The suburban wasteland?

Is surbubia a great place to live...? Really?
I had a rethink about this because while its touted as ideal for families I dont think in reailty it ever lives up to its hype...unless you lived in a wealthy, crime free suburb maybe? But is there such a mythical place?


Eg latchkey kids phenomenon,
Housewives with no transport, stuck at home all day with kids
dogs
noisy, even violent neighbours
subtle racism or intolerance of anybody 'different'
huge costs for basic amenities like electricity, running water, roads with no potholes...pedestrian crossings, footpaths
lack of top soil to grow a garden or complete lack of it
far away from everything, cant just walk to shops, or impossible to get to without a car
high road toll
ongoing house maintainence that never ends
lawnmowing ugh
boredom! nothing to do except watch tv
lack of churches or community spaces

Life is what you make of it. What you described sounds great to some. To others it's a nightmare. Figure out what you like and work towards that.

when your a child often its not what you make of it though because you dont have much control over your circumstances. Though I suppose when you grow up, you can leave or get priced out as what usually happens.
Maybe it was just a boomer thing?

People used to live in villages or small towns or on farms before suburbs were invented.

I saw this doco about pop music, and where was this one spokeslady who shared that she was into punk as a rebellion against 'the suburban wasteland' and boredom of her youth.

I thought punk was more of an urban movement but no it came out of the suburbs -garage bands anyone? they are still alive! eg Diary of a Wimpy Kid - big bro Roderick is in a typical heavy metal band and drives a van round suburbia. Greg is the archetypal wimpy kid who plays video games all summer.

Boredom?

One memorable book in the series takes place in the neighbourhood. Gregs house is at the bottom of the hill and the houses that are more uphill are classier and richer. They have this snowball fight where the two have an all out war against each other.

In the end nobody wins except the kids that are smart enough to profit from it lol. Sounds like your typical suburban gang mentality...nothing to do...I know lets get violent!

Really. In contrast to filthy, dangerous, hazardous, crime-ridden, corrupted cities. Why did people move to the suburbs? Because the politicians made sure they would destroy the inner cities. And gentrification was definitely not the answer.

Most of the issues you list in your "EG" portion can be true regardless of where one lives. Children raised in large cities often want to move away to suburbs or rural areas. Children raised in Suburbs often want to move away to large town or rural areas, and children raised in rural areas usually want to live in suburban or urban areas. It's just the nature of children wanting things other than how they were raised. They want to spread their wings and try new things and new ways.

So everything you listed as bad things, someone lists as a desire in their lives.

Did you know the letters of the word "Monday" can be rearranged to spell "Dynamo"? Everything in life is about perspective, from how to arrange letters in a word to how we raise children... even where we choose to live as adults.

So to answer your original question, are suburbs really a good place to live? To many, yes.

its like farm kids grow up hating the farm and want to leave cos they see how hard work it is. And city folk want to move to the farm cos they think its the good life, until they realise its not as easy as they think it is.

Possibly suburbia is marginally better than living in 'the projects' though. But if you can get in, a lot of people would not be able to afford it, and if rents are very low, may be because there are no jobs near by. I now understand why people choose to live in trailers. Or even to be homeless.

An exciting life for some but it has its own risks as well. I was thinking how newer suburbs can be quite featureless and sterile. If people invest in the community it can grow and thrives, but that depends on the economy. If youve got envrionmental polluters as your employers then its going to be a toxic environment.

eg The Simpsons..Springfield is portrayed as a town that has suburbs and the main employer for blue collar workers is the nuclear power plant. lol

also, columbine..a town where the main employer is Lockheed Martin, which manufactures weapons, Is it any wonder there are school shootings?

Lockheed Martin doesn't only manufacture weapons, they also manufacture parts for the space shuttle (among other things), and I don't see any kids going to school and attacking with nose cone shingles or lasers? Mental illness is to blame for school shootings and mass shootings in general, not the weapons or the manufacturer of weapons. I thought this was a serious thread until that comment. *rolling eyes and walking away now.

I have nEVER heard anyone refer to Monday as 'dynamo' before lol

usually ppl hate mondays like Garfield. They need coffee as fuel to commute to work from the burbs. In Paris they call it metro boulot dodo, meaning all you do is go to work then go back home to sleep and have to do it all again the next day.

Though nowdays more people work from home. It was when cities got too big and no room. Hence urban sprawl. But people can only take so much commuting. its not factored in to the cost of living really. However living in slums was not great either. Though every new aprtment is now touted as 'luxury' . Its not so luxurious when you have to walk up 18 flights of stairs with children or take a lift soaked in pee. for some.

its the mentality of it...parents werent even shocked by it. they thought the shooters lived a 'normal life' Far from it, they were pyschologically disturbed but it was the actually culture of the place to rebel.

Mental illness if far more common than you think. and it can be a reaction to environment.

uh space lasers or what have you are not easily obtained, guns are.

Honestly try and think a bit more about why kids would do this.

Old turf wars pehaps, no rugby field nearby to let off aggression? Or maybe couldnt get into a sports team? Lack of arts and culture or places to express themselves? I dunno.

Im guessing theres a real ignorance or lack of understanding about the wastefulness of suburban life, and that not everyone is actually happy to go the mall and be a slave to consumerism.

But its reality that many young people have to navigate I guess. Hence rebellion. ? as soon as kids turn 15 they getting their drivers licence to escape from it. But thats part of the problem.

a vid to watch on topic. Comment if you want, I'll make time to watch it later.
Opening shot is of super wealthy suburbs in thr US, but a lot of state subrurban housing in nz was done on a shoestring budget, like shells of houses and no infrastructure to support it, so ok you had a house, but you had no life as else and everything was going to it. You had to build you own community too. Nothing was given

And while home ownership is desired, its all now down to market rates. Most Children do not inherit anything, or if they do they inherit a debt they cant repay. Most of the homes in my area are not owned anymore they are rented out. I think people move on when jobs move or they decide suburbia isnt for them as its so expesnive. also GFC was actually blamed on subprime mortages in the US.

That and it forces generational debt. Children must move away and go into debt to buy their homes. Also there is no heritage for those children a suburban house can really only be sold and the miniscule money split between children so maybe they can pay off a credit card.
Where a home in the country on some land. Children can carve out a homestead on their inheritance and build a heritage for their children by expanding the farm as they prosper.
Also in suburbia there is no constructive things for children to do, where as in rhe country on a small farm the family can work together and grow and build things together. This is important time for fathers and children. This is how and where you teach your children the things about ethics and faith and patience along with skills to accomplish things.

yea it struck me growing up in suburbia there was literally nothing to do. Venture out and get chased by dogs, or run over by cars going too fast on the road, or preyed on by strangers. Need money to do all the other stuff, or transport to get there. Cant climb a tree, they all get cut down as hazards.

Creek or reserve, such as it was, was polluted and sprayed with herbicide. Try and swim and you either drown or get infected with giardia. Fun times!

My salvation was books, I think would have died without them. We had a mobile library once a wek and a decent school library, and when dad would take us there could borrow as many books as we liked...couldnt afford to by them with the rate I was reading them! I dont know how other people feel about suburbs, I guess depending on where you live, but Im guessing most are the same pretty much. Boring!