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To each their own, but driving through certain parts of Orange County, I'm invariably reminded of an army base in Germany I used to visit. Everything neat, spotless and charmless. And, in Orange County, beige. Complete car dependency. Barf.
I watched the first video and though it made a few goods points.
The first problem ( and I believe the main problem) with suburban cities is they all have their own government including police department, fire department, park districts, school districts with separate school administrations and boards, library district, the list goes on and on. It's a massive replication of government on many levels that is not sustainable. For what it's worth most governments in the Chicago suburbs are controlled by Republicans, so they all like small government but not at the expense of their own fiefdom.
The second part that is true is Americans are dependent on their automobiles and many are car poor. They spend $500 a month on a car payment but they aren't able to save a dime for vacation and other leisure time. The auto is an individual choice and many choose to mare their auto a high priority make the wrong choices.
They've been bad for the environment for sure, and not so good for the health of the cities they left behind (most of which have rebounded in recent years), but many people prefer that safe, sterile type of living so I don't see them going away.
One thing which needs to change is having schools funded evenly throughout states based on population, not funded on the local level by property taxes. The current situation ensures educational disparities will never improve and a large percentage of our children will indeed be "left behind" due to funding disparities between the schools. Politically, voters from wealthier enclaves will probably fight tooth and nail to prevent it from happening, but it's what is needed.
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"Let this year be over..."
(set 23 days ago)
Location: Where my bills arrive
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChubbaWubba
In terms of city design, and community, would some people agree that sterile suburbs are sort of an eyesore? Atleast with the current design?
And is it only an American thing?
Why do you say sterile? Over the years many have become self contained communities themselves where people can live & work without having to travel to some city. The desire to have your own place with a patch of dirt is not unique to the USA just more prevalent because of the changes in living after WWII. Why must everyone live in an urban setting in multi-story buildings?
Cul-de-sacs are kind of the biggest weirdness to me about suburban areas. I’ve never lived anywhere which had great numbers of them, but when I see them, the appeal of living on a dead-end escapes me. The only way that makes sense if there’s some other barrier, such as a waterway or lake, or something like a rail line where low traffic volume makes an overpass impractical.
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