European Is Shocked To Learn How American Suburbs Work, Goes Online To Ask Some Accurate Questions
Ah, the great American suburbs. Nothing better than being confined to a neighborhood where all the houses look exactly the same, and the closest stores are 2 miles away. (And don’t forget that you have to drive to them because there are no sidewalks or bike lanes…) While I have never experienced living in a suburb myself, I’ve visited the cookie cutter communities many times. However, for many people outside of the United States, the concept of suburbs can be mind boggling.
Last week, a suburb discussion was sparked on Twitter after a Slovakian Reddit user watched a video about these confusing American neighborhoods then reached out to the Urban Planning subreddit to get some answers. Below, you can read the questions that were raised about US suburbs, as well as some responses to the queries from other Twitter users. Then we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments down below: have you ever lived in an American suburb or are they a bizarre foreign concept to you too?
This urban planner sparked an interesting discussion on Twitter after finding the following questions about American suburbs posed by a confused Slovakian on Reddit
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Image credits: LUrbaniste
While versions of suburbs do exist in many countries, the United States is unique in the layout of its suburbs and how much of the nation resides in them. According to the Pew Research Center, as of 2018, 55% of Americans lived in the suburbs. They’re not all the same across the country, though. Politically, the suburbs are evenly divided overall, with certain areas leaning more Democratic or Republican. In New England, for example, 57% of suburbanites tend to vote left. Meanwhile, in the East South Central region (including Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky and Tennessee) 56% of voters identify as Republicans. The suburbs are also growing, particularly with older Americans. The 65-and-older population in the suburbs has increased 39% since 2000.
Though they may be famous for their perfectly manicured lawns, the suburbs are not all white picket fences and smiles. In 2016, suburban communities were found to have the highest “drug overdose fatality rate of any community type” in the US. And about one third of all suburbanites report that drug addiction is a major issue in their communities. One reason for the prevalence of addiction in suburbs may be the isolation people often feel being surrounded by almost nothing but other homes. Being bored is another factor that can lead to people experimenting with drugs, especially youths. Dr. Keith Humphreys, professor of psychiatry at Stanford University’s School of Medicine, told Modern Healthcare that although people living in suburbs often have better resources available to treat addiction, with most people in these communities being “more educated, [having] better jobs and [living] closer to more healthcare professionals than rural people”, the stigma around addiction can still be powerful. “If they believe that addiction ‘can’t happen here’, they will neglect to screen their patients for substance use as they should and respond appropriately to addiction when they detect it.”
American suburbs are a strange and fascinating concept. While they’re not a monolith, many of them do seem like inefficient uses of space and resources. Perhaps, over time, urban planners can learn a thing or two from countries like Slovakia and shift communities away from being so car dependent and focus more on quality of life. Let us know in the comments what your neighborhood is like in your country and if you think you could ever live in an American suburb!
Many Twitter users have responded agreeing with the absurdity of these suburbs and comparing the US to other countries
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Really scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of “things to pretend are bad in America”. They’re just houses, calm down.
Agreed. They're just houses and I live in one and everything I need is right around the corner. Not a problem.
Do you drive to these places in your car, though? If you ride your bike, how often, and what do you do with your bike?
I love where I live; there is an outdoor mall a ten minute walk from where I live in each direction. But I live in Texas and where I am it's gated communities with shopping centers on every corner. But in the city close by, it's gas stations and cvs's on every corner rather than a whole shopping center. So suburbs are different everywhere.
nobody not where I live bikes very often
Bikes are too dangerous, game teenagers play, Nick the bike. They tap the bike with their cars, no bike lanes
Exactly, what a dumb article...
I live in the suburbs in the us and the closest store (a small convenance store) is 1mile away and the next closest store is about 5 miles away, we're just used to driving cars everywhere
I live in a home, only thing within 2 miles a bar, video game shop (gambling) and a gas station. What we do not have, sidewalks, food nor bus stop. Capital City in our state. ALL due to greed, Ford cars screwed the American people.
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They're not "just houses," the people who live there share a particular mindset. They have been called "sh*tlibs."
I don't think these questions were meant to be, bad things in America necessarily but rather trying understand a different way of life. Honestly my daughter has had similar questions and she has never been out of the United States. No one can deny, most Americans are more private which feeds what looks to be lonely neighborhoods. One more thing, I have lived in the city, countryside and in suburbs. They all have their pluses and minuses.
Yeah but a lot of the responses were self deprecating Americans crying the woe in disparity of, as one person but it, “forced suburbia”. I get tired of hearing Americans to cry everything about America and everything in Europe is just tiptop 100% great.
They would stop crying about it if idiots like you would stop voting to keep it below the rest of the civilized world.
Everything on Fashion Life is negative towards America. It gets really old.
That's the way I took it. Every country is different. Different cultures, etc. I really think this person was just trying to understand these differences. I, myself, have a lot of questions about HOAs.
HOAs can be annoying, but they provide a set of rules that help ensure your house maintains value. I personally don't like them, but I can understand why other people do.
too bad simply looking at the positives won't make the negatives quietly go away, eh?
