swag]

13. I have needed some jars of Sambal Badjak for two years now,

but still can't seem to get myself on the light rail to go to the Dutch/Indonesian store in Beaverton.

Beaverton. What a world we live in.

[yurbud]

24. Beaverton is the first suburb past civilization. Is it really it's own

town or just part of Portland that has its own name like Sellwood?

[swag]

26. It is really its own municipality.

[yurbud]

31. Even though I grew up there, I'm more confused about the edges than

here in LA.

Although you can leave LA, cross into Beverly Hills, go back into LA, then end up in West Hollywood, all three their own cities, in the span of about five blocks.

[swag]

55. You're right, it's confusing in Portland.

Some neighborhood names attain prominence, "Sellwood" for example, and can be easily confused with municipalities. Others (Vernon, for example) are hopelessly obscure. And some suburban municipalities have less prominence and name recognition than some neighborhoods.

I got lost driving around LA once and did exactly what you describe, I believe.

[yurbud]

67. I thought Vernon was the first bum you see after you cross Burnside Bridge

[kwassa]

59. I used to live right there

near LaBrea and Wilshire.

about 12 years in that neighborhood. The parking is HORRIBLE! one aspect of big city life I don't miss. I do miss all the great cheap ethnic food.

[yurbud]

68. Yeah, I don't have off street parking and got almost $1000 worth

of parking tickets the year before last.

[politicat]

17. We call 'em land barnacles.

We live in old town, now, where the lots are long and narrow and the houses are too because those make foot traffic easier.

You can own a house and have the tax and financial benefits of it and not be stuck in suburbia. And don't count us "dilbert" types out -- there is a huge variation in what we do and who we are. Though I wouldn't buy a house at the moment - the market's not happy.

[yurbud]

27. I don't mean dilbert as disrespect any more than when I call someone

a concentration camp survivor.

[951-Riverside]

23. The lack of crime, wife swaping, great schools, soccer moms....

...*cries* oh how I miss it.

[JVS]

45. Sweet!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

29. I'm with you, yurbud

I can understand the appeal of cities. I can understand the appeal of genuine small towns. I can even understand why some people like to live out in the country (although I wouldn't like it). Hell, I can even understand the appeal of the older inner suburbs, which were built for people instead of for cars.

But I cannot understand the appeal of the suburbs built since about 1965. They combine the isolation of the countryside with the traffic of the city, and you can't walk anywhere unless you drive somewhere to do it.

Suburban apologists say, "Oh, the suburbs are booming because Americans don't like dense housing."

Okay, so what's with all the mega-apartment complexes springing up along the freeways in ex-cornfields and cow pastures?

People move into these oversized, anonymous housing tracts or mega-apartment complexes that are cut off from everything except the freeway. They're an hour from work. They're 15 minutes from the grocery store. Their kids have to be chauffeured everywhere (and there's a lot of "everywhere, because sports appear to be compulsory for suburban chlidren. God forbid that a child should pass up the opportunity to be regimented).They have to spend thousands of dollars per year maintaining two or three cars per household.
So what do they complain about?

Cost of living. (Hey, living in a place where you needed only one car would give you an immediate, tax-free rise in disposable income, enough to make up for higher housing costs closer in.)
Traffic. (What do you expect with your two+ cars per household and your need to drive everywhere?)
Lack of time. (Yes, two hours going back and forth to work plus another hour or two carting kids around to their compulsory round of activities really eats into one's day)

A friend who recently retired from teaching in a suburban high school said that some of her students were sleepier than average during the day. When she asked why, she found that they were working till ten or eleven at night at fast food places. Why were they doing that? To pay for their cars. Why did they need cars? To get to their fast food jobs.

If that's the level of logic operating in the suburbs, it's no wonder that they vote Republican.

[yurbud]

33. a sad variation here in SoCal: "white flight" to Lancaster to escape gangs

in LA, but parents have to commute so far to work that their kids are left unsupervised and join skinhead gangs.

