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City life is fine when you're young or just have a very "busy" lifestyle. I myself didn't care for it much. When you have kids and they start growing up, you ev

City life is fine when you're young or just have a very "busy" lifestyle. I myself didn't care for it much. When you have kids and they start growing up, you eventually long for them to experience a slower pace of life, spend long days exploring a forest that rarely sees children stomping through it, and just generally take in some relative peace and quiet. If you're fortunate and work hard (both are necessary), you may be able to afford a few acres of trees that you can call your own and have a little bit of space to spread out in and enjoy before your short time on the planet nears its conclusion. At least, that is my experience so far, YMMV.

wolverine876 3y ago
Another factor for people who go suburban to raise families is that it's more affordable, at a time when they have a major expense.
anon291 3y ago
The vast majority of suburbanites live nowhere near a 'forest'. Take Orange County, CA, or the Inland Empire. Suburb central... not a forest in sight. Meanwhile, I live in Inner Portland (like 1.5 miles from downtown) and my kids just went to an actual forest for their morning 'forest school'. Part of the problem with many American suburbs is that they're not dense enough, thus not leaving any room for nature. Portland is a much more centralized city, and things are easier to get to. A forest enclave is a few minutes drive / train ride, and the actual forest that is a pretty much continuous ring to Alaska and the Northern portions of Canada is about an 45 minute drive. Growing up in Southern California a 45 minute drive in suburbia leads you to ... more suburbia. Meanhwhile, in concentrated Portland, a 45-minute drive from the inner city leads you to... empty land. It's a very different experience. We get the best of both worlds. My kids can walk / bike to their activities; we're smack dab next to world-class museums and zoos and cultural events; and the kids get to enjoy ample time in the wilds exploring. Why anyone would choose a typical suburb over this, I cannot comprehend. The only reason that makes the most sense for me is cost. I agree living in the city can be more expensive due to the dearth of housing. Completely understand that. However, if we built it up more, it would be fine. Portland feels empty most of the time anyway. Even before COVID / protests, it still felt pretty empty, and it's in the top 25 US metros for population, so most people are going to be living in less populated areas.
- idixbebr 3y ago
  [flagged]
rdedev 3y ago
In the state where I grew up in India there were places that were pretty dense and what you would call urban like (more apartments, buildings less trees etc.) I grew up in a more suburban area compared to that. It was more of single family homes. Comparing the place I grew up with to the suburban areas I see in USA the biggest difference is accessibility. Near my home I could find a place to eat out or buy groceries. It's very hard to find such places in suburban USA and I think a lot of it just comes down to zoning

wolverine876 3y ago

Another factor for people who go suburban to raise families is that it's more affordable, at a time when they have a major expense.

anon291 3y ago

The vast majority of suburbanites live nowhere near a 'forest'. Take Orange County, CA, or the Inland Empire. Suburb central... not a forest in sight. Meanwhile, I live in Inner Portland (like 1.5 miles from downtown) and my kids just went to an actual forest for their morning 'forest school'. Part of the problem with many American suburbs is that they're not dense enough, thus not leaving any room for nature. Portland is a much more centralized city, and things are easier to get to. A forest enclave is a few minutes drive / train ride, and the actual forest that is a pretty much continuous ring to Alaska and the Northern portions of Canada is about an 45 minute drive. Growing up in Southern California a 45 minute drive in suburbia leads you to ... more suburbia. Meanhwhile, in concentrated Portland, a 45-minute drive from the inner city leads you to... empty land. It's a very different experience. We get the best of both worlds. My kids can walk / bike to their activities; we're smack dab next to world-class museums and zoos and cultural events; and the kids get to enjoy ample time in the wilds exploring. Why anyone would choose a typical suburb over this, I cannot comprehend. The only reason that makes the most sense for me is cost. I agree living in the city can be more expensive due to the dearth of housing. Completely understand that. However, if we built it up more, it would be fine. Portland feels empty most of the time anyway. Even before COVID / protests, it still felt pretty empty, and it's in the top 25 US metros for population, so most people are going to be living in less populated areas.

idixbebr 3y ago
[flagged]

rdedev 3y ago

In the state where I grew up in India there were places that were pretty dense and what you would call urban like (more apartments, buildings less trees etc.) I grew up in a more suburban area compared to that. It was more of single family homes. Comparing the place I grew up with to the suburban areas I see in USA the biggest difference is accessibility. Near my home I could find a place to eat out or buy groceries. It's very hard to find such places in suburban USA and I think a lot of it just comes down to zoning