5 ms·
I think you're touching on really common mistake a lot of new urbanists make, and the linked article generally is about. The problem is there's a lot of demand
by harpersealtako 5y ago
I think you're touching on really common mistake a lot of new urbanists make, and the linked article generally is about. The problem is there's a lot of demand for dense neighborhoods but not enough supply -- not that suburbs and rural developments are objectively bad or that nobody actually prefers them. In many cases certain interests, hobbies, preferences and lifestyles are completely incompatible with the dense developments preferred by certain opinionated urban planners.
New Urbanists should focus on "why dense neighborhoods are good" over "why suburbs/car-oriented neighborhoods are bad", because they probably need the support of all of us suburb-loving car-driving folks in the first place, and a lot of us interpret criticism of car-driving and suburban living as a heavy-handed attack on our way of life rather than as a reasonable argument for having affordable options for both lifestyles.
- schwartzworld 5y agoThere are people who actually like the suburbs? It's the worst of all worlds.
- stackedinserter 5y agoWell, I do like to live in my suburban house. At least I like it more than living in apartments in "dense neighbourhood", where I grew up. I have parks, playgrounds, a grocery store, school for my kids, convenience stores, fast food places, a pet store, a booze store, even two cannabis dispensaries in 600m radius. I have a huge tech park with tons of jobs in 10 minutes of cycling. I'm happy here. Why would I need to move anywhere? For what?
- schwartzworld 5y agoInteresting. I grew up in suburbia and hated it.
- ikrenji 5y agosounds like the dream tbh. cities are overrated
- harpersealtako 5y agoThe plurality of Americans do, even (and especially) those with the means to afford dense, walkable urban life. I don't see why this should be a surprise to anybody to be honest.
- dragonwriter 5y agoI dunno, the really rich tend to be attracted to cities more then the merely moderately rich. I think its possible that you are just working with a too low assessment of what really affording dense urban life looks like. Once you get into the realm where you can afford as much space as a generous suburban home but in a dense urban environment,...
- harpersealtako 5y agoThe really rich have city homes sure. But they also have beachside cabins and vacation homes in rural and suburban areas, so they can enjoy both worlds. If you're still in the realm of merely moderately rich mortals who can't own both a penthouse apartment and a generously large villa in the suburbs, you'll have to choose one or the other -- and in most cases in America, they'll choose the suburban home.
- Karrot_Kream 5y ago> a lot of us interpret criticism of car-driving and suburban living as a heavy-handed attack on our way of life rather than as a reasonable argument for having affordable options for both lifestyles It's just folks punching up. The vast majority of the US is zoned for the car. It's really difficult to find a place that allows a car-free or even a low-car lifestyle. People would react a lot differently if there actually were multiple cities that allowed these lifestyles.
- harpersealtako 5y agoI don't disagree, I just think that being anti-suburb is a less efficient strategy for fixing the problem than being pro-density.