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

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Hopefully this doesn't turn into a new copycat trend...

But anyway, yes, it would be much much better. Yet for some reason many people think it's better to live in an extremely boring and sterile cultural wasteland with absolutely nothing to do besides your job than deal with a little crime.

[2952-0-0]

Okay I agree with BRTD on this. But what can we do anyway? Seize land Mugabe style?

[TeePee4Prez]

No.  Sorry man, I like the suburbs.

[opebo]

They're horrible places, true, BRTD, and they would never have existed without massive government subsidy.

[Speed of Sound]

BRTD has some good arguments, but im pretty much on the fence on this one.

[Gabu]

I don't really see how you could have dense urban areas without suburbs.  What's supposed to happen, you have big highrises and then BAM, it just cuts off and turns into rural farmland?

Anyways, no.  I live in the suburbs and I like it a lot more here than I would like it living downtown.  You're mistaking what is better off for you as what is better off for the country as a whole.

[MODU]

It would be much better without densely packed cities.  Decentralize the civilization, place them in small towns with sidewalks and parks and cozy little homes and get them out of all the pollution, corruption, and crime. 

[MasterJedi]

No subrubs are great and more people will agree with me on this.

[opebo]

It would be much better without densely packed cities.  Decentralize the civilization, place them in small towns with sidewalks and parks and cozy little homes and get them out of all the pollution, corruption, and crime. 

Rural America is rife with crime, MODU.  It is poor and hopeless, therefore it has crime.  Of course the deluded police blame it on the meth.

[Rin-chan]

No subrubs are great and more people will agree with me on this.

I agree with you.

I've lived in suburbs all my life and there's nothing wrong with them.

Rin-chan

[opebo]

No subrubs are great and more people will agree with me on this.

I agree with you.

I've lived in suburbs all my life and there's nothing wrong with them.

Rin-chan

Except that they're government subsidized housing for upper-middle-class people.

[Defarge]

Considering that I live in one, no.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I don't really see how you could have dense urban areas without suburbs.  What's supposed to happen, you have big highrises and then BAM, it just cuts off and turns into rural farmland?

It's possible, my city is a lot like that. In fact strange as it sounds, we actually have part of a farm in the densely developed commerce district on the northside, drive down the main street there and you'll see a bank and an auto shop. And during farm season, between them will be a field of grain. Also, if you keep heading north out of the city, you'll see what is basically big box retailers plunked down into the middle of farmland. Sadly we do have some awful suburban developement on the far east side and some on the south, but it's not too difficult to imagine the city without it.

[MODU]

It would be much better without densely packed cities.  Decentralize the civilization, place them in small towns with sidewalks and parks and cozy little homes and get them out of all the pollution, corruption, and crime. 

Rural America is rife with crime, MODU.  It is poor and hopeless, therefore it has crime.  Of course the deluded police blame it on the meth.

hahaha . . . "rife with crime."  You've been reading books again, haven't you? 

[nclib]

I wouldn't go as far as eliminating all suburbs, but I definitely think that suburban sprawl is a bad trend.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

I wouldn't go as far as eliminating all suburbs, but I definitely think that suburban sprawl is a bad trend.

[John Dibble]

The country would be better of without suburbs and more importantly the big cities that create them.

So where exactly would you suggest that people live? I don't think there's not enough room for us all to live on farms.

[Smash255]

Considering that I live in one, no

Also considering its what made New York go from a lean Dem state to solid Dem state & what has made Virginia trend Dem, no

[Rin-chan]

The country would be better of without suburbs and more importantly the big cities that create them.

So where exactly would you suggest that people live? I don't think there's not enough room for us all to live on farms.

That's what I was going to say lol

Rin-chan

[opebo]

The country would be better of without suburbs and more importantly the big cities that create them.

So where exactly would you suggest that people live? I don't think there's not enough room for us all to live on farms.

Hawkeye is Pol Pot returned to us, Dibble!

[memphis]

I have an economic rather than cultural objection to suburbs. It seems to me that the wealthy have formed exclusive enclaves for themselves for the purpose of avoiding paying their fair share of local taxes. If everybody in your town is wealthy, tax rates can be extremely low without services suffering. This, in turn, makes more people with the means leave the central city, which is forced to either raise taxes or cut back on services, which causes even more people to leave. This pattern has occurred in nearly every major city in the country, with the result that many urban areas are desolate and scary. This cycle is vicious, parasitic, and wasteful.

[John Dibble]

The country would be better of without suburbs and more importantly the big cities that create them.

So where exactly would you suggest that people live? I don't think there's not enough room for us all to live on farms.

Hawkeye is Pol Pot returned to us, Dibble!

No, Hawkeye is a ridiculous joke poster.

[opebo]

The country would be better of without suburbs and more importantly the big cities that create them.

So where exactly would you suggest that people live? I don't think there's not enough room for us all to live on farms.

Hawkeye is Pol Pot returned to us, Dibble!

No, Hawkeye is a ridiculous joke poster.

OH! And I really thought he was Pol Pot.  Thank you John Dibble, for clearing that up.  How do you type that eye-rolling thing?

Besides, I find him very amusing.

[Gabu]

How do you type that eye-rolling thing?

: : )

With no spaces.

[opebo]

I have an economic rather than cultural objection to suburbs. It seems to me that the wealthy have formed exclusive enclaves for themselves for the purpose of avoiding paying their fair share of local taxes. If everybody in your town is wealthy, tax rates can be extremely low without services suffering. This, in turn, makes more people with the means leave the central city, which is forced to either raise taxes or cut back on services, which causes even more people to leave. This pattern has occurred in nearly every major city in the country, with the result that many urban areas are desolate and scary. This cycle is vicious, parasitic, and wasteful.

Yes memphis!  And massively subsidized by federal and state highway construction and other infrastructure.  Hughly wasteful, regressive, and, of course, brutalizing to the poor left out.  Sounds like America to me!