Anyone else but me like the suburbs?

[nei]

Originally Posted by nighttrain55

Can i ask everybody a question, why is being a 10 minute walk away from a grocery store being treated like its the holy grail for why living in a certain area so great? It seems like if you can't absolutely walk everywhere than your neighborhood is somehow worse than somebody who can walk everywhere.

I started to care about walkability because until recently, I didn't own a car. Now that I own a car, the practical benefit is, I'd admit small, but I'd still very much prefer to be in a place that's walkable. Here are my reasons.

1) Especially when I was younger, I used to get tired of sitting still inside. It felt like having to get around by car was another way to get keep me inside and not moving. Of course, I could always be outside and move around once I get to my destination, but why must I sit still inside a car when it's a beautiful day out.

2) It's depressing me to see hundreds of cars but not a single person's face. A place where people are walking (or biking) instead is a place where you can see the people who live in your community instead of being enclosed away from people

3) Not having to drive to get around means you don't have to worry about traffic just to do a couple of errands. Or weather (in the sense that I used to be scared of driving in the snow, so living in a walkable neighborhood gave me another option)

4) Non-walkable neighborhoods tend to look very ugly and unappealing to me. The wide boulevards, large parking lots with giant expanses of asphalt required to support automobiles are a big turn off.

5) It just seems isolating and unnecessary. As I said, I prefer a place where you can see people walking on the street instead of cars. I can understand rural areas can't be walkable but why non-rural areas? I agree cars can be very useful (allowing when to take long trips at a whim, increasing accessibility to rural and remote areas) but changes in urban layout in this country what was once a device that things more convenient to a necessity.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by HandsUpThumbsDown

Really your question is "why doesn't everyone think like me?"

More accurately, the question was "Why do the anti-suburb people on these urban planning threads think that I should think exactly like they do?"

[HandsUpThumbsDown]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

More accurately, the question was "Why do the anti-suburb people on these urban planning threads think that I should think exactly like they do?"

I wish you would have continued reading to where Nighttrain and I reach an understanding and make amends.

The question NT raised why does walkability matter at all, I answered, Nighttrain understood. Now you've unearthed it. Very productive, bravo.

I think the more accurate question is why everything has to be boiled down into two camps on this forum: Anti-suburb or anti-urban. There is no opportunity to discuss anything related to urban planning or urban problems with all the bickering, finger-pointing and general childish behavior that goes on. Every damn thing has to be acrimonious.

I'm not anti-suburb and I don't appreciate the accusation. Never have I called you anti-urban.

Nei, can we get a suburban planning forum? I think it's time.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by HandsUpThumbsDown

I'm not anti-suburb and I don't appreciate the accusation.

My post had nothing to do with you, nor did it accuse you, in particular, of any sentiment one way or another.

Never have I called you anti-urban.

That's because I'm not.

There is no opportunity to discuss anything related to urban planning or urban problems with all the bickering, finger-pointing and general childish behavior that goes on. Every damn thing has to be acrimonious.

On this we agree.