No it's just easier to see those things from the outside .. of course there are similar things in Europe looking weird to Americans. I have sat in traffic to work many times thinking when did this become normal each person sitting in a 2 to 4 ton tin can wasting fossil fuel during an hour of commute...every day. Nobody questions it.
"It's not really that bad in America, the internet skews a lot." "It's literally that bad in America."
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Lots of people question it, it's just such a dumb question, nobody bothers answering it.
Thanks for reminding me, soaker hose. I don't want to live near stupid people either.
I disagree... These questions are pretending it's bad. They're pointing out that they are literally bad. They exist to segregate classes, increase the fuel industry while decreasing community/development/public transport. They increase peoples inability to access necessities in a timely manner. Etc. Those questions literally make sense because American suburbs are literally incapable of self sustaining themselves
I agree. If the suburbs don't suit you, you can live in the city or more urbane area alongside businesses. Also, many people like their lawns just the way they are abs kids don't play with grass. That's what toys, swingsets, athletic equipment etc is for. Most people that move to suburbs do so for the yards and the distance from business traffic. This is a bunch of hogwash.
I prefer to live where there are large spaces between homes, no businesses except people having fruit or veggies stands or egg stands, homemade soaps-no ugly stores or loud bars. Peace, quiet, and privacy. Lots of space for my kids to run, and lots of other kids doing the same. I’ve lived in apartment complexes and apartment houses where my kids had to share their yard space-kids from other houses would destroy our kids outdoor toys, heavy older kids would use my little kids’ swing set without permission, they’d uncover the sandbox when we weren’t home and peoples outdoor cats would poop in it (and in our veggie gardens). Kids would dig up the veggies our kids proudly planted as soon as it germinated. I think they’d wait for us to not be home to do this. More than once they used our hose and got everything wet (increased water bill!). Cops would have to be called from loud music at 1am-not just normal but LOUD waking babies and kids, and people who work. I’d prefer a suburb with fence.
It's literally not hogwash.
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Hogwash? Calm down Karen. Go turn on your oxygen tank and fix news
It's the usual gaw everything in America equals bad?!? I wish we could put a disclaimer on any of these types of posts that the poster represents no one other than himself. Cities, towns and suburbs differ all over the country and trying to pretend like any one voice represents the experience of every American is absurd. Plenty of people live in walkable areas with plenty of public transport. Also weird that someone would purposely move into a planned community and have an issue with it; there's a problem there but it's probably you.
The only problem America has is that there are too many people in the country that we don't want to live next to. I'm white, but I'm not talking about racial prejudice. Living next to a respectable minority family is the least of my worries. I'm talking about moral values, law-abiding, and perhaps economic values. I don't want to live near any: drug addicts, drug gang members, criminals, or other lowlife; or "good ol' boy" rednecks or other white trailer trash. If I could be assured that those kind people wouldn't be in my neighborhood, I could gladly live anywhere. I think that is true about all of us. We just don't want to have to deal with the systemic social problems that America has right now, and living in the suburbs gives us a way to avoid it. I do wish that they would be more progressive. I would appreciate more public transportation, just so I wouldn't have to face my daily commute every day. And it would be better for our environment - not to have so many cars on the road.
You do realize the article did state it was found drug abuse and overdose is prevalent in suburban communities often right? I get it though. I've lived city life 80% of my life and you tend to be reminded of America's societal failings daily here.
It sounds to me like you're part of the social problems that you decry. I think that you need to get out of your bubble and grow some compassion. It's all about "me" with you, which is a huge contributing factor in our society.
Literally wanting to preserve your privilege.
Still those weird hoods with the blatant disadvantages cited above exist, and I suppose there are many... But you are right, it should be claimed somewhere this isn't the only way American suburbs are like. It actually was - although the final message of this article hits a bit as you describe... And yes, your argument "if you don't like it move elsewhere" has something to it. But, let's hope their ideal living ("suburbia without the crazy HOA and with buses") is possible to be made reality without much extra cost... (I'm not American and sorry for my English)
Personally I am glad this article exists. I never thought a place on earth existed where people live in big agglomeration like the suburbs and there's no convenience store within walking distance, a Cafe, a restaurant or even bus stops, or even more important, clinics and or/hospital. That's mind blowing to me. How do the elderly live? How do people go shopping? Is car required to exist there? I have so many questions! In any other country housing in such an area would be so devalued. Main focus for housing value is how close it is to basic necessities and from my understanding, suburbs there have none of that? It's like living in the country side with none of the perks of country side but all the issues..!
Cars are required to live here,yes. You drive to the store. Maybe 10 minutes drive. My old neighborhood had a convenience store within walking distance, and that neighborhood is about 7 miles from my current one. There's transportation services for the elderly to get to the doctor, but they kinda suck. I have a vegetable garden. The kids use the grass as a playing surface, soccer and baseball, running in the sprinkler when it's hot. I like it because I can't hear my neighbors on the other side of the wall, but I do see and talk to them when I'm outside. Privacy when I want it, social opportunity when I want that too. It's a luxury to have this space.I grew up in an apartment in the city, I don't think I could go back to the crowded noise. But true country life us isolating. This is a happy medium
We use our car. Elderly are helped by others. You need a car in winter anyway or if you have kids and babies and groceries. You can’t carry that by hand. The bus was ok when I was young and it was only me and maybe one bag-but even then it was very unpleasant you never knew who would sit next to you when it got full-a smelly, crazy weirdo who might follow you home? A pickpocket? The fights that would happen even on the bus-it’s just not safe or good for kids. You also have to live by the bus schedule and route. I like the freedom of our own vehicle to go where we want, when we want. We go shopping by getting into by getting into the van and driving the 5-10 minutes to the grocery store downtown-or maybe even up the street if you live on the far far ends of Main Street (that’s us-it doesn’t feel like main st which is nice!) I used to live in a more “convenient” area as people see it-but I would NEVER go back to that. I’ll take driving 2 hrs for the Walmart for the peace we have.
