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My take away is "humans enjoy living in spaces designed to be comfortable for humans". This criterion can be failed in cities and suburbs, though the failed st
by octokatt 3y ago
My take away is "humans enjoy living in spaces designed to be comfortable for humans". This criterion can be failed in cities and suburbs, though the failed state looks like miles of concrete versus... miles of concrete, actually, who thought that was a good idea.
- trgn 3y agoMaybe it's a takeaway, but not the one from the article I believe. The author writes that, because he grew up there, because the "bland" (olive garden, strip mall, ...) suburbs are familiar to him, therefore, he belongs there. I think it's more a lesson about people get used to pretty much anything, even non-descript places like the typical american suburb. It's about how childhood shapes your comfort zone, and you'll carry it with you all your life. (you could write the same article about any place, just change the markers; growing up in kowloon, growing up in a cabin in the woods ...). It's an article about human nature, nostalgia, _not_ about the suburbs or their merits.
- raul-pilla 3y agoReading the first few paragraphs gives a vibe that this is purposefully written to bash on suburbs once more. Your takeaway is correct, as city living can be absolutely terrible, it usually is for most people in most cities, the "answer" lies in the middle of the road between downtown and suburb and the "question" is -- as always -- money. America is in a place where people can actually make it happen as turning a suburb in a 15-min city is much easier than turning an existing city into a livable space that is not a crime-ridden concrete dystopia.