Is suburban living considered a failure?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What a weird question. If I had more money, I’d live by Bethesda, not Rockville. I wouldn’t live in DC proper. I enjoy not getting shot or carjacked

Because of the fentanyl epidemic, most suburban areas are far more dangerous than urban areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the dream for most.

No. Definitely not.

The idea of being forced to drive everywhere, traffic jams, rage in the parking lots, rage on the sidelines of playing fields, rage in lines, racism, HOAs, severing social ties, monotony, etc makes me physically ill.

The parts of my life that would improve by moving to the suburbs are the parts of my life that I wish I could cut out (access to shopping malls, shorter commutes for insane kid's sports, car dealerships).

I think you have issues. Because where does this exist and only in the suburbs? The worst places to live in America are unquestionably poor urban neighborhoods. The worst traffic are in cities. The cries of racism are always in cities

I live in a nice suburban neighborhood and don't have any of your imaginary ills.

[Anonymous]

Very few people want to live in the city. Many are forced to because of jobs and transportation.

Almost 1/2 the nation prefers suburban living.

more love the country than the city,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the dream for most.

No. Definitely not.

The idea of being forced to drive everywhere, traffic jams, rage in the parking lots, rage on the sidelines of playing fields, rage in lines, racism, HOAs, severing social ties, monotony, etc makes me physically ill.

The parts of my life that would improve by moving to the suburbs are the parts of my life that I wish I could cut out (access to shopping malls, shorter commutes for insane kid's sports, car dealerships).

I think you have issues. Because where does this exist and only in the suburbs? The worst places to live in America are unquestionably poor urban neighborhoods. The worst traffic are in cities. The cries of racism are always in cities

I live in a nice suburban neighborhood and don't have any of your imaginary ills.

The PP (not you) is spouting an ideology that he has heard. Modern progressives believe in collectivism, in which we are to live near those in need so we can support and care for them, and they also think we need to all live in close proximity to each other to form community, so we can influence and learn from others. To them choosing to be in one's house around family only and choosing social outlet that are not organic due to proximity are immoral.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the dream for most.

No. Definitely not.

The idea of being forced to drive everywhere, traffic jams, rage in the parking lots, rage on the sidelines of playing fields, rage in lines, racism, HOAs, severing social ties, monotony, etc makes me physically ill.

The parts of my life that would improve by moving to the suburbs are the parts of my life that I wish I could cut out (access to shopping malls, shorter commutes for insane kid's sports, car dealerships).

City dwellers don’t walk everywhere so stop lying
I haven’t been in a traffic jam since the last snow storm or hurricane and that was 5 cars stuck behind a fallen tree
Ever sidelines has crazy parents especially dc united clun, Gonzaga football, Georgetown basketball
More diverse in Germantown Md than most of dc
I have friends from grade school/hs/new neighborhoods/life… more likely to gather every weekend on someone’s deck than at a cramped bar,
Monotony is going to the same places within walking distance which is why you no longer walk everywhere

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the dream for most.

No. Definitely not.

The idea of being forced to drive everywhere, traffic jams, rage in the parking lots, rage on the sidelines of playing fields, rage in lines, racism, HOAs, severing social ties, monotony, etc makes me physically ill.

The parts of my life that would improve by moving to the suburbs are the parts of my life that I wish I could cut out (access to shopping malls, shorter commutes for insane kid's sports, car dealerships).

I think you have issues. Because where does this exist and only in the suburbs? The worst places to live in America are unquestionably poor urban neighborhoods. The worst traffic are in cities. The cries of racism are always in cities

I live in a nice suburban neighborhood and don't have any of your imaginary ills.

The PP (not you) is spouting an ideology that he has heard. Modern progressives believe in collectivism, in which we are to live near those in need so we can support and care for them, and they also think we need to all live in close proximity to each other to form community, so we can influence and learn from others. To them choosing to be in one's house around family only and choosing social outlet that are not organic due to proximity are immoral.

My neighborhood has MPDU’s where families are able to flourish and become homeowners instead of being saddled with public houses in the corner of a city nobody wants to walk through.

[Anonymous]

The thing is, DC generally is a crappy city for public transport unless you live close in (i.e. you're rich and can afford that, especially if you need space for kids) or right near a metro station (also expensive).