Why would I want to cluster around those places? I can get to a hospital in fifteen minutes, a store in five or so minutes. My elderly relative lived in her own home alone after her husband died, and that is how she wanted it. We like our space and our gardens and less people sticking their noses into our business.
It seems to me if an American approached an issue this way, they would be called ignorant and stupid. Yet Europeans can act willfully dim on such an easy thing to understand, all for the purpose of saying, "If it's not like how we do it, it's bad." It's ultimately just a continuance of an attitude of arrogance and superiority that is so common from a European. In reality, it is simply close-mindedness and small thinking that allows you to be so dismissive of American differences.
No, they just mock out s**t hole country for being slaves to corporations and putting the beauty of houses before our own people. As they should.
If you can't see the irony in your comment there's no hope for you.
Now this sounds like an answer, thank you. (The advantage of living in the countryside in Europe over the American suburb is still though that you can survive even without a car. It's not much great but it's possible. And we are allowed to grow damn plants on soil we own...(there probably isn't a place where this wouldn't be possible, I mean.))
It's not scrapping the barrel. You should look at this zoning in the US, the answers do get some clues (you seem not to have read those). This thing in the US is definitely pretty bad.
Tell that to the food crisis, water crises, climate change, obesity, lack of housing in some areas. All things that are affected by how we plan and manage communities
Yeah, it is sort of a silly article. Most people find suburbs a desirable place to live-- all the conveniences of living in the big city without all the hassle of partiers, crime, traffic, and other things you would find while living in the city.
But the convenience of living in the big city IS the urban life, lots of cafés and bars, public transportation and not needing a car to get around, lots of shopping possibilities including the obscure small shops in in side streets...
Shopping ain't all it's cracked up to be. I like to get in, get what I need, and get out and go home. I don't need lots of shopping possibilities.
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Yeah... White people to get away from minorities... It's literally why they were developed
Black and Hispanic people love the suburbs too! Decent ones do. I am Puerto Rican, brown skin and all! My relatives all bought single family homes in the suburbs and they are content living there, and growing veggies in the fenced in yard. My own household chose to move to rural Aroostook County, Maine. There may not be many people of my own culture up there but that has never mattered to me (honestly they don’t like the cold, don’t like change, and don’t adapt to new cultures well) but I am more open minded and moved up here. Loving the Acadian culture and the ability to cross into Canada daily if I want. I love driving around and seeing cows on green hills instead of apartments and stores. Used to live in Massachusetts and it was a nightmare. We have the stores we need near center of town anyone can drive 5 min when they need to get stuff-but at home you can relax and kids play in fenced in yard. My point is-it’s not White people getting away from minorities-it’s decent hard working people (of any race or nationality) wanting to live in a decent place and have a peaceful quiet life. Oh and there are a few fellow Puerto Ricans up here and one PR family owns the one tattoo shop-they have done well and are important in our small town of 3,000. They came up after Maria and were welcomed-people gave furniture and helped them get established-now they run a successful business.
Did you just insinuate that minorities are responsible for crime in big cities??? Just wanna make sure I understand your point.
Didn't sound like it to me. Perhaps you wrote something in your mind that wasn't there?
Actually, no. My area of the suburbs has seven houses, three white families, three black, and one is vacant for now. We used to have some nice Mexicans who lived on the street back behind our house on the other side of the woods. One of our dogs loved to go visit them.
Things ARE bad in America. Take off your rose colored boomer glasses and look around. These are all valid points.
I’m a millennial and I’ve lived in the crowded areas with business and now a rural area-rural and suburban beats crowded city. There is a lot wrong with our county but suburban living is not it-most young families dream of either the suburbs (best for kids) or rural (also great for kids, but fewer other kids to play with). Don’t confuse suburbs with HOAs-those are the ones where you pay a fee to have everything controlled.
Thank you for understanding. Finally. Someone from another country (I’m guessing from the Britain flag on the username) understands.
But the economic impact of these houses is imo quite severe, so much so they have led to some cities going bankrupt. I strongly recomend watching Not just bikes’ Strong Town series.
You really have never heard of an HOA have you.
Only a fool or a Karen would love ve under a HOA. 😄 Thank God HOAs are few and far between.
Amen to that. HOAs are textbook Communism at work.
Do you not know what communism is?
I regret so much I am too young I can't compare the Communism here with the today's reality (as presented by the internet) of for example America....
FOH. literally nothing to do with communism
Tell me you don't understand communism without telling me you don't understand communism.
