4 ms·

You touch on an important factor: land-use and transportation policy. The lack of "walkability" in the typical suburban neighborhood is certainly not helping.

You touch on an important factor: land-use and transportation policy. The lack of "walkability" in the typical suburban neighborhood is certainly not helping. I don't mean the ability to go out and take a walk for the exercise, I mean being in a place where walking is the best way to get to useful places and do things... the grocery, the doctor, the hardware store, and ideally, your job. Dense cities have this, to some degree. Rural areas don't, but they usually have a small town nearby with a main street (if Walmart hasn't decimated it). But in the suburbs you're generally inside a car to get anywhere at all, and how much incidental, accidental contact are you going to have with your neighbors from behind a glass pane at 25 MPH?

bitwize 9y ago
I used to live in some of the burbiest burbs imaginable. I lived a bit out of the way but many of my schoolmates were right in the thick of it: tract homes, manicured lawns, the whole bit. Back then -- I don't know about today -- going to the store may have been a chore that required a car, but visiting your neighbors was easy. You were bound to see some of them as you went out to get the paper or water the lawn. Car traffic was so light that kids would play in the street -- basketball, hockey, frisbee, racing go-karts or RC cars, whatever. All the kids in a neighborhood all seemed to know one another really well. There's a lot to dislike about suburbs, but by themselves they're not some sort of dark magic socially isolating force.
- refurb 9y ago
  That was my experience as well. In the suburbs you generally knew your neighbors, at least more so than in the city. I live in a city now, and I run into my neighbors and chat with them, but that's about it. Also, the suburbs tended to have more kids and generally be safer (not as much traffic). As a result, I spent most of my youth just hanging out with neighborhood kids. And my parents hung out with neighbors.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
pmoriarty 9y ago
For me it's not just the walkability of the suburbs that's the problem, but the lack of places to go... other than stores, bars, and restaurants. It's a cultural wasteland. I'd just much rather stay inside, and often do. Cities are not much better for me, as most of places there are to go and things to do tend to cater towards the lowest common denominator.
- KozmoNau7 9y ago
  >"Cities are not much better for me, as most of places there are to go and things to do tend to cater towards the lowest common denominator." What do you mean by this? Are there not museums, art galleries, chess clubs and a variety of other venues that are adequate for your high standards?
  - pmoriarty 9y ago
    Most museums and galleries here are pretty awful. There are a handful of good ones, but there's only so often I can go to those. Chess. I used to be really in to that, but have spent so much of my life playing chess, that I've weaned myself off of it and in to other pursuits. Theaters tend to have the most trite, lowbrow plays imaginable. Most movie theaters are the same, and for the handful that aren't, they play somebody else's movie selections, not mine. I'd just rather choose my own movies and watch them at home, and save some money. I just don't like musicals or parades. I sometimes go out dancing at clubs, but almost none of them play music I like, and anyway do cater mostly towards what's really popular.. which around here seems to be house, EDM, and drum and bass.. none of which I like. Then there are bars. I'm just not a bar person. Haven't had much luck in making connections with random people I meet there, and am anyway almost always way too shy to even try. Other than that, I don't want to go somewhere to just sit and pay for overpriced drinks. I've gone to a bunch of events organized on meetup.com, and way too many of those are poorly attended moneymaking operations trying to get you to pay money for classes or events. Most of the rest I just don't find even remotely interesting. Despite that, I've gone to a bunch of events that seemed kind of remotely interesting, and those have been largely disappointing. I sometimes go to lectures at the local university, but most of the ones they have are pretty uninteresting too. Overall, I guess there are options, but most of them just aren't for me, for one reason or another. Also, it takes effort to seek out things to do, and for me the payoff is so low that usually I don't even bother. I haven't completely given up, and I still force myself to go out anyway, but mostly it's a chore and not worth it. Usually, I'd rather just stay home and read a book, make some music, paint or draw something, surf the web, or maybe go to the library. All solitary pursuits that I usually enjoy much more than the various "event" options in the city.

bitwize 9y ago

I used to live in some of the burbiest burbs imaginable. I lived a bit out of the way but many of my schoolmates were right in the thick of it: tract homes, manicured lawns, the whole bit. Back then -- I don't know about today -- going to the store may have been a chore that required a car, but visiting your neighbors was easy. You were bound to see some of them as you went out to get the paper or water the lawn. Car traffic was so light that kids would play in the street -- basketball, hockey, frisbee, racing go-karts or RC cars, whatever. All the kids in a neighborhood all seemed to know one another really well. There's a lot to dislike about suburbs, but by themselves they're not some sort of dark magic socially isolating force.

refurb 9y ago
That was my experience as well. In the suburbs you generally knew your neighbors, at least more so than in the city. I live in a city now, and I run into my neighbors and chat with them, but that's about it. Also, the suburbs tended to have more kids and generally be safer (not as much traffic). As a result, I spent most of my youth just hanging out with neighborhood kids. And my parents hung out with neighbors.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]

pmoriarty 9y ago

For me it's not just the walkability of the suburbs that's the problem, but the lack of places to go... other than stores, bars, and restaurants. It's a cultural wasteland. I'd just much rather stay inside, and often do. Cities are not much better for me, as most of places there are to go and things to do tend to cater towards the lowest common denominator.

KozmoNau7 9y ago
>"Cities are not much better for me, as most of places there are to go and things to do tend to cater towards the lowest common denominator." What do you mean by this? Are there not museums, art galleries, chess clubs and a variety of other venues that are adequate for your high standards?
- pmoriarty 9y ago
  Most museums and galleries here are pretty awful. There are a handful of good ones, but there's only so often I can go to those. Chess. I used to be really in to that, but have spent so much of my life playing chess, that I've weaned myself off of it and in to other pursuits. Theaters tend to have the most trite, lowbrow plays imaginable. Most movie theaters are the same, and for the handful that aren't, they play somebody else's movie selections, not mine. I'd just rather choose my own movies and watch them at home, and save some money. I just don't like musicals or parades. I sometimes go out dancing at clubs, but almost none of them play music I like, and anyway do cater mostly towards what's really popular.. which around here seems to be house, EDM, and drum and bass.. none of which I like. Then there are bars. I'm just not a bar person. Haven't had much luck in making connections with random people I meet there, and am anyway almost always way too shy to even try. Other than that, I don't want to go somewhere to just sit and pay for overpriced drinks. I've gone to a bunch of events organized on meetup.com, and way too many of those are poorly attended moneymaking operations trying to get you to pay money for classes or events. Most of the rest I just don't find even remotely interesting. Despite that, I've gone to a bunch of events that seemed kind of remotely interesting, and those have been largely disappointing. I sometimes go to lectures at the local university, but most of the ones they have are pretty uninteresting too. Overall, I guess there are options, but most of them just aren't for me, for one reason or another. Also, it takes effort to seek out things to do, and for me the payoff is so low that usually I don't even bother. I haven't completely given up, and I still force myself to go out anyway, but mostly it's a chore and not worth it. Usually, I'd rather just stay home and read a book, make some music, paint or draw something, surf the web, or maybe go to the library. All solitary pursuits that I usually enjoy much more than the various "event" options in the city.