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It is an interesting and important question. The roots of it probably go back 100 years or more. But at this point, with as long as it has existed, it has become part of the cultural life of cities and rural areas. In other words, it is a self-sustaining divide. As the divide is now part of the two cultures themselves (rural and urban), it is very deeply-rooted and needs no "reason" to exist, anymore. It just is.
Location: On the "Left Coast", somewhere in "the Land of Fruits & Nuts"
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^ ^ A novel suggestion, although even deeply ingrained cultures are never entirely a steady-state, and still have origins and changing influences ...social, political, economic and otherwise. BTW, which is what cultural anthropology attempts to describe.
FWIW--when I was young(er), I preferred to live in a hip, urban area with a certain edginess, lots of young people, nightlife, interesting/diverse things to see and do. I've watched my priority list change somewhat as I've gotten older; I desire more space for a more laid-back, independent lifestyle, a reasonable commute to work, I like to be able to see the stars at night and I want to save more money. That's a huge indicator: urban/hip/cultural big cities are very expensive. Conservatives love to bash big city COLs, and it's true, if you value saving money, you're more likely to prefer a suburb or small town. Cheaper taxes, cheaper rent/housing, and you can get a beer for less than $5! However, if you're young, want to have an adventure, and financial savings/security is not a priority, the urban jungle is where it's at.
Definitely the former: liberals move to cities. They talk on and on about "diversity" of culture, of people, of activities, etc. in the cities - but they are sorely lacking in one thing: diversity of ideas.
Even more so than liberals who complain about how people move to gated suburbs to avoid city crime, race, etc., liberals cluster in like-minded areas more so than any conservatives I'm aware of. Even the most conservative areas won't vote more than 80% conservative. I could name area after area that is 95% or more liberal, however.
You could be liberal and still embrace masterplanned suburbia. Maybe you believe CC&R's and Homeowners associations are hindering your right to paint your house black, but then again, do you want your property values ti plummet just because your hippie neighbour spray painted his house rainbow?
You could be liberal and still embrace masterplanned suburbia. Maybe you believe CC&R's and Homeowners associations are hindering your right to paint your house black, but then again, do you want your property values ti plummet just because your hippie neighbour spray painted his house rainbow?
It is an interesting and important question. The roots of it probably go back 100 years or more. But at this point, with as long as it has existed, it has become part of the cultural life of cities and rural areas. In other words, it is a self-sustaining divide. As the divide is now part of the two cultures themselves (rural and urban), it is very deeply-rooted and needs no "reason" to exist, anymore. It just is.
100 years? At least 2500, actually. "The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse" is one of Aesop's fables.
That's actually one thing I really like about the various TNDs I have visited- the vast array of colors that you find, even pastel colors, which you really don't find a lot of in typical suburbia. To me it gives the neighborhoods greater visual appeal. Yellow houses and rosy houses and blue-silver houses and sage green houses, etc. And that characeristic seems to be mainly found in the city metro.
You could be liberal and still embrace masterplanned suburbia.
Very true. One big thing about masterplanned suburbia is that it often delivers walkability/bikeability to public spaces, ie. parks/playgrounds, etc. Even though they may not have a lot of retail to walk or bike to, they still incorporate the concept OF walking and biking to those other public spaces. Lots of times city dwellers want to slam even that just because it doesn't have city density or doesn't have the retail component. I think that's a rather highbrow conceited attitude. Having grown up in typical suburbia myself, I can personally attest to the fact that the difference between the no-neighborhood park, no pedestrian path typical suburbia and HAVING public green space and pedestrian paths within/amongst neighborhoods is a HUGE improvement in amenity for suburbia.
And most of the larger masterplanned suburban neighborhoods I'm familiar with went out of their way to include that public space and pedestrian paths. One of my favorites which actually began (intentionally) planning that way decades ago is Peachtree City, GA. It's western neighbor, Newnan, GA, saw this happening, salivated, and then as its growth spurt happened later, incorporated some of that feel into its master planned communities- but from more of a walking/biking standpoint than a golf carting standpoint.
Many cities today have greatly embraced the pedestrian trail phenomenon, from rails to trails initiatives to simply planning and infilling smartly with consideration for trails. But interestingly enough, master planned suburbia, particularly the larger planned developments, were utilizing this concept well before it became so widely pushed and funded in urban areas across America. A small chunk of suburbia had already bought into the concept of walking or biking to neighborhood parks, pools, and tennis courts. What is commonly thought of as a liberal urban thing (walking or biking to "stuff") has thus actually been embraced in pockets of suburbia for decades in the form of walking or biking or golf carting to "stuff."
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