> The lower the density, the safer, and the better for children. Everything is more pleasant, less noise, less wasted time, room for kids to play, less conflict

> The lower the density, the safer, and the better for children. Everything is more pleasant, less noise, less wasted time, room for kids to play, less conflict with neighbors. Maybe "better" for very small children. Once they start wanting some form of independence, early into their teens, kids hate the suburbs. There's little to do and most of their friends or any activities they want to engage in are far enough away that they require a parent's involvement to cart them around everywhere. Technically, yeah, kids can play outside in their cul-de-sacs but whenever I drive through suburbia to visit my parents, I don't actually see it happening. Miles and miles of empty lawns, devoid of actual people. > There's more driving, but I don't care, everything else is so much better it's worth it. "Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children of every age from 2 to 14 years old (based on 2001 figures, which are the latest mortality data currently available from the National Center for Health Statistics)."[1] That "more driving" you don't care about is killing children at a greater rate than any other cause. > And don't forget that even with the driving, everything takes less time. Based on my own experience (which may not mirror your own), that is comically untrue. The nearest grocery store to me is a 3 minute walk away. There are dozens of restaurants within a five block radius. The nearest park is one block away. Work is a 15 minute streetcar ride or bicycle ride away. Museums, nightlife, movie theaters, etc., are all about the same distance — 15 minutes by car or streetcar. Friends too are similarly close by. You'd have to drive pretty fast to beat this. > ...you are really designing for the people inside the cars, and they will be much happier. You're right — studies show that people in the suburbs are happier.[2] That said, there are huge costs that suburbs impose to others that are currently being heavily subsidized.[3] Without these subsidies, I suspect we'd have an even greater migration from the suburbs into the cities than we're experiencing today. [1] https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/809762 https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/... [2]: http://www.citylab.com/politics/2014/08/overall-americans-in-the-suburbs-are-still-the-happiest/378964/ http://www.citylab.com/politics/2014/08/overall-americans-in... [3]: http://grist.org/cities/starving-the-cities-to-feed-the-suburbs/ http://grist.org/cities/starving-the-cities-to-feed-the-subu...