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Californian, born and raised, and even I am amazed that people can be talked into forming/joining an HOA. I don't think the organizers of such things even have good intentions, considering the petty, self-important dictators that gravitate to these positions of "power". They might pitch the idea as something that will be beneficial for all, but, on the inside, they're just salivating at the chance to tell other people what to do. There's a lot of embezzling that goes on, too.
I don't think you understood the article.
They aren't though, are they. They're empty lots with empty buildings on them, inhabited by empty people with empty hearts. Full wallets though, and that is the point. This is the housing version of manspreading, and enforcing compliance with this callous lawnspreading on others through a HOA should come with the occasional ribbing on social media, to remind these entitled princesses they have done nothing for their species meriting a palacial estate.
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Its poor design and planning, we need to be building and zoning up, not outward. You rural bumpkins really don't know what's best.
Up yours, bumpkin
I love how you are so stupid the only comeback you had was something a second grader would come up with. "I know you are but what am I?"
I’ve lived in a crowded area and it was a nightmare-try living somewhere nice and rural and tell me you would then want to go back to living with neighbors messing with your kids stuff-cops having to stop criminals-hearing domestic violence-hearing kids get smacked and then wailing-your plants getting dug up-having to see people’s garbage and hoards building up in their windows and yards attracting pests to everyone’s property…that’s a nightmare! Now I can make my breakfast and eat it on the porch under my hanging flower basket-sit on the porch swing-grow veggies with my kids-send them to the backyard to play while I clean, even my 2 year old because it’s fenced and and as safe as any other room inside my house. My neighbor is friendly and has pretty flowers and little figurines on her front porch. My kids pick flowers for her and say hello. I push my baby on the swing. My daughter does homework on the trampoline. We make s’mores and grill hotdogs. It’s wonderful.
HOAs are Karen breeding grounds. I'd never live in an area with one if there was any other choice.
First rule of house hunting to our realtor was do NOT show us ANY homes with an HOA!
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A dozen drive thrus of the ghetto with the windows rolled up and doors locked, gingerly stepping over broken paving and urine puddles, and you were skipping up to the gates of a secured community like Dorothy and Toto
Our current house is around 70 years old and the other house is being built on vacant land less than a quarter mile from Lake Erie. No developments, no HOA's.
Karen breeding grounds! I love it! It's a prerequisite for each block to have a karen to keep things lively. This is why I live in New Hampshire in a rural area. 5 + acres, flower gardens, deer in the back yard. Lawns prevent soil erosion.
I tried finding a place with no HOA when I moved. There wasn't one. Every frickin neighborhood.
But not every house. I bought a house in a HOA neighborhood that was specifically excluded from the HOA, so no fees, no rules, etc. It's also twice the size of the other houses, and the land alone accounts for about 25% of the entire community.
It depends on the style of hoa. For instance our takes care of all the yard work, security and the pools and walking paths. There are no arbitrary landscaping rules because its all covered by the hoa itself.
No it doesn't though, all it takes is for a few controlling neighbors to tke over the board and your toast. Next thing you know, some jerk is measuring your grass, sending you notices that the Christmas lights you put up are too "colorful" and another one demanding you park your car in the garage at night under penalty of a fine if you dont. Ask me how I know. I moved into one that had 2 requirements, keep the yard clean and house in good condition. When I sold my house, there was a booklet of what was "allowed", "not allowed" and ANY alteration needed to be approved by the board.
I feel sorry for you. That kind of overlord control should be illegal. HOAs should NOT be able to fine anyone as if they were the police. What's stopping them from going further? Americans, of all people, should understand the consequences of when we give up our rights to anyone.
Not only can you be fined by an HOA, they can force the sale of your home to pay the fines and/or HOA dues. At least in Virginia.
That's called a lien. Anyone you owe money to can sue you and if you don't pay the judge will force the sale of your home to pay what you owe. That's not an HOA-specific thing.
Many people move into landscape controlled hoas for the one reason that they hate doing yard work. I personally would love to never mow my yard again and thats why im in an hoa like this. But plenty of people like the outdoors and dont understand this mindset. Both ways are fine, the main problems arise from people who join an hoa sign the contract then try to ignore the legally binding rules they signed no matter how dumb they think they are. A signed contract is a signed contract.
You'd think so, but we have heard far more about Johnny Depp and Amber Heard than the overturning of Roe v Wade.
Not necessarily, in many hoas not every rule can be changed even by a unanimous board ruling. For instance the lanscaping, security, solar panel, pool maintenance rules in our hoa requires a 98% for vote of every owner in the complex. We have 500 homes so any change to the basic tenants requires a full bosrd aproval and a yes votes from 490 of the 500 homes.
How nice of them...a book of ways to p**s off hoa bullies...saves me the time of thinkin up something on my own...lol
The irony is that these people decrying the result of these HOAs in suburbs are liberal urbanites. But an HOA is nothing more than a democratic government done at small scale. I'm not a fan of HOAs for the same reason I don't like an unnecessarily controlling government.
The irony is that you actually believe that tripe.
Honestly wish we had them in my country.... I would seek them out and introduce plant diseases and invasive species, recreationally.
If you live in an area covered by an HOA, you help make the rules. If you do not like them, change them! This is democracy at its best. Go to the meetings and ask questions, complain, and get the majority of homeowners on your side. If you do not like the HOA rules, do not buy a house there.
