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>>Furthermore I'm currently in a quasi-rural area with gigabit muni fiber, so I don't buy that argument either. Whether there is the political will to build out

>>Furthermore I'm currently in a quasi-rural area with gigabit muni fiber, so I don't buy that argument either. Whether there is the political will to build out modern Internet access or suffer the extractive oligopoly depends entirely on the politics of an area. Our experiences color our views. I grew up in rural towns (<800 people) to cities of 15K people(! :-) ). Lack of services, lack of opportunities (library? yeah - 1 room of books from 1950), wandering in the woods was cool until about 12ish? then it was "yeah, I saw that tree yesterday..", not to mention I'm not sure how many parents these days would be comfortable letting their kids wander around - especially in 'desolate' areas ... Also, these were 'mill towns' so one employer basically employed everyone. I ran as fast as I could when I was 18. oh - and btw, pulling utilities can be quite expensive - 'going a little further' isn't always easy (or even possible). So while a 'quasi-rural' (suburb with larger yards? :-) ) might be your idea of heaven, it doesn't necessarily translate well across the board. In short, what people want/like or what is 'better' is pretty hard to get a consensus on.

mindslight 5y ago
I ran too, from a suburban area calling itself a city to an actual city. And I loved the walk/bike/lightrail restaurant/concert/etc lifestyle. But ultimately if you want to get some relief from the rent treadmill (which includes "buying" shared walls with unreasonably high valuations), you inevitably end up back in less dense areas. Suburbs are certainly not my ideal of "heaven". I feel like I'm being argued with by younger people still in the phase where they're in love with the city, extrapolating my points into general indictments of density. They're most certainly not. All I'm pointing out is that once you're already past needing to drive everywhere, having the space to actually do things and be left alone is much nicer than being packed up on your neighbors.
- mech422 5y ago
  >>I feel like I'm being argued with by younger people still in the phase where they're in love with the city, extrapolating my points into general indictments of density. I'm actually an empty nester, and I took my car off the road like 2 years ago cuz I never use it. I put in a server room, electronics workstation, basic woodworking, and a bunch of 3d printers. Couple that with being in a small 'city' now (500K people) and I really like the balance. Plenty of space in the house (1700 sq ft), no huge yard to maintain, can get pretty much anything delivered, no septic/well to deal with. I'm very happy with how its working out for me. On the other hand, I think I only have a 7500sq ft lot (1700 of it covered by the house), so others would probably consider it small - especially if you want a pool in the backyard.

mindslight 5y ago

I ran too, from a suburban area calling itself a city to an actual city. And I loved the walk/bike/lightrail restaurant/concert/etc lifestyle. But ultimately if you want to get some relief from the rent treadmill (which includes "buying" shared walls with unreasonably high valuations), you inevitably end up back in less dense areas. Suburbs are certainly not my ideal of "heaven". I feel like I'm being argued with by younger people still in the phase where they're in love with the city, extrapolating my points into general indictments of density. They're most certainly not. All I'm pointing out is that once you're already past needing to drive everywhere, having the space to actually do things and be left alone is much nicer than being packed up on your neighbors.

mech422 5y ago
>>I feel like I'm being argued with by younger people still in the phase where they're in love with the city, extrapolating my points into general indictments of density. I'm actually an empty nester, and I took my car off the road like 2 years ago cuz I never use it. I put in a server room, electronics workstation, basic woodworking, and a bunch of 3d printers. Couple that with being in a small 'city' now (500K people) and I really like the balance. Plenty of space in the house (1700 sq ft), no huge yard to maintain, can get pretty much anything delivered, no septic/well to deal with. I'm very happy with how its working out for me. On the other hand, I think I only have a 7500sq ft lot (1700 of it covered by the house), so others would probably consider it small - especially if you want a pool in the backyard.