[Withywindle]

42. You nailed it!

They combine the isolation of the countryside with the traffic of the city, and you can't walk anywhere unless you drive somewhere to do it.

That's the thing I don't get. I've never actually lived in a suburb: I grew up really rural, went to college in small towns (with sidewalks and shops, though) and now I live right in the middle of Chicago.

The suburbs always seemed like the worst of all worlds to me - you don't have the real privacy and natural beauty of the country, you don't have the friendliness of real small towns, and you have all the inconvenience of the city with none of the energy and vibrant art and culture. Every suburb I've visited: those around Baltimore, New York, Detroit, Chicago...they've always seemed traffic-ridden with nowhere to go but chain businesses. Feh.

I really LIKE the fact that I haven't needed to own a car in 14 years and I can still be at work or a great concert (indie rock, blues, jazz, world music, alt-country, hip-hop, polka - you name it, we got it) or restaurant (Mexican, Ethiopian, Polish, Indian, Thai, Italian, Middle Eastern, etcetera etcetera) a friend's place or a grocery store within 20 minutes no matter what. I can't envision ever wanting to give that up right now. But if I ever start getting more misanthropic, I'm going back to the woods.

[WindRavenX]

32. i fucking hate suburbs

I am such a city chick, it's not funny-- the bigger the city, the better. NYC is the best city in the world, and I intend to live there and raise my family there =)

[LSK]

35. what do you do for a living???

I assume you dont have a dilbert job then?

[yurbud]

40. teach college. worked in an office in Hollywood and preferred

working as a messenger for next to nothing than be stuck in a cube all day.

[WCGreen]

37. I live in a vey affluent suburb of Cleveland...

It is wonderful...

Everything I could possibly need is within 20 miles from my house...

I have several great shopping areas around me that are pedestrian friendly...

There is diversity and people of all hues live here...

However, it still is motivated by money and status, of which I have neither...

But I like where I live...

[yurbud]

41. 20 miles is convenient?

[WCGreen]

43. I mean world class medical care....

A world renown orchestra...

A wonderful free Art museam...

three professional sports teams...

With in four miles....

over 100 restaurants....

Five really good book stores...

25 movie screens....

A municple park like no other in the country....

Community theater...

The beach....

I would ride my bike but lung problems have slowed me down...

[yurbud]

57. four miles is more reasonable--my measure is what I can walk or ride

my bike to.

[Magrittes Pipe]

48. I actually kinda miss Cracker Park.

Sure, it's all chain-store crap, and I don't like most of the restaurants, but it's ALL the chain stores. And Trader Joe's. And you can walk around the whole place.

[wildhorses]

39. little pink houses are NOT for me...

I need the land spreading out far and wide...I like it to be DARK at night, NOT all lit up with streetlights. The moon and stars are bright enough for me. I like my furry four footed neighbors. They are quiet and curteous and they don't call the cops when I play my music real LOUD at 2 am....

[JVS]

44. I'm not afraid of it at all. In fact, if I could afford to move there...

I'd be really pleased.

[Karenca]

47. I have suburbophobia

Long Island NY suburb
from Sept 3, 1997-June 21, 2002. I lost five years of my life there.

The most boring, isolated, quiet time of my life.

Every day was the same...nowhere to go, noone to talk to, nothing to do.
And, everyone looked the same too.

It sucked.


Thankfully, I am back in New York City since 2002...I got my life back
and I will never leave!

[Pithlet]

49. I live in the suburbs.

Technically, I live in the city as the area was annexed, but it is still very much suburbia. I had reservations about moving here, and overall I still prefer living the city. I miss living in Midtown Memphis. But, my neighborhood is growing more diverse every day, which is a pleasant surprise. The type of development I live in is pretty unusual for suburbia, too. The houses are all fairly new, but very different because they aren't all by the same builder, so it's not so cookie cutter. It's a mix of smaller starter homes, mid-priced homes and McMansions. There are many larger homes homes situated right next to 1200 sq. ft. homes. It's the only one like it in the area that I've seen. I just wish there were more public transportation. I should be able to take a train into the city, damn it.

