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Corner shops, libraries, community centre, Parks, Halls or a local high street with shops not massive retail parks (Strip Mall)
Except for corner shops, American suburbs without a main street often have all of those but in a "retail park". Though obviously not the park. For example for that San Ramon example:
Except for corner shops, American suburbs without a main street often have all of those but in a "retail park". Though obviously not the park. For example for that San Ramon example:
Drive to meet someone, then socialize. What sort of local shops or meeting places do you expect?
Suburbanites socialize plenty with their neighbours and friends: on the front porch, in the street, on their driveways, on the back deck, by the backyard pool...
In terms of urbanism, the american suburbs looks fine, with extensive green lawns and beautiful houses. I would like to live in a place like these. However, the lack of facilities in the nearby like hospitals, markets, drugstores and public transport is a problem. The best of the worlds would be urban areas with a suburban look and feel, but also crossed by commercial avenues, with all of the urban facilities.
A lot of new developments in the Midwest or less leafy than even this. In the Midwest, the new neighborhoods are trying to be like the Northeast, but just doesn't have the character. Something about cramming houses close together in the Midwest doesn't quite "feel" the same when the Northeast does it (or rather, has been doing it on and off for 200 years).
I think that Bay Area example is old enough that trees and shrubs are big enough to make it look leafy. May not stay green leafy for long, water's running out. And those nearby hills are flammable.
American suburbia look segregated, they are too far from the city, you have to drive to get to everything, they also make socialization almost impossible, they are one of those places where i'd never live. It's an environment devoid of amenities, local shops and meeting places.
Generalizations and random personal opinions are running rampant through this thread.
"Too far from the city" and "a place where I'd never live" are totally subjective. I like living in the suburbs and have no desire to live in a dense urban center. My opinion is as valid as yours, yes?
"Look segregated" is an opinion based on what exactly?
"Socialization is almost impossible," if you simply can't socialize with anyone who lives near you and need to travel into a city center to do that. I find it easier to socialize with a few neighbors I know than a thousand strangers walking around a city.
"You have to drive to get to everything" and "devoid of amenities, local shops and meeting places" depends on the location and is flat-out untrue for most suburbs. Devoid of amenities? Really? I live in a tract home, but I can easily walk to shops, restaurants, parks, a theater, the library, etc. So does that mean I don't really live in the suburbs?
The buildings on the left are townhouses. The one on the right is a restaurant. Stairs next to the restaurant lead to a shopping center with a supermarket, drugstore, coffee shop, several other restaurants, etc. My house--a single-family residence in, yes, a tract of identical houses--is about a 5-minute walk from this lake. But, it would be very easy to take an aerial photograph of my tract in a way which makes it look like the ones at the beginning of this thread and everyone would say, Ugh, suburbia.
Hmm. I thought the wooden homes in the second picture posted of this Norwegian city looked a bit similar to Mr. Joshua's Boston views.
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