I grew up in the suburbs and I was fine with it. As an adult I prefer city life. I probably would have hated SF as a kid. I've lived in SF for 7 years, and I

I grew up in the suburbs and I was fine with it. As an adult I prefer city life. I probably would have hated SF as a kid. I've lived in SF for 7 years, and I can't think of anything that is more convenient that I would have cared about as a kid. I don't know if its just SF, but it seems very adult oriented. That said, while growing up, the closest mini mall was about 1.5 miles away. Which we would go to because one of the shops had arcade games. I've never lived in a suburb (3 of them) that wasn't 1-1.5 miles from a mini mall. That is easily within biking distance. We didn't spend most of our time there though. We spent most of our time in the hills around us (South San Jose), and on the Baseball fields/Basketball courts at the local elementary school. Or playing baseball with tennis balls in our cul-de-sac. Or digging forts in our backyard. Or riding our skateboards through the streets.