Anyone who would describe HOAs as "democracy at its best" is not to be taken seriously.
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HOAs: 1) Keep property values up, no wrecked junkers in front yards or ugly swingsets. 2) Maintain the community grounds. 3) Maintain the community resources like swimming pools, athletics facilities, and tennis courts etc. 4) Maintain security and a safer environment.
I live in a very small town in Pennsylvania in the US. I have a rather large yard that's broken up by many large trees, some bearing fruit, a small koi pond, herb gardens, and four large vegetable plots. We walk to the post office and bank, and store sometimes. This doesn't address typical suburbs, though, which I personally don't care for. The US is really a huge country, which does explain the sprawl, somewhat. There are a lot of factors at play which brought about the suburbs.
I live in a Suburb just outside Boston... We have stores and schools etc where you can walk or use other transportation. My property is half surrounded by forest and we have a stream... It's also Conservation Land. Meaning we can only change so much, in order to protect the environment. However I can walk the length of my street (probably 1 mile) and get to the grocery store, banks, CVS, Dunkin's etc. The town I grew up is a DRY town, no liquor stores... The town I live in now (30 min from my childhood house) has one of the biggest Malls in our State. Everywhere is different. I def agree with Tamra!
The chief reason is the automobile and the desire to get away from poorly designed and overcrowded cities. And now, we're paying for it because we're stuck in this way of life.
Really scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of “things to pretend are bad in America”. They’re just houses, calm down.
Agreed. They're just houses and I live in one and everything I need is right around the corner. Not a problem.
Do you drive to these places in your car, though? If you ride your bike, how often, and what do you do with your bike?
I love where I live; there is an outdoor mall a ten minute walk from where I live in each direction. But I live in Texas and where I am it's gated communities with shopping centers on every corner. But in the city close by, it's gas stations and cvs's on every corner rather than a whole shopping center. So suburbs are different everywhere.
nobody not where I live bikes very often
Bikes are too dangerous, game teenagers play, Nick the bike. They tap the bike with their cars, no bike lanes
Exactly, what a dumb article...
I live in the suburbs in the us and the closest store (a small convenance store) is 1mile away and the next closest store is about 5 miles away, we're just used to driving cars everywhere
I live in a home, only thing within 2 miles a bar, video game shop (gambling) and a gas station. What we do not have, sidewalks, food nor bus stop. Capital City in our state. ALL due to greed, Ford cars screwed the American people.
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They're not "just houses," the people who live there share a particular mindset. They have been called "sh*tlibs."
I don't think these questions were meant to be, bad things in America necessarily but rather trying understand a different way of life. Honestly my daughter has had similar questions and she has never been out of the United States. No one can deny, most Americans are more private which feeds what looks to be lonely neighborhoods. One more thing, I have lived in the city, countryside and in suburbs. They all have their pluses and minuses.
Yeah but a lot of the responses were self deprecating Americans crying the woe in disparity of, as one person but it, “forced suburbia”. I get tired of hearing Americans to cry everything about America and everything in Europe is just tiptop 100% great.
They would stop crying about it if idiots like you would stop voting to keep it below the rest of the civilized world.
Everything on Fashion Life is negative towards America. It gets really old.
That's the way I took it. Every country is different. Different cultures, etc. I really think this person was just trying to understand these differences. I, myself, have a lot of questions about HOAs.
HOAs can be annoying, but they provide a set of rules that help ensure your house maintains value. I personally don't like them, but I can understand why other people do.
too bad simply looking at the positives won't make the negatives quietly go away, eh?
No it's just easier to see those things from the outside .. of course there are similar things in Europe looking weird to Americans. I have sat in traffic to work many times thinking when did this become normal each person sitting in a 2 to 4 ton tin can wasting fossil fuel during an hour of commute...every day. Nobody questions it.
"It's not really that bad in America, the internet skews a lot." "It's literally that bad in America."
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Lots of people question it, it's just such a dumb question, nobody bothers answering it.
Thanks for reminding me, soaker hose. I don't want to live near stupid people either.
I disagree... These questions are pretending it's bad. They're pointing out that they are literally bad. They exist to segregate classes, increase the fuel industry while decreasing community/development/public transport. They increase peoples inability to access necessities in a timely manner. Etc. Those questions literally make sense because American suburbs are literally incapable of self sustaining themselves
I agree. If the suburbs don't suit you, you can live in the city or more urbane area alongside businesses. Also, many people like their lawns just the way they are abs kids don't play with grass. That's what toys, swingsets, athletic equipment etc is for. Most people that move to suburbs do so for the yards and the distance from business traffic. This is a bunch of hogwash.
I prefer to live where there are large spaces between homes, no businesses except people having fruit or veggies stands or egg stands, homemade soaps-no ugly stores or loud bars. Peace, quiet, and privacy. Lots of space for my kids to run, and lots of other kids doing the same. I’ve lived in apartment complexes and apartment houses where my kids had to share their yard space-kids from other houses would destroy our kids outdoor toys, heavy older kids would use my little kids’ swing set without permission, they’d uncover the sandbox when we weren’t home and peoples outdoor cats would poop in it (and in our veggie gardens). Kids would dig up the veggies our kids proudly planted as soon as it germinated. I think they’d wait for us to not be home to do this. More than once they used our hose and got everything wet (increased water bill!). Cops would have to be called from loud music at 1am-not just normal but LOUD waking babies and kids, and people who work. I’d prefer a suburb with fence.
