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At least in the U.S. (and likely elsewhere) the design of the suburbs encourages neighborhoods with individual houses and very little walk able space (occasiona

At least in the U.S. (and likely elsewhere) the design of the suburbs encourages neighborhoods with individual houses and very little walk able space (occasionally there are sidewalks or parks in the richer areas, but developments may be large and they're not evenly spaced throughout). Exclusionary zoning in the U.S. has also reduced the number of "third spaces" (coffee shops, malls, grocery stores, barber shops, etc. where people congregate and meet) near or in neighborhoods. This means fewer chance encounters since you have to plan to both go out in a car to meet. You have to find a friend then say "let's go get drinks at 13:00 across town at this place" instead of just happening to walk into the small neighborhood grocery and seeing each other. It's even worse in the exurbs where large housing developments have been created with no amenities nearby, sometimes within upwards of an hour drive! There are a number of good books on how the built environment affects our social life, if you're interested. It's not specifically about suburbs but "Palaces for the People" by Eric Klinenberg is one of my favorites that covers a lot of this sort of thing.

randomdata 2y ago
What makes that different from rural areas, where social communities thrive?
- SamWhited 2y ago
  It likely depends on the rural area. In the middle of North East GA where I grew up, it's about the same, social isolation is becoming a huge problem because you're forced to drive long distances and plan ahead to meet with people. In another small town right up the street they have a thriving main street area and the housing is mostly built around that with the exception of outlying farms. It's a smaller town, but chances are you can walk over to the square and everything you need is right there, so they have a much more vibrant feeling town even though it's smaller. I'm not expert though, that's just my suspicion for why they're different having grown up in the area.
  - randomdata 2y ago
    > social isolation is becoming a huge problem It is interesting that you say it is becoming a problem. Why was it not a problem in a past? > It's a smaller town Towns are usually considered urban. I was imagining actual, by definition, rural. Living in a small town (~2,000 people) right now, I'd say it has less of a social community that the rural areas I've lived in previously. Still nothing that should leave you feeling isolated, but there is certainly less of a "automatically friends with everyone" vibe. Granted, my rural experience is strictly in agricultural areas where everyone are farmers, which gives common ground on which to "automatically" become friends. If nothing else, you can talk about farming. Is that the problem with the suburbs? That the people there can't find common ground on which to build friendships?
    - mdgrech23 2y ago
      [flagged]
    - cinntaile 2y ago
      > It is interesting that you say it is becoming a problem. Why was it not a problem in a past? You couldn't live that far apart since there were no roads or cars that allowed for this.
      - randomdata 2y ago
        Roads have been around for several hundred years or more, along with public transportation (trains were commonplace in rural areas in the past), and the car has been the primary mode of transportation for about a century. After all that time, why is this still becoming a big problem?
      - flir 2y ago
        A terraced street in London can have a metric boat-load of social isolation and no cars. I don't think it's (necessarily) the car or the literal distance between houses. At the very least, it's a multi-faceted problem.

randomdata 2y ago

What makes that different from rural areas, where social communities thrive?

SamWhited 2y ago
It likely depends on the rural area. In the middle of North East GA where I grew up, it's about the same, social isolation is becoming a huge problem because you're forced to drive long distances and plan ahead to meet with people. In another small town right up the street they have a thriving main street area and the housing is mostly built around that with the exception of outlying farms. It's a smaller town, but chances are you can walk over to the square and everything you need is right there, so they have a much more vibrant feeling town even though it's smaller. I'm not expert though, that's just my suspicion for why they're different having grown up in the area.
- randomdata 2y ago
  > social isolation is becoming a huge problem It is interesting that you say it is becoming a problem. Why was it not a problem in a past? > It's a smaller town Towns are usually considered urban. I was imagining actual, by definition, rural. Living in a small town (~2,000 people) right now, I'd say it has less of a social community that the rural areas I've lived in previously. Still nothing that should leave you feeling isolated, but there is certainly less of a "automatically friends with everyone" vibe. Granted, my rural experience is strictly in agricultural areas where everyone are farmers, which gives common ground on which to "automatically" become friends. If nothing else, you can talk about farming. Is that the problem with the suburbs? That the people there can't find common ground on which to build friendships?
  - mdgrech23 2y ago
    [flagged]
  - cinntaile 2y ago
    > It is interesting that you say it is becoming a problem. Why was it not a problem in a past? You couldn't live that far apart since there were no roads or cars that allowed for this.
    - randomdata 2y ago
      Roads have been around for several hundred years or more, along with public transportation (trains were commonplace in rural areas in the past), and the car has been the primary mode of transportation for about a century. After all that time, why is this still becoming a big problem?
    - flir 2y ago
      A terraced street in London can have a metric boat-load of social isolation and no cars. I don't think it's (necessarily) the car or the literal distance between houses. At the very least, it's a multi-faceted problem.