[ScreamingMeemie]

65. That would be hell and a half to valuate. We're taught the theory

of conformity, and use comp sales...similar to the subject. tough to do there I imagine. :D

[Pithlet]

71. I have wondered about that.

It is an unusual layout. It's not as though they're even grouped together. You'll be driving down the street and it will just be random. Big house, medium house, big house, small house, small house, big house... It's kind of cool, and it was definitely a draw for us because we think it's important for the boys to grow up around people with diverse backgrounds. But it will be interesting come time to sell. :hi:

[xchrom]

50. i know what you mean... the bridge and tunnel crew

have ruined weekend nights in the big city where ever you go.

now there are too many clubs that appeal to the amateurs.

[GalleryGod]

53. I always liked WeHo,up around King's Road..it was a walk around

neighborhood inside L.A.B-)

[tigereye]

54. yes

[hedgehog]

56. I live on an old farm just outside a small town

(Technicaly it is a small city)I can walk to the downtown if I wanted, but all the merchants have fled since the major malls 10 and 20 miles south have sucked all the life out of local retail. On the bright side, I have the woods behind me, a huge garden, quiet nights,chickens in my yard and the kids are in walking distance to school although they usually take the bus or get a ride.

Here's the punchline - my daughter just visited her two aunts. My first sister who lives in a new suburb extolled the virtues of suburbia. My second sister who lives in an up-scale section of the city extolled the virtues of big city life. Talk about Country Mouse/City Mouse! I'm just glad to be able to make the choice.

[yurbud]

58. The sad thing is our zoning laws create that isolation by

segregating business and residential.

Most people would get in the habit of walking to a neighborhood cafe if there was one, and you would see your neighbors there and feel more connected to your neighborhood.

The scale and car-centeredness of suburbs makes you feel like the only person around.

[kwassa]

61. Not any more, with the new urbanism movement.

The new trend is to build fake little cities in the 'burbs with a mix of business, retail, and residential buildings and houses. We have three such planned communities within ten miles of us.

This is rapidly becoming the predominant development style, in my opinion.

[kwassa]

62. People are actually friendlier in the suburbs, IMHO.

I know all my neighbors, we talk all the time.

my environment during my life has gone like this:

Suburbs
Country
City
Suburb
City (for 17 years straight)
Suburb

I live in planned, well-designed suburban community started in the late '60s. There is a lake within 200 feet of my house. The houses are all different, though fitting a certain aesthetic. There are walking trails everywhere. There are community pools and tennis courts. I can walk to all the basic stores that I need. There is lots of parking, all the time. Big house, low cost compared to just ten miles closer in.

There is virtually no crime at all.

My old neighborhood in LA, as much as I liked LA, had 28 muggings in 6 months, 2/3 of them at gunpoint. I can live without that.

[yurbud]

66. how do you like the "fake little cities"?

[StellaBlue]

60. Indeed

:hi:

Wholeheartedly agree.

Suburbia = death.

[ScreamingMeemie]

64. I don't know... I live in a suburb (albeit an older one) and we have

sidewalks and they lead to the schools, and stores, and a park by the lake. I think new suburbs are this way. What I'd love is 10 acres and a house smack in the middle. :hi:

[Taverner]

69. Suburbia gets a bad rap

Granted, I'm biased. I live in suburbia, and like it.

But suburbia is what you make of it. The main factor for us is - if you have kids it's damn convenient. Don't have to look for a parking spot when you go shopping (this is key if you have strollers and walking toddlers), there are plenty of easy to find programs for your kids, there are plenty of kids your child's age to play with, and the homes are built with families in mind.

I like to think of them as 'human farms'.

