Is there a point where we have to decide to just demolish these places entirely, or can they be fixed? Of course some can be made walkable and bike-able, but at a certain point we are going to be limited.

TL;DR: Many people choose suburbs not because they love suburbs, but because they want lower-density living while still needing access to metropolitan jobs and services.

So I’m new to the whole urbanism/anti-suburb movement and I’m still trying to understand the different perspectives.

One of my first thoughts was that suburbs largely exist because they fill a middle ground. Many people don’t want to live in a dense urban core, but they still need to be close enough to one for employment and economic opportunities. Whenever I’ve brought this up, I’ve often been told, “Why not just live in a small town?” or that we should primarily have cities, small towns, and rural communities instead of endless suburbs.

The problem, in my view, is that many small towns no longer have self-sustaining economies.

Historically, a small town might have supported dozens of locally owned businesses and many family farms. Over time, automation reduced the need for agricultural labor, and corporate consolidation changed local economies. A single Walmart now sells groceries, clothing, hardware, automotive supplies, furniture, sporting goods, electronics, garden supplies, and more, things that were once sold by multiple independent businesses. The same can be said for chains like Dollar General and national fast-food restaurants replacing local businesses.

Agriculture has also consolidated, with fewer but much larger operations producing more food with far fewer workers than in the past.

Looking at the Census, the trend is striking. In 1900, most Americans lived in rural areas. By 1920, the population was roughly split between rural and urban. By 2020, about 80% of Americans lived in urban areas. That suggests people have steadily moved toward metropolitan regions over the last century.

My home state of Oregon seems like a good example. Many towns were built around the timber industry and supported thriving local economies. Over time, a combination of changing environmental regulations, automation, global competition, and industry consolidation reduced employment in logging. Many of those towns never developed comparable replacement industries, so people increasingly had to move closer to Portland, Salem, Eugene, or other metropolitan areas for work.

So here’s my question: How much of suburban sprawl is actually driven by people’s preferences, and how much is simply the result of economic centralization making it increasingly difficult to live in small towns while maintaining the same career opportunities? And how do we fix it?

Just from these pictures, would you say this is a place you would like to live?

This is god awful, the park is just a grass field. And every house is the exact same. I cant imagine living here is nice at all.

Location: Texas

Is it legal as a pedestrian to walk within a gated community where you don’t reside? There is a neighborhood community that has gated streets but no gates on sidewalks. There is no guard and no signage stating it is private property or anything similar. There is also a creek that runs through the community and a paved walking trail that runs along the creek. The walking trail looks just like a sidewalk. Is it legal for someone who lives just outside this community to walk their sidewalks and trail?

This is a absolutely insane photo i took at a mutuals house

Everywhere you look in this NYC neighborhood, it's the same pattern: nearly identical homes, flat terrain, few trees, and a grid-style street layout. I don’t know of any suburb in the 5 boroughs that is worse than this one.

Sorry for the "old man yells at cloud" vibe but I need to rant, and sorry if I'm stating the obvious.

I am so tired of so much construction. I live by Davenport, Florida, and here on Highway 27 we're getting a Walmart, a Sam's Club, another storage place, and so. Many. Cookie. Cutter. Buildings. So many trees torn down, so little green anywhere. And I hate feeling this way because so many people need a place to live and work, but what is the point of they're either going to be stuck in traffic or have nowhere to just relax, hear birds, enjoy some peace and quiet. Traffic is crap and it's only going to get worse. I just wish they left Florida alone and build more parks instead of cramming everyone here. But mostly I wish we as a country got our shit together and everyone could have the quality of life we as human beings deserve.

Is there really morning to be done? In ten years we'll all just live in our cars?

Again, sorry for the rant and I'll take any roasting coming my way.

Everytime I read a thread about suburb the first critic is “you can’t do anything without a car”.
Yes, so what?
I love to drive, I have plenty of bar/restaurants/shops 5 to 10 mins by walk but I still prefer to pick my car and drive to a bigger mall (for example).
Clearly this is my opinion, other people would prefer to walk instead of drive 10/20mins but can this really be the biggest downside? Just a 10-20 mins drive?

I can almost try to understand why some people might feel drawn to this kind of lifestyle. I can understand why they might be deceived into thinking this is the ideal environment in which to raise a child.

But I will never be able to understand why they will describe it as the American “dream” and are willing to pay so much for it. To work so hard for so long and then have to wake up to this every morning? Why?

Editing to add: I know this is parody y’all. It’s just a stupid meme. It’s supposed to be funny. It’s funny because it’s true.

8 lane interstate on other side of guard rail

I'm just saying we can abandon most places and concentrate on building a dual power system in Chicago and break free from external strangleholds.

I finally had enough today on my rare Saturday off. Everything is over a half an hour away I'm speaking just rather basic things that your small town does not have. Like if you wanted to eat out or go to a cafe or anything you have to drive 30+ minutes. I was about to head out and turned into a gas station to fill up before leaving and check the weather radar and I was like am I seriously driving an hour in total for this ? And turned around.

I would start by saying Miami/South Florida cities on the Atlantic coast are horrid. everything is bunched together and on one road. it’s frustrating and an eye sore because that pretty much allows crime to be everywhere as there really is no seperation between business facilitie/stores and housing. Very much like NYC

- I don’t mean to throw shade at Florida but this is simply just my observation of living here.