Do you think this country would be better off without suburbs?

[NDN]

Of course we'd be better off. Suburbia isn't a bad place to live, but the sort of lifestyle it represents is not sustainable in the least. Suburban "homes" overall are an incredibly inefficient use of land and resources. The only reason suburban life became "standard" in the first place in this country was because of unprecedented government subsidization plus cheap abundant gas. As gas prices increase, it will become increasingly uneconomical for people to live so far away from work, real commercial centers (not just the mall), etc. The government needs to start encouraging people to move to the cities (instead of basically encouraging suburban blight). Or at least utilize their neighborhoods much better than they do now.