[Odin2005]

70. Suburbia sucks.

I live in the older residential parts of Fargo, and it is MUCH better then the newer residential areas. My neighborhood has old elms, sidewals, and cute older homes with *GASP* PORCHES. The lack of porches, replaced instead with backyard decks, is telling; suburbs huave no sense of community, they are jumbles of strangers then don't dare let thier kids walk to thier friends alone lest some new boogeyman talked about on MSM kidnaps them. People are isolated inside thier homes watching American Idol and FUX News.

[LoZoccolo]

72. We had sidewalks, so it wasn't that bad.

I grew up in a suburban-style neighborhood from the seventies, which I guess isn't as bad as today's stuff. It certainly wasn't snobby McMansions, just a nice little lower middle class neighborhood and people weren't trying to outdo each other so much. It was getting built up when we moved in so everyone was new and they'd have stuff like block parties every now and then...it was pretty much mostly baby boomers starting families, so there were a lot of kids around. People'd do things like go for walks in the evening. I don't know, it wasn't that bad! It did have a "soul". When I was a teenager I'd get restless as I think all teens do, but when I was a kid it was pretty cool.

[Radical Activist]

74. I would kill myself if I had to live in the soulless burbs

The same goes for having a Dilbert cubicle job. The city or country are fine for me.

[Karenca]

77. That's how I felt

for the 5 years, 2 months and 4 days
that I was trapped in the suburbs.


7:00 AM
Wake up
Look out the window.
See the grass
Cry
7:15 AM
Go back to bed.

[grace0418]

75. *shudder*

I get really irritated by a lot of aspects of big city life (noise, pollution, traffic, not enough space, expensive housing, etc.) but the thought of moving to the suburbs makes my blood run cold. The truly terrifying part is that I'm probably going to have to do it very soon. We really want a house and we'll never be able to afford one in the city neighborhoods we like. Even though we'll see an enormous profit when we sell our condo (it's in a booming neighborhood), it won't be enough to buy us a decent house in the city. It probably won't even buy us one in the suburbs that I like reasonably well. So sooner or later I'll be living in the same fucking lily-white suburban nightmare I grew up in, where the most exotic restaurant in the area is the Chinese Buffet and there is nothing but generic subdivisions and strip malls as far as the eyes can see.

So to answer your question. Yes, I definitely suffer from this disease.

[Karenca]

78. I remember China Buffet very well

First time my son and I
BOTH
threw up after dining out.

[yurbud]

86. you can't buy smaller in a better neighborhood?

I live in a tiny, tiny apartment, but I like the neighborhood so much I don't care.

A lot of time people buy a lot of space in the suburbs and then they need every inch cause there's nowhere to go.

[grace0418]

87. That's the situation we're in now.

We bought a condo in a great neighborhood, and as much as we love it it's just not enough space. If we have a baby (something we're planning to do within the next year) there is nowhere to put the child. Plus, I plan to go freelance when we have a child and would need more space than I have now to work–preferably a room with a door to keep out curious toddlers.

Even if we decided not to have kids, the one thing that really frustrates us about our place is the lack of outdoor space. We have no yard, no deck or patio, not even a balcony. We haven't been able to have a barbecue or any kind of summer party in 7 years, and we love to cook/entertain. No place to have a small garden, to relax on a Sunday morning, to let a dog run around. We put up with it because of all the other great things about our place and our neighborhood, but it's wearing on us.

Anyway, the smallest, cruddiest house with a yard in this neighborhood is over $600,000 and we just can't afford that. So yeah, it's either the suburbs or, I don't know, winning the lottery? Robbing a bank?

[Placebo]

76. Oh, I have suburbophobia.

As someone who has lived in the city all their life, I hate the burbs. Most of my family lives out there, and I cringe every time I have to travel out there.

No culture. Boring people.

Just houses built around shopping malls. YUCK!

