Zantetsuken
Member
Nah. Don't live in a suburb, live right outside city limits but hate traffic, too many people, etc. I love driving a couple of miles until I hit a traffic light. I love the quietness of rural.
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Why do the suburbs suck so much?
- Thread starter smisk
- Start date
I'm an introvert and I vastly prefer cities. In cities nobody give a fuck what are you doing, what are you wearing, what car are you riding, etc. Suburbs have this fake politeness I can't deal with and the people on there can't mind their own business. I like country too trough, since it have at least a sense of community.
Nice, fellow Suffolk GAFFER. I've commuted to the city for Internships while living out here and it's definitely doable (though LIRR has been having a lot of issues lately) and worth the trade off of commute time v. Suburb amenities. I work in Central Islip now and have a 25 minuteish commute now but 2 hours a day on the LIRR wasn't bad at all when I did it. Actually got a shit ton of reading done those 2 summers.
I grew up in the Hudson Valley and my dad commuted 4 HOURS A DAY round trip to work in the City, and even he thought it was worth it to have the land and space we did.
This is the best advice.
Enjoyed the years I spent IN Rochester NY. Cheap living with plenty of art and culture to spare with walkable neighborhoods and not a lot of traffic when driving around.
Only problem with towns like that are the low amount of job opportunities compared to bigger, more expensive cities.
MacGurcules
Member
Yep. Totally a false dichotomy. There are plenty of small and medium sized cities that are affordable and give you everything you need day to day without the soul crushing slog of a two hour commute.
Funnily enough I live in the city and commute 3-4 hours a day to go work in the suburbs just because I think the city is a better place for my family to live.
Violence Jack
Member
I like my quiet suburban areas that are just close enough to a major city that I can take the light rail or drive to within 20 minutes.
Respect the grind, gotta do what you gotta do and what works best for your family. I think that's why you can't have a definitive "City v. Suburbs" answer because it really is subjective to everyone's own unique personal preference/situation.
Though I think the closest 'answer' we could agree on would be if money isn't an object and you can own a place in the city AND a 'country house' in the burbs or somewhere rural. Need to be rich AF but that's gotta be a nice way to live and gives you the best of both worlds.
Days like these...
Have a Blessed Day
I'm many years removed from a teen. I literally never see people when I visit family in the suburbs. Its so samey, quiet and creepy. I really do get anxiety. So you can foh with your comment.
Actually I quite enjoy parties. Can't say I've ever been to one in the suburbs those might be different.
D
Deleted member 752119
Unconfirmed Member
Definitely not. My comment was definitely excluding the super expensive cities like NYC, San Francisco, DC etc. Those places people are largely forced to the suburbs, and even then can often only afford condos/apartments instead of houses (or much smaller houses than they'd like).
The less crazy expensive cities, like Atlanta where I live, it's more a case of 1-2 bedroom apartment/condo in the city (in a decent area--though maybe not the trendiest spot) vs. a decent sized single family home in the suburbs for about the same price. So there it just comes down to lifestyle choice rather than budget for rent/mortgage. I've lived in one bedroom condos around 900sqft in midtown and single family rental homes in the suburbs at 1900 sq ft for the same price (house was cheaper first couple of years actually) here over the nearly 8 years I've been here. Currently paying a tad more than that for a 1500 sq ft rental house basically back in the city (technically a tad less than a mile outside the city limit).
Yep, very well put. The animosity is very weird. But the breakdown is pretty good. Though we do spend a fair amount of time at home, we just don't need a ton of space and much prefer living in a smaller, easier to maintain place where we can quickly get to great food and drinks, entertainment etc. Absolutely nothing wrong with people with different lifestyles/needs preferring bigger homes, yards etc. in the suburbs or a rural area.
No reason for any animosity. I hate how divisive everything is anymore. Everything has to be right or wrong, you're with me or against me etc. Even stuff like living arrangement/area preferences where other's choices have no general bearing on your own (beyond mass changes in preferences changing overcrowding/underpopulation of areas of course).