While we have an extensive bus system to cover where metro isn't available, the bus system is NOT faster than driving whatsoever.

Moving from DC to the burbs and finding life won't be that different because I had to drive everywhere in DC anyways, especially w/ kids.

[Anonymous]

The issues is that there is a great variety of quality of life in the city but in the suburbs the extremes are not as drastic (but still exist).

The difference in quality of life between the most expensive and least expensive parts of DC is very dramatic. In terms of size of homes, green space, crime, schools, traffic and noise, you name it.

This division also exists in the most and least expensive parts of the DC suburbs but there is a vaster middle ground where you get many of the amenities of the most expensive neighborhoods and can limit things like crime and noise.

Though I also think that the pricier an area gets, the less of a bargain the suburbs offer middle class people. Because the bargain gets pushed further and further out which increases commutes while decreasing access to city amenities. The inner suburbs are becoming unaffordable to the middle class in this area (except for those inner suburbs with the highest crime and lowest school test scores). When people are commuting in from Howard County or Frederick or Loudon, the tradeoffs are more stark. So you have people with decent middle class incomes choosing to stay in the city where at least they get walkability and amenities. If your only other options are SS or PG where crime and schools are about the same or moving much further out, why not just stay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The thing is, DC generally is a crappy city for public transport unless you live close in (i.e. you're rich and can afford that, especially if you need space for kids) or right near a metro station (also expensive).

While we have an extensive bus system to cover where metro isn't available, the bus system is NOT faster than driving whatsoever.

Moving from DC to the burbs and finding life won't be that different because I had to drive everywhere in DC anyways, especially w/ kids.

With kids one thing you discover is that you wind up spending a lot of time in the suburbs anyway because so many kid activities are in the suburbs. I think a major factor that pushes people to the burbs from DC is realizing they are spending every weekend at swim or lacrosse or gymnastics anyway and it's 30 to 40 minute drive from DC but actually if you pick the right suburb it's 15 or 20 minutes tops.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the dream for most.

No. Definitely not.

The idea of being forced to drive everywhere, traffic jams, rage in the parking lots, rage on the sidelines of playing fields, rage in lines, racism, HOAs, severing social ties, monotony, etc makes me physically ill.

The parts of my life that would improve by moving to the suburbs are the parts of my life that I wish I could cut out (access to shopping malls, shorter commutes for insane kid's sports, car dealerships).

I think you have issues. Because where does this exist and only in the suburbs? The worst places to live in America are unquestionably poor urban neighborhoods. The worst traffic are in cities. The cries of racism are always in cities

I live in a nice suburban neighborhood and don't have any of your imaginary ills.

“I’m very happy in the suburbs! Please! Please believe me! I’m in so much debt - I need this!”

Sounds awesome bro.

An endless life of searching for parking, social isolation and crippling debt to keep up with a bunch of vapid losers next door.

So cool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing is, DC generally is a crappy city for public transport unless you live close in (i.e. you're rich and can afford that, especially if you need space for kids) or right near a metro station (also expensive).

While we have an extensive bus system to cover where metro isn't available, the bus system is NOT faster than driving whatsoever.

Moving from DC to the burbs and finding life won't be that different because I had to drive everywhere in DC anyways, especially w/ kids.

With kids one thing you discover is that you wind up spending a lot of time in the suburbs anyway because so many kid activities are in the suburbs. I think a major factor that pushes people to the burbs from DC is realizing they are spending every weekend at swim or lacrosse or gymnastics anyway and it's 30 to 40 minute drive from DC but actually if you pick the right suburb it's 15 or 20 minutes tops.

Liar.

There’s legal requirements that your kids activities are always too far away no matter where you live.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the dream for most.

No. Definitely not.

The idea of being forced to drive everywhere, traffic jams, rage in the parking lots, rage on the sidelines of playing fields, rage in lines, racism, HOAs, severing social ties, monotony, etc makes me physically ill.

The parts of my life that would improve by moving to the suburbs are the parts of my life that I wish I could cut out (access to shopping malls, shorter commutes for insane kid's sports, car dealerships).

