14 ms·

I don’t live in the US, but I’m in the same boat. I vastly prefer my suburb to the central city. I have great neighbours, who I only have to see when I want to.

by laingc 6y ago

I don’t live in the US, but I’m in the same boat. I vastly prefer my suburb to the central city. I have great neighbours, who I only have to see when I want to. I have everything I could need or want. What am I missing out on by not being in the city centre? Shows? I don’t go to them. Restaurants? I have a dog with separation anxiety and a 4mo daughter - I’m not going to any restaurants. Street festivals? Spare me. Art and modern “culture”? Thanks, but no thanks. I’m perfectly happy for other people to pack themselves into noisy, cramped apartments if they like, I just don’t understand why the HN crowd seems to automatically assume that’s what I should want. Suburbs are great. Long may they continue.

leetcrew 6y ago
I think a lot of it comes down to how you feel about cars/driving. driving in a dense city is an awful experience, but you can probably walk or take public transit to most of the places you need to be in a given week. driving in a rural area can be lovely, and you're gonna have to do it to get anywhere. driving in a suburb is not as bad as driving in the city, but imo it's still a pretty unenjoyable experience, and you need to do it to get most places. I personally love driving, but I'd rather not drive at all than have a bad driving experience. I live in a city and (in normal times) work in a suburb ~20 miles away. my commute is pretty painless; it's just a straight shot down the interstate in the opposite direction of most other people. but once I get there, it's amazing how unpleasant it is to drive around in a place that was built from the ground up to accommodate cars. even the shortest trips involve driving to a highway, traveling on it for one or two exits, then getting off and driving to your destination. I have no idea how people get around on bikes there. there are several shopping centers that are only connected by a limited access highway. I often joke that in that suburb, no trip takes more than fifteen minutes by car, but none are shorter either.

by laingc 6y ago

leetcrew 6y ago

I think a lot of it comes down to how you feel about cars/driving. driving in a dense city is an awful experience, but you can probably walk or take public transit to most of the places you need to be in a given week. driving in a rural area can be lovely, and you're gonna have to do it to get anywhere. driving in a suburb is not as bad as driving in the city, but imo it's still a pretty unenjoyable experience, and you need to do it to get most places. I personally love driving, but I'd rather not drive at all than have a bad driving experience. I live in a city and (in normal times) work in a suburb ~20 miles away. my commute is pretty painless; it's just a straight shot down the interstate in the opposite direction of most other people. but once I get there, it's amazing how unpleasant it is to drive around in a place that was built from the ground up to accommodate cars. even the shortest trips involve driving to a highway, traveling on it for one or two exits, then getting off and driving to your destination. I have no idea how people get around on bikes there. there are several shopping centers that are only connected by a limited access highway. I often joke that in that suburb, no trip takes more than fifteen minutes by car, but none are shorter either.