Was the creation of America Middle Class Suburbia a mistake?

[Toolbox]

I really don't think it's the arrangement of the houses that is the problem. I grew up in a suburban neighborhood but I am old, and we still went outside, had bikes, obeyed the streetlight rule (you come in when the lights come on).

People on the street tended to live there a long time and people knew each other. People paid off their mortgages and it was a big deal.

Borrowing a tool or a cup of sugar was a real thing. Babysitting other people's kids and other people's dogs was a real thing. It sounds like Mayberry or some shit but this was the 1970s in a tract house development as I remember it.

I swear to god I'm not making this up.

A lot of things have changed, both societally, and as well in how suburbia is laid out, how towns supply and deal with the layout changes they add. The size of houses has also increased in some areas, mcmansion neighborhoods are notoriously poor, house quality and general layout wise because it's basically a way to give someone who could never afford it a castle. Smaller home neighborhoods where there is not much space between homes fare much better for social activities especially for kids trying to make friends.

 

[kim foxx]

no, it was the only way to get all the white ethnics to stop hating each other and also keep the blacks at bay without making the government actually do something
next question

 

[Equivocal_Iki]

I feel that the creation of suburbia probably causes mental illness. I feel that it is the root of cultural issues that America is facing. I also feel that it the cause of the cultural degradation that this country is facing

As opposed to? Literal poverty, ghettos, gated communities?

All the kids from decent families playing in the cul-de-sac together while mothers are watching is a bad thing?

 

[Michael Pemulis]

All the kids from decent families playing in the cul-de-sac together while mothers are watching is a bad thing?

I don't see this happening much, the layout puts children very far from their friends, and their mothers are way too protective (or just controlling for the sake of their own interests, which is even more obnoxious). Children shouldn't have to play in the fucking road, either. There should be substantial common areas, wilderness, and a "look the other way" policy about them going into abandoned lots.

 

[Ronnie McNutt]

what's up with this autistic housing dabble i keep hearing all of a sudden?

 

[Equivocal_Iki]

Children shouldn't have to play in the fucking road, either. There should be substantial common areas, wilderness, and a "look the other way" policy about them going into abandoned lots.

I grew up in suberbia, and that's how it was (except cul-de-sacs were also used as courts, slow down). Seems more a generational thing than a house-placement thing.

 

[Michael Pemulis]

I grew up in suberbia, and that's how it was (except cul-de-sacs were also used as courts, slow down). Seems more a generational thing than a house-placement thing.

My neighborhood had a serious issue with house placement, there just weren't enough kids around and they were too lazy to walk half a mile to meet up.

 

[AnaphylacticShock]

A lot of things have changed, both societally, and as well in how suburbia is laid out, how towns supply and deal with the layout changes they add. The size of houses has also increased in some areas, mcmansion neighborhoods are notoriously poor, house quality and general layout wise because it's basically a way to give someone who could never afford it a castle. Smaller home neighborhoods where there is not much space between homes fare much better for social activities especially for kids trying to make friends.

That reminds me, a couple years ago I was driving home from Target, and a house in the neighborhood next to the Target was on fire. It's a large neighborhood of 6,000-8,000 sq ft. mcmansions. They were built right before the '08 recession. The crown molding in these homes is Styrofoam if that gives any hint to the quality of workmanship that went into them. Anyway...all 7.000 sq ft just totally burned down in about 15 minutes. These homes go for about $1,000,000.

 

[Bonesjones]

The time to escape for houses has dropped significantly in the past few decades due to the use of plastics in everything. In the 80s you had something like 20 minutes to escape once a fire started and now its less than 10ish.