2 ms·

Deriving that the suburbs (or anywhere) are "unpleasant" from such little information is illogical and presumptuous. Although it's just as anecdotally short-si

by bcook 11y ago

Deriving that the suburbs (or anywhere) are "unpleasant" from such little information is illogical and presumptuous. Although it's just as anecdotally short-sighted as your conclusion, I have found that it is not where you are, but who you are with that majoritively affects your emotional perspective. Edit: I have lived in the "woods" my entire life, so I have no dog in this fight. Do we seriously support shitty logic like the OP mentions? Anecdatae is not data.

pnathan 11y ago
> : I have lived in the "woods" my entire life, so I have no dog in this fight. Do we seriously support shitty logic like the OP mentions? Anecdatae is not data. If you've lived in the woods, you have no anecdata to support your conclusion either. However, there have been a raft of papers and other material related to governance in the past 15 years that describe the benefits of urban living and how to make it better. Further, the historical reality is that seeing Nature as better in the West is a strictly post-1800 phenomenon, being based out of the Romantic philosophical movement ( http://www.williamcronon.net/writing/Trouble_with_Wilderness_Main.html http://www.williamcronon.net/writing/Trouble_with_Wilderness... ). Historically, nature was untamed; the proper place for man was in the cities. Look: we have n billion people on this planet. Do you want them all up in the woods, paving it over, adding gas stations, walmarts, and so forth - polluting it with french fries, used condoms, and the detrius of modern society? Or would it be better for us to build a sustainable world only in the cities, and leave the woods to go walking in for refreshment and experience? I choose the second.
- bcook 11y ago
  Did you miss the part where I acknowledged that relying on my anecdatae was as fallacious as your conclusion that "the suburbs are unpleasant"? Our limited data set is not enough to make any useful conclusions. My only gripe is making decisions with obviously shitty data. Blanket statements are ignorant. Stop being so absolutist.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- ghaff 11y ago
  > I choose the second. Bully for you. But not everyone wants to live in cities. If you want to, fine. Personally, I'm no fan of suburbs and prefer either a Tier 1 city or the country (or at least exurbs).
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    [deleted]
  - abalashov 11y ago
    I can certainly appreciate that. It seems to me that American suburbia as such has none of the virtues of either a first-rate city or of can-see-the-stars roll-in-the-hay countryside, but the downsides of both. It's a worst-practical antipattern.

by bcook 11y ago

pnathan 11y ago

> : I have lived in the "woods" my entire life, so I have no dog in this fight. Do we seriously support shitty logic like the OP mentions? Anecdatae is not data. If you've lived in the woods, you have no anecdata to support your conclusion either. However, there have been a raft of papers and other material related to governance in the past 15 years that describe the benefits of urban living and how to make it better. Further, the historical reality is that seeing Nature as better in the West is a strictly post-1800 phenomenon, being based out of the Romantic philosophical movement ( http://www.williamcronon.net/writing/Trouble_with_Wilderness_Main.html http://www.williamcronon.net/writing/Trouble_with_Wilderness... ). Historically, nature was untamed; the proper place for man was in the cities. Look: we have n billion people on this planet. Do you want them all up in the woods, paving it over, adding gas stations, walmarts, and so forth - polluting it with french fries, used condoms, and the detrius of modern society? Or would it be better for us to build a sustainable world only in the cities, and leave the woods to go walking in for refreshment and experience? I choose the second.

bcook 11y ago
Did you miss the part where I acknowledged that relying on my anecdatae was as fallacious as your conclusion that "the suburbs are unpleasant"? Our limited data set is not enough to make any useful conclusions. My only gripe is making decisions with obviously shitty data. Blanket statements are ignorant. Stop being so absolutist.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
ghaff 11y ago
> I choose the second. Bully for you. But not everyone wants to live in cities. If you want to, fine. Personally, I'm no fan of suburbs and prefer either a Tier 1 city or the country (or at least exurbs).
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- abalashov 11y ago
  I can certainly appreciate that. It seems to me that American suburbia as such has none of the virtues of either a first-rate city or of can-see-the-stars roll-in-the-hay countryside, but the downsides of both. It's a worst-practical antipattern.