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"Suburban Europe" is sort of a tricky concept. In most countries, you have the outskirts of cities, and then you have the countryside with towns and farmland. Y
by TillE 10y ago
"Suburban Europe" is sort of a tricky concept. In most countries, you have the outskirts of cities, and then you have the countryside with towns and farmland. You generally need to own a car in the latter areas, though you also typically get half-decent bus service.
Even in the UK I don't think there's anywhere that truly resembles American suburbia, with its vast sprawling acres of large houses and large yards where it's actually impossible to safely walk anywhere. It's a uniquely inefficient design.
- mc32 10y agoTrue, in Europe as in advanced east Asian countries, the urban rural/agrarian transition is usually more abrupt. One side of the road is development the other is fields. However, Marseilles, for example [I imagine outer London and beyond has areas exhibiting suburban detached housing tracts] do have suburbs and if you want some mobility you need an estate sedan or the like to get things done.
- aninhumer 10y agoThere are some "suburbs" in the UK, but they're much more compact than American ones, and usually still have some local shops and public transport.
- rsync 10y ago"Even in the UK I don't think there's anywhere that truly resembles American suburbia" I once visited a very new housing development in Marbella (Southern Spain) that was identical to new housing developments in San Diego. Two car attached garages, everyone had cars. It was completely American. Eerie.