[TheCentepedeShoes]

79. I like living near

the center of town. It's a "mature" er...old neighborhood with the trees that I knew Mr 'pede would like. Ran into someone today who just moved outside of town, west on I-40. Asked how he and his wife liked the new house they built. They're happy and I'm happy for them, they're good folks. But I don't think I would like living out there, with the xx mile drive to everywhere. Plus it's called...Bushland.

[Guy Fawkes]

80. No, but I do have "Rockin' the Suburbs"...

(Ben Folds album)

[Just Me]

82. My sister and brother-in-law live that life. (((EEEKKKK)))

No variety, no color and they get (imagine this shit) fined if their grass is over 3".

YIKES! My son stayed with them for a week and said, "Mom,...please, PLEASE don't make me live in a place like that!!!".

[smirkymonkey]

83. I've got it bad - I get really, really depressed if I find myself in the

burbs for any reason. Usually, it's to visit someone. The thing that bothers me the most is the soulessness, conformity and the lack of a sense of community. I also HATE having to get in a car to go anywhere. I get stressed out living in a big city sometimes, but I would take it any day over the depressing burbs.

[Misunderestimator]

84. Yes! Having owned a home in a gated golf-course community in FL...

I can say with impunity that ... it sucks! The closest, good, non-chain restaurant was at least 20 mile away. I love having a home now in a progressive town where there are NO fast food restaurants, at least none that I've seen.

[yurbud]

89. where is this place with no fast food?

[Misunderestimator]

91. Well, to clarify... I meant the downtown area.

I live within a mile of downtown Ann Arbor, and I haven't noticed any fast food restaurants there. There are of course McDonald's etc., elsewhere in town, just not downtown. It certainly WOULD be nice to live in a town with NONE. I doubt that such a town exists, though, sadly.

[yurbud]

93. that would be a great idea for a planned community--small business only

[ScreamingMeemie]

85. I think the entirety of the Mid West is suburbia now. I've pondered this

question of yours all day... I can't think of a place in my state that isn't overdeveloped with plat style housing, and all the grief that comes with us. Might as well get used to it I guess. The only place untouched here is the venerable "Up North"...

[yurbud]

90. I lived in North Chicago for a while in the Navy. the only redeeming

quality of the area was the little town squares at the train stops that had some character and it looked like history.

Remove that and you have a region with not only no soul but essentially no geography.

[pitohui]

94. no most people want a better life

only people who have never had any $ in their pocket think people who can own their own homes all live the same lives

poor people who have no options are the ones who are all living the same miserable lives scrambling to keep their heads above water but under the bullets of the drive by drug dealers

there is a reason the suburbs are the american dream and it's because life is better, you have your privacy, everybody is not in your business, and every life can be different and freer, the packed little apartment in the city where you have to hear your neighbor, the miserable slum in the city where the thugs are making life miserable for everybody who just wants to live their life, who needs that

i left the city for the usual reason, i was shot at, there is no freedom in being perforated by bullet holes and being afraid to leave your dwelling because of your size and/or gender

my neighbors in suburbia have traveled all over the world, by contrast when i was young and poor, i met many a poor person of new orleans who had never eaten in a nice restaurant or even seen the mississippi river (which flows right past the french quarter/riverwalk area!), the school system actually had to have field trips to make sure that all children had seen the darn river!!!!

poverty by its nature impoverishes choices and imagination

once you are doing well and can afford a house, can afford loans to start your own business or education or travel etc, the world opens up to you

being afraid of suburbia is very often just code for being afraid of prosperity or being unwilling to give up a substance that is having a negative impact on one's life

i'm sure that is not your case but look around you, too many who fear suburbia fear not being able to have immediate connection with their dealer of choice

[Midlodemocrat]

96. I live in the burbs and I like it.

We have a beautiful lake, gorgeous walking trails and a wonderful life. My friends and neighbors have been phenomonal about helping us since my husband took sick last week.

I wouldn't live anywhere else.