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He addresses this point with a quote. The suburbs can be boring/stifling for children as well. ** As noted, those are my preferences. Suburbs have “objective”

He addresses this point with a quote. The suburbs can be boring/stifling for children as well. ** As noted, those are my preferences. Suburbs have “objective” problems, strip malls and parkings are ugly, cars are not eco friendly etc – but yes, there are people who love suburbs, relative safety (in US it’s a problem – at least a perceived one), having a large house, clean streets, and say that it’s good for family life. I cannot argue with anyone’s preferences and I respect that – different people have different needs. But I’d like to dispel a myth that suburbs are great for kids. It might be true when they are 1-10 years old, later it gets worse. As I mentioned, when I was ~14 I moved to suburbs – and I hated it… I think that for teenagers, it’s bad for their social life and ability to grow up as independent humans. Now being an adult, I think my parents have a very nice house and a beautiful garden and I can appreciate chilling there with a bbq – but back then I felt alone and isolated, and if it wasn’t for my friends in other parts of the city and great public transport, I’d be very miserable. Which teenager wants to be driven around and “helicoptered” by parents and have whole life revolving around school and “activities”? **

legerdemain 5y ago
Yes, and I think that's blatantly false in almost every way. South Bay (or at least Cupertino/Sunnyvale) is extremely teen-friendly. Lots of opportunities to hang out. You see groups of teens moving independently between local bubble tea shops, cafes, libraries, and town parks. Who do you even think patronizes the dozens of bubble tea shops and light snack places in the area, if not kids hanging out after school? The author's arguments about suburbs being bad for kids are that (a) he had an unhappy childhood and (b) that kids here have a high risk of suicide. The first is not something I can argue with, the second is simply false. Apart from the cluster of suicides at Palo Alto high schools in 2014, there has not been an elevated rate of suicide among local schoolchildren. Heck, I remember more suicides at my completely mediocre high school in urban New Jersey in the late 90s. It is a shame the author is perpetuating what is essentially an urban legend and a TV pundit talking point. The reality is, any interest my kids want to pursue, they basically have the best possible resources at their fingertips. The robotics team will have a coach who is an award-winning roboticist. If they're into marine ecology or music production or whatever, one of their classmates will have a parent who's a marine ecologist or the sound engineer for Stanford's theater program. Compare that to anywhere else in the country, where basically any hobby or interest your child pursues is limited to, like, the Boy Scouts or hanging out at the old shopping mall.
- randompwd 5y ago
  You are delusional.

legerdemain 5y ago

Yes, and I think that's blatantly false in almost every way. South Bay (or at least Cupertino/Sunnyvale) is extremely teen-friendly. Lots of opportunities to hang out. You see groups of teens moving independently between local bubble tea shops, cafes, libraries, and town parks. Who do you even think patronizes the dozens of bubble tea shops and light snack places in the area, if not kids hanging out after school? The author's arguments about suburbs being bad for kids are that (a) he had an unhappy childhood and (b) that kids here have a high risk of suicide. The first is not something I can argue with, the second is simply false. Apart from the cluster of suicides at Palo Alto high schools in 2014, there has not been an elevated rate of suicide among local schoolchildren. Heck, I remember more suicides at my completely mediocre high school in urban New Jersey in the late 90s. It is a shame the author is perpetuating what is essentially an urban legend and a TV pundit talking point. The reality is, any interest my kids want to pursue, they basically have the best possible resources at their fingertips. The robotics team will have a coach who is an award-winning roboticist. If they're into marine ecology or music production or whatever, one of their classmates will have a parent who's a marine ecologist or the sound engineer for Stanford's theater program. Compare that to anywhere else in the country, where basically any hobby or interest your child pursues is limited to, like, the Boy Scouts or hanging out at the old shopping mall.

randompwd 5y ago
You are delusional.