It's literally not hogwash.
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Hogwash? Calm down Karen. Go turn on your oxygen tank and fix news
It's the usual gaw everything in America equals bad?!? I wish we could put a disclaimer on any of these types of posts that the poster represents no one other than himself. Cities, towns and suburbs differ all over the country and trying to pretend like any one voice represents the experience of every American is absurd. Plenty of people live in walkable areas with plenty of public transport. Also weird that someone would purposely move into a planned community and have an issue with it; there's a problem there but it's probably you.
The only problem America has is that there are too many people in the country that we don't want to live next to. I'm white, but I'm not talking about racial prejudice. Living next to a respectable minority family is the least of my worries. I'm talking about moral values, law-abiding, and perhaps economic values. I don't want to live near any: drug addicts, drug gang members, criminals, or other lowlife; or "good ol' boy" rednecks or other white trailer trash. If I could be assured that those kind people wouldn't be in my neighborhood, I could gladly live anywhere. I think that is true about all of us. We just don't want to have to deal with the systemic social problems that America has right now, and living in the suburbs gives us a way to avoid it. I do wish that they would be more progressive. I would appreciate more public transportation, just so I wouldn't have to face my daily commute every day. And it would be better for our environment - not to have so many cars on the road.
You do realize the article did state it was found drug abuse and overdose is prevalent in suburban communities often right? I get it though. I've lived city life 80% of my life and you tend to be reminded of America's societal failings daily here.
It sounds to me like you're part of the social problems that you decry. I think that you need to get out of your bubble and grow some compassion. It's all about "me" with you, which is a huge contributing factor in our society.
Literally wanting to preserve your privilege.
Still those weird hoods with the blatant disadvantages cited above exist, and I suppose there are many... But you are right, it should be claimed somewhere this isn't the only way American suburbs are like. It actually was - although the final message of this article hits a bit as you describe... And yes, your argument "if you don't like it move elsewhere" has something to it. But, let's hope their ideal living ("suburbia without the crazy HOA and with buses") is possible to be made reality without much extra cost... (I'm not American and sorry for my English)
Personally I am glad this article exists. I never thought a place on earth existed where people live in big agglomeration like the suburbs and there's no convenience store within walking distance, a Cafe, a restaurant or even bus stops, or even more important, clinics and or/hospital. That's mind blowing to me. How do the elderly live? How do people go shopping? Is car required to exist there? I have so many questions! In any other country housing in such an area would be so devalued. Main focus for housing value is how close it is to basic necessities and from my understanding, suburbs there have none of that? It's like living in the country side with none of the perks of country side but all the issues..!
Cars are required to live here,yes. You drive to the store. Maybe 10 minutes drive. My old neighborhood had a convenience store within walking distance, and that neighborhood is about 7 miles from my current one. There's transportation services for the elderly to get to the doctor, but they kinda suck. I have a vegetable garden. The kids use the grass as a playing surface, soccer and baseball, running in the sprinkler when it's hot. I like it because I can't hear my neighbors on the other side of the wall, but I do see and talk to them when I'm outside. Privacy when I want it, social opportunity when I want that too. It's a luxury to have this space.I grew up in an apartment in the city, I don't think I could go back to the crowded noise. But true country life us isolating. This is a happy medium
We use our car. Elderly are helped by others. You need a car in winter anyway or if you have kids and babies and groceries. You can’t carry that by hand. The bus was ok when I was young and it was only me and maybe one bag-but even then it was very unpleasant you never knew who would sit next to you when it got full-a smelly, crazy weirdo who might follow you home? A pickpocket? The fights that would happen even on the bus-it’s just not safe or good for kids. You also have to live by the bus schedule and route. I like the freedom of our own vehicle to go where we want, when we want. We go shopping by getting into by getting into the van and driving the 5-10 minutes to the grocery store downtown-or maybe even up the street if you live on the far far ends of Main Street (that’s us-it doesn’t feel like main st which is nice!) I used to live in a more “convenient” area as people see it-but I would NEVER go back to that. I’ll take driving 2 hrs for the Walmart for the peace we have.
Why would I want to cluster around those places? I can get to a hospital in fifteen minutes, a store in five or so minutes. My elderly relative lived in her own home alone after her husband died, and that is how she wanted it. We like our space and our gardens and less people sticking their noses into our business.
It seems to me if an American approached an issue this way, they would be called ignorant and stupid. Yet Europeans can act willfully dim on such an easy thing to understand, all for the purpose of saying, "If it's not like how we do it, it's bad." It's ultimately just a continuance of an attitude of arrogance and superiority that is so common from a European. In reality, it is simply close-mindedness and small thinking that allows you to be so dismissive of American differences.
No, they just mock out s**t hole country for being slaves to corporations and putting the beauty of houses before our own people. As they should.
If you can't see the irony in your comment there's no hope for you.
