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Where do you live that you can have such a mix of uses in a suburb - and what suburbs are old enough to contain historical sites? I can't imagine you are descri

Where do you live that you can have such a mix of uses in a suburb - and what suburbs are old enough to contain historical sites? I can't imagine you are describing anywhere in the USA... from my California-raised perspective, suburbs are a largely post-WWII creation: sprawling miles of relatively recent construction, with residential, retail, and commercial purposes all so strictly separated that there is virtually no reason to leave one's house by foot. There were coffee shops, bars, restaurants, and the occasional movie theater among the suburbs I grew up in, sure, but they were all spread out and far away, tucked into little strip malls along the main roads - not really part of the neighborhoods people lived in.

pcl 4y ago
There are many types of suburbs in the US (and worldwide, of course). I grew up partly in a suburb of New York. The towns around there date back 300 to 400 years, and feel like it. There are walkable town centers with coffee shops and train stations etc. I also spent a few years in a suburb of Dallas. It was considerably newer, and wedged between a couple of highways. Everything depended on cars. As I’ve moved around, I’ve seen lots of other points on the suburban spectrum. But for sure, the connotations of “suburb” are nearly uselessly vast.
- marssaxman 4y ago
  I suppose that while geographers define "suburbs" in terms of their proximity to a larger metropolitan area, the "suburban" quality I actually care about is the urban form characterized by sprawling, auto-dependent, single-family development.
  - pcl 4y ago
    Well, just be aware that others might conjure up an entirely different picture in their head when you use the term.
- jjav 4y ago
  > But for sure, the connotations of “suburb” are nearly uselessly vast. Yes. From past HN threads, I've come to realize that "suburb" is so undefined that it can mean pretty much anything. We all agree Manhattan isn't a suburb and that remote agricultural land isn't a suburb either. But aside from those, everything else in between is someone's definition of suburb. So it's difficult to talk about it as it could mean any kind of place between those extremes.
deleted 4y ago
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RhysU 4y ago
My silly little town in NJ is 300 years old.

pcl 4y ago

There are many types of suburbs in the US (and worldwide, of course). I grew up partly in a suburb of New York. The towns around there date back 300 to 400 years, and feel like it. There are walkable town centers with coffee shops and train stations etc. I also spent a few years in a suburb of Dallas. It was considerably newer, and wedged between a couple of highways. Everything depended on cars. As I’ve moved around, I’ve seen lots of other points on the suburban spectrum. But for sure, the connotations of “suburb” are nearly uselessly vast.

marssaxman 4y ago
I suppose that while geographers define "suburbs" in terms of their proximity to a larger metropolitan area, the "suburban" quality I actually care about is the urban form characterized by sprawling, auto-dependent, single-family development.
- pcl 4y ago
  Well, just be aware that others might conjure up an entirely different picture in their head when you use the term.
jjav 4y ago
> But for sure, the connotations of “suburb” are nearly uselessly vast. Yes. From past HN threads, I've come to realize that "suburb" is so undefined that it can mean pretty much anything. We all agree Manhattan isn't a suburb and that remote agricultural land isn't a suburb either. But aside from those, everything else in between is someone's definition of suburb. So it's difficult to talk about it as it could mean any kind of place between those extremes.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

RhysU 4y ago

My silly little town in NJ is 300 years old.