D
Deleted member 752119
Unconfirmed Member
That view always surprises me, but to each their own.
Plus a lot of luxury buildings in a lot of cities end up being near public transit in the nice part of town--especially the luxury buildings in the trendy, young professional populated areas with the best food and bars--as a lot of people don't want to own cars or at least want to minimize driving and hassling with traffic and parking.
Jellycrackers
Member
Opinion threads are always fun. I feel like some people have painted a weird dystopian picture of suburbs though. And like others have said, suburbs vary a lot, so there are very few blanket statements that cover them all.
I like the suburb I live in because it's way cheaper to live here (own a house), I have some space, and I can get pretty much anywhere in the city in 20 minutes. Plenty of nice parks for dog walks and kid playing. I don't even mind mowing my lawn. It's actually kind of therapeutic to mow now - listening to a podcast, getting a little mini-workout, getting a tan, and feeling accomplished.
Also the 'burb I live in is pretty dense, so everything I need is within a good 3-4 mile radius, most things within 2 miles.
I like the suburb I live in because it's way cheaper to live here (own a house), I have some space, and I can get pretty much anywhere in the city in 20 minutes. Plenty of nice parks for dog walks and kid playing. I don't even mind mowing my lawn. It's actually kind of therapeutic to mow now - listening to a podcast, getting a little mini-workout, getting a tan, and feeling accomplished.
Also the 'burb I live in is pretty dense, so everything I need is within a good 3-4 mile radius, most things within 2 miles.
BoogieWoogie
Banned
Wife and I moved into our first house in the suburbs but we're also two miles from the city and can walk to a really nice smaller town about a mile from our place. Pretty sweet deal.
SlackAdjuster
Member
I've lived in the city all my life and I'm absolutely tired of all the hustle and bustle and noise and traffic and crime and concrete and blah. I'm moving out near some farmland next month and I can't wait. It's still a little neighborhood but it's so different. It's sooooooooooooo peaceful out there. I'll miss being so close to concerts and sporting events and stuff but it's not THAT far. Like 45 minutes.
Captain Tuttle
Member
I don't know, we have an acre of land with a pool and live in a cul de sac with good neighbors. We even have a little brook that runs along the side of the house that the kids play in. Philly is 40 minutes by train and the station is a quick bike ride. We have friends and the kids have friends. I can't stumble home from a bar at 2am but that part of my life is over.
And on top of that there's the great schools.
SlackAdjuster
Member
And keep in mind that your tastes may change someday over time.
I used to LOVE the city and downtown and all the energy.
You could've never told me that I'd move out to the county some day.
Now I want as far away from the city life as possible, heh.
I used to LOVE the city and downtown and all the energy.
You could've never told me that I'd move out to the county some day.
Now I want as far away from the city life as possible, heh.
Warm Machine
Member
42, married and have two kids. We live in a Downtown Vancouver condo right near a school and a park. Wouldn't have it any other way. Glad I don't have to mow a lawn or fix a roof or anything like that. I tried to make our life as turnkey as possible so that we could spend more time enjoying things.
Days like these...
Have a Blessed Day
Animosity starts because people are very defensive about their suburbs. I know that living in a city has its negatives but still prefer it to suburbs. I don't get defensive if someone points out noise or supposedly living like sardines.
finalflame
Banned
Because the suburbs are boring trash.
I currently live in a major city (Seattle), and fucking love it. If I see myself ever moving in the future, it'll be to the countryside to retire, most definitely not to the suburbs.
I currently live in a major city (Seattle), and fucking love it. If I see myself ever moving in the future, it'll be to the countryside to retire, most definitely not to the suburbs.
Steve Youngblood
Member
I don't know. I'm not promising you that I pay attention to who throws the first stone in every conversation, but I certainly feel like the animosity cuts both ways. And I don't get it.
HawksWinStanley
Member
I live in the SW Chicago burbs and I don't think I could stand living in the actual city as much as I love working there. Everybody my age who lives there talks about how great it is but then I see their ridiculously small living arrangements and I just couldn't handle that. I like having a two story house with twice as many bedrooms than we actually need and having a car and yard and pet. If I wanted all of those things in Chicago I'd need to be making 7 figures annually and that won't be happening with my career choice.
