I have been reading about the move back to the cities from the suburbs. While I an not going to make a blanket statement, I want to throw out some observations about suburban living and how it has changed.
Disclaimer - I grew up in Mineola, Long Island. At one time it was farm country, then was developed, not so fast as Levittown to the east, but it was considered the suburbs. My friends in the city called it the "sticks" because you could not walk out your door and get on the subway, although we did have a bus stop at the corner and the train was within walking distance.
The suburbs have changed in the last 50 years. What was once 1/4 acre lots have become 2 - 3 acre lots. What was once grid style road layouts have become mazes of cul-de-sacs and dead ends. Town like Torrington, where I currently live, even have a fading suburbs, as growing out from a central town, the developments change as they finally fade into real rural areas.
The families have changed also. From the, father works while the mother stays home, modern suburbia is a virtual ghost town during the day, and actually, most all of the time. As families got smaller, kids no longer could find entertainment in their own house or neighborhood, but now have to be driven to group activities, whether band or soccer. Older people no longer retire to Florida or an apartment or move in with their kids, but hang on to their homes much longer.
Financially, taxes are going up as municipal services are stretched thin, citizens are less connected to their government (despite the advent of the Internet), and schools are dealing with kids needing extra services.
Now is any of this bad? If so, what needs to be done? That is for another time.
ChrisZ
10 min