Now this sounds like an answer, thank you. (The advantage of living in the countryside in Europe over the American suburb is still though that you can survive even without a car. It's not much great but it's possible. And we are allowed to grow damn plants on soil we own...(there probably isn't a place where this wouldn't be possible, I mean.))
It's not scrapping the barrel. You should look at this zoning in the US, the answers do get some clues (you seem not to have read those). This thing in the US is definitely pretty bad.
Tell that to the food crisis, water crises, climate change, obesity, lack of housing in some areas. All things that are affected by how we plan and manage communities
Yeah, it is sort of a silly article. Most people find suburbs a desirable place to live-- all the conveniences of living in the big city without all the hassle of partiers, crime, traffic, and other things you would find while living in the city.
But the convenience of living in the big city IS the urban life, lots of cafés and bars, public transportation and not needing a car to get around, lots of shopping possibilities including the obscure small shops in in side streets...
Shopping ain't all it's cracked up to be. I like to get in, get what I need, and get out and go home. I don't need lots of shopping possibilities.
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Yeah... White people to get away from minorities... It's literally why they were developed
Black and Hispanic people love the suburbs too! Decent ones do. I am Puerto Rican, brown skin and all! My relatives all bought single family homes in the suburbs and they are content living there, and growing veggies in the fenced in yard. My own household chose to move to rural Aroostook County, Maine. There may not be many people of my own culture up there but that has never mattered to me (honestly they don’t like the cold, don’t like change, and don’t adapt to new cultures well) but I am more open minded and moved up here. Loving the Acadian culture and the ability to cross into Canada daily if I want. I love driving around and seeing cows on green hills instead of apartments and stores. Used to live in Massachusetts and it was a nightmare. We have the stores we need near center of town anyone can drive 5 min when they need to get stuff-but at home you can relax and kids play in fenced in yard. My point is-it’s not White people getting away from minorities-it’s decent hard working people (of any race or nationality) wanting to live in a decent place and have a peaceful quiet life. Oh and there are a few fellow Puerto Ricans up here and one PR family owns the one tattoo shop-they have done well and are important in our small town of 3,000. They came up after Maria and were welcomed-people gave furniture and helped them get established-now they run a successful business.
Did you just insinuate that minorities are responsible for crime in big cities??? Just wanna make sure I understand your point.
Didn't sound like it to me. Perhaps you wrote something in your mind that wasn't there?
Actually, no. My area of the suburbs has seven houses, three white families, three black, and one is vacant for now. We used to have some nice Mexicans who lived on the street back behind our house on the other side of the woods. One of our dogs loved to go visit them.
Things ARE bad in America. Take off your rose colored boomer glasses and look around. These are all valid points.
I’m a millennial and I’ve lived in the crowded areas with business and now a rural area-rural and suburban beats crowded city. There is a lot wrong with our county but suburban living is not it-most young families dream of either the suburbs (best for kids) or rural (also great for kids, but fewer other kids to play with). Don’t confuse suburbs with HOAs-those are the ones where you pay a fee to have everything controlled.
Thank you for understanding. Finally. Someone from another country (I’m guessing from the Britain flag on the username) understands.
But the economic impact of these houses is imo quite severe, so much so they have led to some cities going bankrupt. I strongly recomend watching Not just bikes’ Strong Town series.
You really have never heard of an HOA have you.
Only a fool or a Karen would love ve under a HOA. 😄 Thank God HOAs are few and far between.
Amen to that. HOAs are textbook Communism at work.
Do you not know what communism is?
I regret so much I am too young I can't compare the Communism here with the today's reality (as presented by the internet) of for example America....
FOH. literally nothing to do with communism
Tell me you don't understand communism without telling me you don't understand communism.
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Californian, born and raised, and even I am amazed that people can be talked into forming/joining an HOA. I don't think the organizers of such things even have good intentions, considering the petty, self-important dictators that gravitate to these positions of "power". They might pitch the idea as something that will be beneficial for all, but, on the inside, they're just salivating at the chance to tell other people what to do. There's a lot of embezzling that goes on, too.
I don't think you understood the article.
They aren't though, are they. They're empty lots with empty buildings on them, inhabited by empty people with empty hearts. Full wallets though, and that is the point. This is the housing version of manspreading, and enforcing compliance with this callous lawnspreading on others through a HOA should come with the occasional ribbing on social media, to remind these entitled princesses they have done nothing for their species meriting a palacial estate.
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Its poor design and planning, we need to be building and zoning up, not outward. You rural bumpkins really don't know what's best.
Up yours, bumpkin
I love how you are so stupid the only comeback you had was something a second grader would come up with. "I know you are but what am I?"
I’ve lived in a crowded area and it was a nightmare-try living somewhere nice and rural and tell me you would then want to go back to living with neighbors messing with your kids stuff-cops having to stop criminals-hearing domestic violence-hearing kids get smacked and then wailing-your plants getting dug up-having to see people’s garbage and hoards building up in their windows and yards attracting pests to everyone’s property…that’s a nightmare! Now I can make my breakfast and eat it on the porch under my hanging flower basket-sit on the porch swing-grow veggies with my kids-send them to the backyard to play while I clean, even my 2 year old because it’s fenced and and as safe as any other room inside my house. My neighbor is friendly and has pretty flowers and little figurines on her front porch. My kids pick flowers for her and say hello. I push my baby on the swing. My daughter does homework on the trampoline. We make s’mores and grill hotdogs. It’s wonderful.