So I'll stick to the 20 minute commute by train.
So I'll stick to the 20 minute commute by train.
People freakin cuz they can't walk to the corner and get some avocado toast.
Kite
Member
Dodging piles of trash and aggressive panhandlers is so much more fun hyperbole maybeee~
Days like these...
Have a Blessed Day
People freaking out cause they might actually see or God forbid have to interact with another soul.
smokeandmirrors
Banned
not sitting in traffic for hours because your job is a million miles away from where you live.
Chozoman
Banned
I live in a suburb of Pittsburgh.
This weekend, I drove 4-5 minutes to our local privately owned breakfast joint. Had a great meal, as usual, and a nice chat with the staff who know us as regulars.
Then we went home, took our puppy for a walk around the neighborhood, waving hello and stopping to visit with some of our neighbors, (one is going to watch our dog while we go away for a long weekend).
After some light house and yard work, I mixed up a few drinks and enjoyed them on the backyard deck next to the fire pit while my kids did crafts on the picnic table. Finally, I strung up a hammock between two elm trees in my backyard and relaxed while listening to the sound of the breeze as is swept through the dense woods behind my house.
Yep...a nightmarish, hell-on-Earth.
(I'm being facetious, of course, but man...different people like different things. I'm so confused by this whole thread).
Happiness is where you find it. If it's inside you; anywhere can be a paradise.
This weekend, I drove 4-5 minutes to our local privately owned breakfast joint. Had a great meal, as usual, and a nice chat with the staff who know us as regulars.
Then we went home, took our puppy for a walk around the neighborhood, waving hello and stopping to visit with some of our neighbors, (one is going to watch our dog while we go away for a long weekend).
After some light house and yard work, I mixed up a few drinks and enjoyed them on the backyard deck next to the fire pit while my kids did crafts on the picnic table. Finally, I strung up a hammock between two elm trees in my backyard and relaxed while listening to the sound of the breeze as is swept through the dense woods behind my house.
Yep...a nightmarish, hell-on-Earth.
(I'm being facetious, of course, but man...different people like different things. I'm so confused by this whole thread).
Happiness is where you find it. If it's inside you; anywhere can be a paradise.
I grew up in what would be considered suburban (not as bad as US in terms of giant slabs of flatland, but still, you needed a car to get things done, go to city etc).smisk said:
Since I was 18 or so, I've lived in cities, including some of the world's busiest, and frankly the idea of being in a rural lifestyle sort of terrifies me now, even though I understand the appeal of owning a large landed property that usually comes with it.
Not every life-style appeals to everyone though - this is less a "grass is greener" and more a question of what really fits you personally.
ScatheZombie
Member
It probably has to do with the fact that most people don't get to pick where they live. They end up living where they grew up and/or where their job takes them. Choosing a preference is a luxury for most middle and lower class Americans.
And when it's not a preference, but a limitation of your means, people get either excessively combative (where I live sucks!) or excessively defensive (everywhere but where I live sucks!) in response.
finalflame
Banned
Nah, I chose to live in the city. My office is actually in the 'burbs (Bellevue). I commute 35-40 minutes there because I couldn't stand the idea of living in that super fake and manufactured environment.
I just legitimately hate every single last thing about suburban life.
I grew up in the suburbs and loved it as a kid but after visiting cities and such for vacations when I was older just makes you realize what's missing. Ended up moving to the city when I got married. My city neighborhood has like 3 Italian markets, 8 restaurants and several deli's all within a 15-20 minute walk in my neighborhood and a park just up a block. Traveling for work is depressing because most of the offices I go to are in the suburbs and every city looks the same in the suburbs lol
finalflame
Banned
Precisely. i have at least 40 restaurants within a 1 mile radius of me, various shops, delis, 4 large supermarkets (2 QFCs, a Safeway and a Whole Foods), various bars/nightlife, easy access to Pike Place via the LINK station literally 200ft from my apartment, and going anywhere in Seattle by Lyft/Uber is like a $5-15 trip max.
