![]() There’s also other problems like environmental and health issues, tied to suburban living. The other comments about redlining, segregation, and less transportation access are also true. There is also a huge lack in variety due to government subsidies towards “safe” and particular styles of houses. However, a lot of american suburbs are not designed or implemented with anything in mind other than developer profit. The original idea of suburban life includes access to the outdoors, and had a lot to do with escaping unhealthy cramped living conditions. Well implemented and designed suburbs can and in many places are beautiful, wonderful places to live. People spend a lot of time cooped up in their houses or milling about their yards. A lot of suburbs don't even have sidewalks, so there's not a lot of outside activity and it's difficult to form communities or have spontaneous interactions. And because you're expected to drive, these places are surrounded by big, ugly, wasteful parking lots. This means you have to drive to go shopping, get to work, go to school, go to a restaurant, go to the park, etc. Land use is strictly separated, so residential areas are built far away from commercial areas. It's impossible to walk or cycle anywhere in many US suburbs and public transit is often nonexistent, so owning a car, with all the danger and expense that entails, becomes a necessity. The result was a pattern of development that promotes sedentary lifestyles, encourages unsustainable consumption, increases social atomization, limits economic opportunity, and is extremely costly to maintain. These policies were designed to to stimulate the economy and to constrain the market to only good investments (they also heavily segregated the population and are a major contributor to generational inequality between white people and minority groups in the US). These suburbs were developed according to strict government policies implemented during the Great Depression. This subreddit is mostly focused on American (US) suburbs that were built after automobiles became widely available. Or you can watch this video if you'd prefer. This article breaks down why suburbia sucks.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |