Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Yes I do. I don't like having neighbors right next to me. Even in suburbs homes are too close together for my taste. Matter of fact, I'd prefer they are far enough away to not even see
If one wants neighbors far enough away to not be seen, plant evergreen trees.
A lot cheaper than breaking the bank buying 1,000's of acres of land to accomplish that.
I'm from Orlando, a city known for its urban and exurban sprawl. I'm a fan of density for the services and conveniences. Its funny when people say they don't like density for the crime and the dirty streets. Some of the nicest neighborhoods here in Orlando are the densest ones and have so much to offer
This is Winter Park, a suburb just north of Downtown Orlando: Bing Maps
Eola Heights, in the east side of Downtown Orlando, This place has everything you'll need, and they have a huge Gay Pride parade every year where tens of thousands of people attend: Bing Maps
People in the area love to visit the neighborhoods, for the great restaurants and the art and heritage festivals and parades that are always going on. Thats the reasons why i like density, because there is always something.
Density sucks. It feels cramped, stressful and claustrophobic. I'd much rather live in a rural area with less than 1 person per square mile, or a small town surrounded by cornfields/forest/wilderness. I love my car, I love not having to take the bus and hear kids screaming and screeching or have drug addicts hitting me up for money. I'll take traffic rather than being on someone else's schedule. It actually takes longer to commute by public transit because you have to wait and then stop every 500 feet. Yes, I've done it before. Give me my car. Give me my sprawl. Give me my nature and lack of people. Forget "density," which is what I call pack-rat living.
Well you're talking inefficient public transit - which is normally all you find when you're outside a large dense city.
My train comes every 3 minutes, stops 7 times as it goes the 5 miles to downtown, and runs around 55mph between stops. It's going to move you a LOT faster than trying to drive those 5 miles at rush hour on surface streets, the jammed expressway or stop-and-go traffic on Lakeshore Drive. After I board the train it's around 15 minutes to downtown. 40 blocks. 15 minutes to get a chapter in from whatever book I'm reading.
It's all about where you are, and what you want personally.
One thing I think is funny is that growing up everything was measured in miles. "We're going out to Jasons, it's about 5 miles north of town". Then in the Chicago burbs I noticed everything was in minutes. "She lives in Naperville, about 25 minutes away". Now in the city everything is blocks. "Where do you live? - About 4 blocks north of here".
Well you're talking inefficient public transit - which is normally all you find when you're outside a large dense city.
My train comes every 3 minutes, stops 7 times as it goes the 5 miles to downtown, and runs around 55mph between stops. It's going to move you a LOT faster than trying to drive those 5 miles at rush hour on surface streets, the jammed expressway or stop-and-go traffic on Lakeshore Drive. After I board the train it's around 15 minutes to downtown. 40 blocks. 15 minutes to get a chapter in from whatever book I'm reading.
It's all about where you are, and what you want personally.
One thing I think is funny is that growing up everything was measured in miles. "We're going out to Jasons, it's about 5 miles north of town". Then in the Chicago burbs I noticed everything was in minutes. "She lives in Naperville, about 25 minutes away". Now in the city everything is blocks. "Where do you live? - About 4 blocks north of here".
That's the problem with public transit. In order for public transit to be efficient, you have to deal with living somewhere dense. I don't want to live somewhere dense.
I kind of like both ends of the spectrum. I love the city living, being near coffee houses, and being able to walk places and not being required to drive everywhere. But on the other hand, country living can be quite beautiful, and you can have a lot of yard and a lot of privacy
I kind of like both ends of the spectrum. I love the city living, being near coffee houses, and being able to walk places and not being required to drive everywhere. But on the other hand, country living can be quite beautiful, and you can have a lot of yard and a lot of privacy
Which is kind of like saying that people like eating chocolate cake and ice cream all the time, but they also would like to be physically fit and not be overweight. At some point, they have to choose one or the other, or some point along that continuum.
Which is kind of like saying that people like eating chocolate cake and ice cream all the time, but they also would like to be physically fit and not be overweight. At some point, they have to choose one or the other, or some point along that continuum.
What I mean is I'd rather city living or country living. I don't care for most suburban dwellings today[I like the older more established areas], they are so cookie cutter and they take away all the beauty of a place. Ppl who build them or come up w/ the designs have no idea [whatsoever] what preservation is.
Which is kind of like saying that people like eating chocolate cake and ice cream all the time, but they also would like to be physically fit and not be overweight. At some point, they have to choose one or the other, or some point along that continuum.
This is a false dichotomy. There is nothing that states that suburbs cannot exist.
This is a false dichotomy. There is nothing that states that suburbs cannot exist.
Who says that suburbs cannot exist? I certainly don't. And no, it's not a dichotomy, it is a continuum. High-rise urbanism is at one end, living alone in the woods is at the other end. Streetcar suburbs, auto suburbs, exoburbs and rural communities are in between those extremes.
But in American society, most of us are shoved into the middle of those extremes--in the auto suburb and the exoburb. Seeking the best of both worlds, the auto suburb is also the worst of both--with the lack of privacy and open space of the city, and the car-dependence and lack of convenience of the remote country. The desire of people to live out in the country pushes them farther and farther from the city center--but once they arrive, they realize that they are no longer alone, so they keep sprawling outward in an effort to outrun their neighbors.
The problem with that is that it ruins things for the people on the ends. Urbanists lose out on the tax base and population of the middle class, resulting in underpopulated city centers that can't afford to maintain things the way they could when they were populated. Rural communities lose out when farms and fields and forests get turned into new subdivisions that destroy exactly what suburban escapists liked about the country.
The idea is not to destroy the suburbs, but to limit their metastasis in order to stabilize and maintain cities and keep some semblance of the farmland, fields and forests that we have left. The idea is not to eliminate the suburbs, but to make them places that are sustainable, walkable and livable in the long term. That probably requires a little more density, and a little less driving.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