I just love the accessibility, life, energy, and convenience of living in the city. I have a car but haven't used it for the last few weeks; i only ever need to touch it if I want to go hiking outside the city.
When I go to work in the "downtown" suburb of Bellevue, I can't fucking stand the over-the-top extremely manufactured shopping mall, ridiculously overdone movie theaters, chain restaurants and "upscale" eating, and the city being basically littered with "family friendly" stuff and all closed and devoid of life by 10pm.
I'd rather listen to the traveling musicians on the streets outside my balcony signing improv concerts for tips, hearing fights breaking out in the Dick's parking lot beneath my apartment, or the host of other speeding police/fire/ambulance vehicles on the daily. Having to mow a lawn, drive everywhere, or say hello to my neighbors every morning sounds like the seventh circle of hell.
There comes a point in life where the number of restaurants around your home is less important than the size of the kitchen in the home and proximity to a moderately priced supermarket.
finalflame
Banned
Sure, and perhaps I'll reach a point in my life where I'll change my opinion. I get why some people move to the suburbs to raise a family, but it's not for me. And neither is raising a family.
Living in the city or a suburb fucking sucks. I grew up on a 100 acre farm and it was the best upbringing I could ever ask for. Complete freedom to do what you want on your property. Riding motorcycles everyday, paintball, shoot guns, big parties with loud ass music and no one to complain. This especially during 4th of July, while setting off big ass fireworks. Our neighbors were several acres apart. It was super peaceful and quiet. No traffic. Never had to worry about annoying neighbors. I miss it and can't wait to get the hell out of the city.
It's understandable why city living is for you, all valid points and you seem happy which is great. But painting all suburbs as these manufactured conformist hellscapes with chain restaurants and strip malls is disingenuous. My town was founded in 1837, we have a Main Street that ends at a harbor and 3 area beaches, one of which is half mile walk from my house. Within 5 miles of my front door we have about 20ish restuarants, 10 bars, 5+ delis, close to 10 pizza places and 3 supermarkets, 2 of which are not 'chain' ones. In fact the only chain restaurants w/in 10 miles of my house is a McDonalds. The houses in my neighborhood are from all differently decades, mine was a pre-war 2BR beach bungalow that got expanded over the years and is the only one of it's kind, just like most of my neighbors. All this while being an hour's train ride from NYC.
It's not for you but it's not fair to paint the picture of suburbs that you've been doing in this thread, there are all kinds out there.
teruterubozu
Member
This is the mantra of every 20-something dude. It's understandable.
SturokBGD
Member
Are you kidding me? My daily train rides are the best part of my day! 3 hours a day of peace to play my games and listen to my music and read my books, 3 hours free from the kids and the wife and the boss and the co-workers! I love it! Delays because of signal troubles? So good.
finalflame
Banned
Sounds like you live in a suburb quite different from the ones I've experienced, and closer to my idea of a historic small town. I'm quite fond of those and lived close to some when I was in college -- specially Micanopy and Alachua. Either way, I think everyone should just do what's right for them. And city living (Miami -> SF -> Seattle) is right for me at this moment in time.
Hah, yah, you're spot-on. I'll let age do its thing.
PumpkinSpice
Banned
This is very location dependent.
I have a 30 min bus ride into work, which is a great opportunity to play handheld games without it feeling long at all. I actually really prefer this arrangement to a 30 min walk even as I get a lot of use out of this time.
Trojita
Rapid Response Threadmaker
NOVA sucks. Wouldn't be quite as bad if rent prices weren't almost as much as the city.
Looking up Singapore, I didn't realize how nice it is there.
Looking up Singapore, I didn't realize how nice it is there.
The Real Napsta
Member
There is a middle ground.
Traffic was way worse when I lived in the city, and it took longer to commute to/from work.
D
Deleted member 752119
Unconfirmed Member
For some/most.
Not for those of us who said hell no to having kids and only continue to have more disposable income and free time as we get farther into our careers and make more without having to slave away as many hours as when we were working our ways up.