City dwellers don’t walk everywhere so stop lying
I haven’t been in a traffic jam since the last snow storm or hurricane and that was 5 cars stuck behind a fallen tree
Ever sidelines has crazy parents especially dc united clun, Gonzaga football, Georgetown basketball
More diverse in Germantown Md than most of dc
I have friends from grade school/hs/new neighborhoods/life… more likely to gather every weekend on someone’s deck than at a cramped bar,
Monotony is going to the same places within walking distance which is why you no longer walk everywhere

Some city dwellers really do walk everywhere. We have one car and only use it once or twice a week and one of those times is for my spouse to commute to a job... in the suburbs. We walk to our kid's school, the grocery store, the library, etc. Also lots of biking and public transportation.

I'm not anti-suburb but we do actually worry that if we moved we'd wind up spending a thousand percent more time in the car. We're trying to find a suburb where this wouldn't be the case as we'd love to have more space and get away from the crime issues but we are never going to come anywhere close to the level of convenience and walkability we have now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The issues is that there is a great variety of quality of life in the city but in the suburbs the extremes are not as drastic (but still exist).

The difference in quality of life between the most expensive and least expensive parts of DC is very dramatic. In terms of size of homes, green space, crime, schools, traffic and noise, you name it.

This division also exists in the most and least expensive parts of the DC suburbs but there is a vaster middle ground where you get many of the amenities of the most expensive neighborhoods and can limit things like crime and noise.

Though I also think that the pricier an area gets, the less of a bargain the suburbs offer middle class people. Because the bargain gets pushed further and further out which increases commutes while decreasing access to city amenities. The inner suburbs are becoming unaffordable to the middle class in this area (except for those inner suburbs with the highest crime and lowest school test scores). When people are commuting in from Howard County or Frederick or Loudon, the tradeoffs are more stark. So you have people with decent middle class incomes choosing to stay in the city where at least they get walkability and amenities. If your only other options are SS or PG where crime and schools are about the same or moving much further out, why not just stay?

Work for a large DC hospital with tons of middle class (nurses, etc) and barely anyone actually lives in DC. Everyone commutes in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the dream for most.

No. Definitely not.

The idea of being forced to drive everywhere, traffic jams, rage in the parking lots, rage on the sidelines of playing fields, rage in lines, racism, HOAs, severing social ties, monotony, etc makes me physically ill.

The parts of my life that would improve by moving to the suburbs are the parts of my life that I wish I could cut out (access to shopping malls, shorter commutes for insane kid's sports, car dealerships).

City dwellers don’t walk everywhere so stop lying
I haven’t been in a traffic jam since the last snow storm or hurricane and that was 5 cars stuck behind a fallen tree
Ever sidelines has crazy parents especially dc united clun, Gonzaga football, Georgetown basketball
More diverse in Germantown Md than most of dc
I have friends from grade school/hs/new neighborhoods/life… more likely to gather every weekend on someone’s deck than at a cramped bar,
Monotony is going to the same places within walking distance which is why you no longer walk everywhere

You’re right, we bicycle a lot too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The issues is that there is a great variety of quality of life in the city but in the suburbs the extremes are not as drastic (but still exist).

The difference in quality of life between the most expensive and least expensive parts of DC is very dramatic. In terms of size of homes, green space, crime, schools, traffic and noise, you name it.

This division also exists in the most and least expensive parts of the DC suburbs but there is a vaster middle ground where you get many of the amenities of the most expensive neighborhoods and can limit things like crime and noise.

Though I also think that the pricier an area gets, the less of a bargain the suburbs offer middle class people. Because the bargain gets pushed further and further out which increases commutes while decreasing access to city amenities. The inner suburbs are becoming unaffordable to the middle class in this area (except for those inner suburbs with the highest crime and lowest school test scores). When people are commuting in from Howard County or Frederick or Loudon, the tradeoffs are more stark. So you have people with decent middle class incomes choosing to stay in the city where at least they get walkability and amenities. If your only other options are SS or PG where crime and schools are about the same or moving much further out, why not just stay?

Work for a large DC hospital with tons of middle class (nurses, etc) and barely anyone actually lives in DC. Everyone commutes in.

Because they can’t afford to. So they get stuck in grim ticky tack developments with subpar construction and get saddled with crippling debt. They should be treated better.