Interesting Article: RIP Suburbs (San Diego, Riverside: foreclosure, crime, public school)

[majoun]

Originally Posted by bhcompy

as a telecommuter, i can tell you that they can take away my suburbs when they pry them from my cold dead hands.

urban centers are no place to raise kids. limited park space(especially low on baseball diamonds and football fields), generally increased crime, generally poorer school conditions, and little to no backyards(depending on where you live).

If the burbs become less desirable and cheaper than the cities (already occurring in some place), and attract undesirable elements as a result (i.e. how things are already in the AV/IE) school conditions and crime situations in urban vs. suburban situations could change awful fast.

ill stick to suburbia where my kid can have some space to grow and get a good education

Even if it means being in a suburb like Palmdale? (Your kid won't get a good education there unless you're talking about educating the kid to be a gangbanger)

[drshang]

I hate the suburbs as much as anyone, but this is ridiculous. Urban areas, as of today, are terrible places to raise kids and families. Inner city school distracts are an absolute disaster. As one poster said, it will take decades for this type of turnaround to occur. Furthermore, many corporations/jobs/office complexes are located in suburban areas. There has been a general trend toward decentralization of work places as well. Suburbs will definitely lose a lot of their prominence; especially exburban areas located 1hr+ from city centers. But come on, urban areas are so far from being practical for any middle class family it's ridiculous. Housing is more expensive, private schools are more expensive, etc. The cost of private school is way higher than the cost of gas at even $20 a gallon to commute 25 miles each way.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by drshang

I hate the suburbs as much as anyone, but this is ridiculous. Urban areas, as of today, are terrible places to raise kids and families. Inner city school distracts are an absolute disaster.

All the more reason to abolish those districts, break them up, introduce vouchers, or make all schools magnets and charters in those districts!

[bhcompy]

Originally Posted by majoun

If the burbs become less desirable and cheaper than the cities (already occurring in some place), and attract undesirable elements as a result (i.e. how things are already in the AV/IE) school conditions and crime situations in urban vs. suburban situations could change awful fast.



Even if it means being in a suburb like Palmdale? (Your kid won't get a good education there unless you're talking about educating the kid to be a gangbanger)

wait, you mean there are exceptions to rules? if you want to live in a cheap craphole, it doesnt matter if you pick the inner city or an exurb. it doesnt change the fact that many moderately priced relatively low crime suburbs are generally better off educationally than urban inner city areas

[kettlepot]

Originally Posted by bhcompy

ill stick to suburbia where my kid can have some space to grow and get a good education, while i can have the space to sit on my patio and drink while my son plays in the backyard

The first step to recovery is to admit you have a problem...

[JetJockey]

I'm so glad I moved to a little hippie beach town I'm right up against an estuary so there won't be any building anywhere near my house, but I'm also a short 15 minute drive to work. You couldn't pay me enough to live in a place where I couldn't garden, or where I had neighbors above, below and on all sides. No thanks.


I grew up in Palmdale.... of course, when I moved there there was 1 stoplight, 1 elementary school and 2 rows of tract homes. My how times have changed.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by bhcompy

wait, you mean there are exceptions to rules?

Burbs with conditions like Palmdale (or, in a NorCal context, Fairfield) are proliferating.

if you want to live in a cheap craphole, it doesnt matter if you pick the inner city or an exurb. it doesnt change the fact that many moderately priced relatively low crime suburbs are generally better off educationally than urban inner city areas

Which is all the more reason to introduce school vouchers, as it would make urban neighborhoods far more attractive to families.

I do think, BTW, that inner suburbs do have a future, although the desirable ones aren't exactly reasonably priced. The farther out ones which haven't become ghettos already seem to be prime targets for ghettoization. Inner burbs will hold up better in the long run, and some that aren't in such great shape right now will improve.

[krudmonk]

Originally Posted by bhcompy

as a telecommuter, i can tell you that they can take away my suburbs when they pry them from my cold dead hands.

urban centers are no place to raise kids. limited park space(especially low on baseball diamonds and football fields), generally increased crime, generally poorer school conditions, and little to no backyards(depending on where you live). ill stick to suburbia where my kid can have some space to grow and get a good education, while i can have the space to sit on my patio and drink while my son plays in the backyard

It's like reefer madness applied to cities...

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

I will move to a high density, noisy, crowded, vertical urban area when you round me up at gun point. Until that happens, no way in hell. "New urbanists" can live where ever they want but why do they feel the need to force everyone else to live in their version of utopia too?

I live in a downtown area and it is quieter than my suburban apartment complex, which was next to auto body places that sometimes blasted loud music. And people driving though the parking lot often blasted their loud car stereos as well.

I don't think anyone should be "forced" to live in a suburban or urban lifestyle.

But the reality is that many people are forced to live the suburban lifestyle because even most large American cities do not really provide viable options for urban middle class living.

Even though I live in a downtown area, I am still forced to own a car because the city where I live (well over 500,000 peopple) is still mostly suburban and mass transit is lousy.

[bhcompy]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

But the reality is that many people are forced to live the suburban lifestyle because even most large American cities do not really provide viable options for urban middle class living.

Even though I live in a downtown area, I am still forced to own a car because the city where I live (well over 500,000 peopple) is still mostly suburban and mass transit is lousy.

Which is the beauty of America. You can change this through democracy. Want to better public transit? Put up an initiative in your city to develop new public transit capability. If your city doesn't support it, there are cities that will, which is where you can move. Rather than making an area that doesn't want it to adapt it, move to an area that does want it and/or have it already.

We all move to the suburbs because that's where we want to be. You can move to the urban centers to be where you want to be. Not too difficult