3 ms·

I think your view of car ownership and the suburbs is the wrong way round. In my experience, people in the suburbs own cars because they have to in order to li

by UVB-76 11y ago

I think your view of car ownership and the suburbs is the wrong way round. In my experience, people in the suburbs own cars because they have to in order to live in the suburbs. They don't move to the suburbs because they own cars, and want somewhere to store them. The traditional appeal of the suburb (or the 'countryside') will endure. More space, lower crime rates, fewer neighbors, more privacy, better schools, a stronger sense of community, etc. If anything, the self-driving car will make the suburbs more attractive, as fewer cars will litter the place, paved-over front gardens can be returned to nature, etc.

trgn 11y ago
I think the argument of the urbanists is that land use pattern is designed to accommodate cars. Once that is no longer required (because people no longer need to own cars), there be no reason for the parking lots and driveways and all that, much of the suburbs become wasted space. Not sure if that will be considered an asset, rather, it will be a liability. Unless you can live in one of the rich suburbs, there's very little "countryside" in the suburbs I know. Traffic yes, noise yes, plus houses are generally not even that far away from each other so all there isn't much privacy. If anything, you're on display more than anything. You arrive at home, and everybody has heard it, and seen it. But certainly, you might be right. Suppose telecommuting and flex time gets adopted more, absolutely, it's possible the SDC saves the suburb. But the car has ruined city life for more reasons than just creating crappy commutes. The appeal of the suburbs is precisely because city streets being are so wretched due to being giving over to the car. Hence the appeal of a quiet cul-de-sac. Once the city is no longer lined by sewers for high-speed noisy, stinky, dangerous cars, the appeal of the city increases, and the appeal for the suburb correspondingly decreases, that's my bet (and many others' whose view I only parrot here, basically any new urbanist, traditionalist, most under 40 planners)
baldfat 11y ago
> a stronger sense of community I would say that Cities have 100 times more community. I grew up in the Burbs and my friends live there now. I ask them who their neighbors are and they all say I don't know and I don't care.
- criddell 11y ago
  It's going to vary a lot. I'm in a suburb that is pretty stable - people moving in or out is pretty rare. Because I've lived beside the same people for so long, I know them well (I have keys to 5 houses on my street). We have a couple of block parties every year. Families take vacations together. There's community softball, basketball, soccer, tennis, golf, swimming, and running groups or leagues. Any given day of the week my kids might be eating at a friends house or we might have extra kids at our house. If somebody finds out that you play an instrument, you will start getting invitations to meet up and play. There's an organized bike ride every Sunday where people meet and ride to a cafe or diner for brunch. If I leave my garage door open when I'm working on my motorcycle, it's pretty common to get a person or two to wander in and end up helping or just hanging out. I have also lived in neighborhoods with none of that. When I lived in the city, I was young (20's) and I lived around a lot of people my age and I loved it as well. Lots of stuff to do and lots of people to do it with. Back then I would have not fit in the suburb I live in now just like today, I think I'm happier being where I am now. I think either situation can be good or bad.

by UVB-76 11y ago

trgn 11y ago

I think the argument of the urbanists is that land use pattern is designed to accommodate cars. Once that is no longer required (because people no longer need to own cars), there be no reason for the parking lots and driveways and all that, much of the suburbs become wasted space. Not sure if that will be considered an asset, rather, it will be a liability. Unless you can live in one of the rich suburbs, there's very little "countryside" in the suburbs I know. Traffic yes, noise yes, plus houses are generally not even that far away from each other so all there isn't much privacy. If anything, you're on display more than anything. You arrive at home, and everybody has heard it, and seen it. But certainly, you might be right. Suppose telecommuting and flex time gets adopted more, absolutely, it's possible the SDC saves the suburb. But the car has ruined city life for more reasons than just creating crappy commutes. The appeal of the suburbs is precisely because city streets being are so wretched due to being giving over to the car. Hence the appeal of a quiet cul-de-sac. Once the city is no longer lined by sewers for high-speed noisy, stinky, dangerous cars, the appeal of the city increases, and the appeal for the suburb correspondingly decreases, that's my bet (and many others' whose view I only parrot here, basically any new urbanist, traditionalist, most under 40 planners)

baldfat 11y ago

> a stronger sense of community I would say that Cities have 100 times more community. I grew up in the Burbs and my friends live there now. I ask them who their neighbors are and they all say I don't know and I don't care.

criddell 11y ago
It's going to vary a lot. I'm in a suburb that is pretty stable - people moving in or out is pretty rare. Because I've lived beside the same people for so long, I know them well (I have keys to 5 houses on my street). We have a couple of block parties every year. Families take vacations together. There's community softball, basketball, soccer, tennis, golf, swimming, and running groups or leagues. Any given day of the week my kids might be eating at a friends house or we might have extra kids at our house. If somebody finds out that you play an instrument, you will start getting invitations to meet up and play. There's an organized bike ride every Sunday where people meet and ride to a cafe or diner for brunch. If I leave my garage door open when I'm working on my motorcycle, it's pretty common to get a person or two to wander in and end up helping or just hanging out. I have also lived in neighborhoods with none of that. When I lived in the city, I was young (20's) and I lived around a lot of people my age and I loved it as well. Lots of stuff to do and lots of people to do it with. Back then I would have not fit in the suburb I live in now just like today, I think I'm happier being where I am now. I think either situation can be good or bad.