HOAs are Karen breeding grounds. I'd never live in an area with one if there was any other choice.
First rule of house hunting to our realtor was do NOT show us ANY homes with an HOA!
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A dozen drive thrus of the ghetto with the windows rolled up and doors locked, gingerly stepping over broken paving and urine puddles, and you were skipping up to the gates of a secured community like Dorothy and Toto
Our current house is around 70 years old and the other house is being built on vacant land less than a quarter mile from Lake Erie. No developments, no HOA's.
Karen breeding grounds! I love it! It's a prerequisite for each block to have a karen to keep things lively. This is why I live in New Hampshire in a rural area. 5 + acres, flower gardens, deer in the back yard. Lawns prevent soil erosion.
I tried finding a place with no HOA when I moved. There wasn't one. Every frickin neighborhood.
But not every house. I bought a house in a HOA neighborhood that was specifically excluded from the HOA, so no fees, no rules, etc. It's also twice the size of the other houses, and the land alone accounts for about 25% of the entire community.
It depends on the style of hoa. For instance our takes care of all the yard work, security and the pools and walking paths. There are no arbitrary landscaping rules because its all covered by the hoa itself.
No it doesn't though, all it takes is for a few controlling neighbors to tke over the board and your toast. Next thing you know, some jerk is measuring your grass, sending you notices that the Christmas lights you put up are too "colorful" and another one demanding you park your car in the garage at night under penalty of a fine if you dont. Ask me how I know. I moved into one that had 2 requirements, keep the yard clean and house in good condition. When I sold my house, there was a booklet of what was "allowed", "not allowed" and ANY alteration needed to be approved by the board.
I feel sorry for you. That kind of overlord control should be illegal. HOAs should NOT be able to fine anyone as if they were the police. What's stopping them from going further? Americans, of all people, should understand the consequences of when we give up our rights to anyone.
Not only can you be fined by an HOA, they can force the sale of your home to pay the fines and/or HOA dues. At least in Virginia.
That's called a lien. Anyone you owe money to can sue you and if you don't pay the judge will force the sale of your home to pay what you owe. That's not an HOA-specific thing.
Many people move into landscape controlled hoas for the one reason that they hate doing yard work. I personally would love to never mow my yard again and thats why im in an hoa like this. But plenty of people like the outdoors and dont understand this mindset. Both ways are fine, the main problems arise from people who join an hoa sign the contract then try to ignore the legally binding rules they signed no matter how dumb they think they are. A signed contract is a signed contract.
You'd think so, but we have heard far more about Johnny Depp and Amber Heard than the overturning of Roe v Wade.
Not necessarily, in many hoas not every rule can be changed even by a unanimous board ruling. For instance the lanscaping, security, solar panel, pool maintenance rules in our hoa requires a 98% for vote of every owner in the complex. We have 500 homes so any change to the basic tenants requires a full bosrd aproval and a yes votes from 490 of the 500 homes.
How nice of them...a book of ways to p**s off hoa bullies...saves me the time of thinkin up something on my own...lol
The irony is that these people decrying the result of these HOAs in suburbs are liberal urbanites. But an HOA is nothing more than a democratic government done at small scale. I'm not a fan of HOAs for the same reason I don't like an unnecessarily controlling government.
The irony is that you actually believe that tripe.
Honestly wish we had them in my country.... I would seek them out and introduce plant diseases and invasive species, recreationally.
If you live in an area covered by an HOA, you help make the rules. If you do not like them, change them! This is democracy at its best. Go to the meetings and ask questions, complain, and get the majority of homeowners on your side. If you do not like the HOA rules, do not buy a house there.
Anyone who would describe HOAs as "democracy at its best" is not to be taken seriously.
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HOAs: 1) Keep property values up, no wrecked junkers in front yards or ugly swingsets. 2) Maintain the community grounds. 3) Maintain the community resources like swimming pools, athletics facilities, and tennis courts etc. 4) Maintain security and a safer environment.
I live in a very small town in Pennsylvania in the US. I have a rather large yard that's broken up by many large trees, some bearing fruit, a small koi pond, herb gardens, and four large vegetable plots. We walk to the post office and bank, and store sometimes. This doesn't address typical suburbs, though, which I personally don't care for. The US is really a huge country, which does explain the sprawl, somewhat. There are a lot of factors at play which brought about the suburbs.
I live in a Suburb just outside Boston... We have stores and schools etc where you can walk or use other transportation. My property is half surrounded by forest and we have a stream... It's also Conservation Land. Meaning we can only change so much, in order to protect the environment. However I can walk the length of my street (probably 1 mile) and get to the grocery store, banks, CVS, Dunkin's etc. The town I grew up is a DRY town, no liquor stores... The town I live in now (30 min from my childhood house) has one of the biggest Malls in our State. Everywhere is different. I def agree with Tamra!
The chief reason is the automobile and the desire to get away from poorly designed and overcrowded cities. And now, we're paying for it because we're stuck in this way of life.