Different strokes for different folks. I'm 38. Finance is 33. I've been snipped as we've never remotely wanted kids. We're loving life, and want nothing to do with the suburbs and families/kids everywhere. We've mostly started avoiding Kirkwood in East Atlanta where we live as all the young professionals that bought in when it was cheap and starting to gentrify now have infants an toddlers and drag them out to all the pubs/bars/restaurants there. Hard to enjoy beers on the patio with a bunch of toddlers running around screaming--at least there's one place there that doesn't allow kids in the bar area or patio and just the dining room. But we can't wait to get back to midtown where there's few single family houses or condos more than 2 bedrooms so not much of a family/kid scene.
Yeah that just varies tremendously across cities. In Atlanta it only scores high in worst traffic cities as the interstates to the suburbs are terrible and people tend to live far out. But if you say live in Midtown and work downtown like I did there was rarely much traffic as long as you stayed off Peachtree and a couple other bottlenecks. Also no really traffic barring accidents from where I live in East Atlanta to midtown/downtown either. I live 6 miles from office currently and just takes 10-15 minutes depending on luck with some red lights. North to Buckhead traffic is terrible, but I rarely go up there as it's just yuppy hell--essentially a suburban city. There's some bad traffic getting to West Midtown and Little 5 as well I guess as the roads haven't caught up with the gentrification efforts in those areas.
Your job is in Manassas and you live in Centreville? There's plenty to do there or within a nice drive. I mean, I left Nova (Manassas) and have no wish to move back but it wasn't for a lack of things to do.
But yeah, some people prefer the laid back life. I miss some things about being close to a city, but I value the benefits of living in the country more.
But yeah, some people prefer the laid back life. I miss some things about being close to a city, but I value the benefits of living in the country more.
I live in a suburb of Pittsburgh.
This weekend, I drove 4-5 minutes to our local privately owned breakfast joint. Had a great meal, as usual, and a nice chat with the staff who know us as regulars.
Then we went home, took our puppy for a walk around the neighborhood, waving hello and stopping to visit with some of our neighbors, (one is going to watch our dog while we go away for a long weekend).
After some light house and yard work, I mixed up a few drinks and enjoyed them on the backyard deck next to the fire pit while my kids did crafts on the picnic table. Finally, I strung up a hammock between two elm trees in my backyard and relaxed while listening to the sound of the breeze as is swept through the dense woods behind my house.
Yep...a nightmarish, hell-on-Earth.
(I'm being facetious, of course, but man...different people like different things. I'm so confused by this whole thread).
Happiness is where you find it. If it's inside you; anywhere can be a paradise.
What is your response to how you are living the most Earth unfriendly like possible?
Lasthope106
Member
As I've gotten older, I have began to value living in a small town more and more. Affordable houses, decent schools, low crime.
Nowadays I spend the majority of my time indoors. It literally makes no difference whether I am in in the world's best city or the shittiest town in America. With the internet I have access to most things I want or need. My local hospital is decent enough that I can get treated for everything except the worst of the worst. I can travel to Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, Kansas City, and St. Louis all within a few hours if I feel the need to experience "city" life.
Now granted there are things I just don't have access to that I would like like the ability to do photography in a known city, or showcase my work. Or go to a sporting event from a known team. Then again I'm more of the outdoor type, and if I lived in a city I would want to escape that.
The suburbs are a necessary evil. But small towns it's where it is at.
Nowadays I spend the majority of my time indoors. It literally makes no difference whether I am in in the world's best city or the shittiest town in America. With the internet I have access to most things I want or need. My local hospital is decent enough that I can get treated for everything except the worst of the worst. I can travel to Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, Kansas City, and St. Louis all within a few hours if I feel the need to experience "city" life.
Now granted there are things I just don't have access to that I would like like the ability to do photography in a known city, or showcase my work. Or go to a sporting event from a known team. Then again I'm more of the outdoor type, and if I lived in a city I would want to escape that.
The suburbs are a necessary evil. But small towns it's where it is at.