The Suburban Challenge

Well, I've worked with Mexicans who frequented brothels with the spare money that they had not sent to either of their two sets of wives and children in Mexico...that may be better than stereotypical redneck-incest or good ol' American suburban domestic violence, but seriously, what's the barometer and who's administering it? Suburban way of life is predicated on cheap energy:it may be cheap this year, but it will undoubtedly rise exponentially in the coming decades, as most agree. Standard Oil, Ford (or GM?) and Firestone, were all indicted in the 60's for conspiring to purchase suburban rail systems so they could be dismantled and forgotten, replaced by gasoline, buses and tires. Other more successful attempts by these industries to further their profits have been documented as well. Hopefully the changing energy market will enable our lifestyles to evolve into more responsible consumers. But I'm no Cornucopian, perhaps more Malthusian. An abundant, sustainable, and clean energy source may just enable us to consume even further and just create other problems. All I know is I'd rather ride a crowded subway for 20 minutes than face the scourge of traffic, road rage, ticket-happy police, insurance and all the other driving ills that pervert the human soul. Classic, Victorian suburbs are nice and quaint; today's factory houses on bull-dozed land are hardly what you could call country-living. But as the American Dream asks, "Who are you if you don't own a house?" Bull-***. The American Dream is turning our youths into psycho gunmen who kill innocents at suburban strip-malls and schools.

Nice article. Whatever you think about the suburbs, they are definitely off the radar for most people and organizations trying to help those in need. The urban centers are where many assume people need the most help, but things are changing - even more so with the recent economic crisis. The suburbs are the new center of American life and are where many of our most challenging problems now lie. I'm happy to see Newsweek drawing some attention to the issue!

Suburbs are great. People don't shot each other like they do in the city. People like to drive. How is someone supposed to go to the supermarket without a car?

As tempting as GeorgeC's suggestions might sound to some, I find it terrifying to imagine giving the government the power to decide who can, and who cannot, procreate. It would be better to have NO government at all, than to have one with the power to regulate every important facet of individual life in that way. Beyond all of the abusive uses of this power that WOULD occur (and these are legion....the Nazi eugenics program might eventually appear benign by comparison), it requires little imagination to see where this sort of thing inevitably leads. Who decides? Well, the political elites do, of course. And the peasant class would have to be kept in check by strong coercive methods, because they certainly wouldn't willingly accede to the "benevolent wisdom" of the rich and powerful telling them (or even some of them) they cannot have children. Forced sterilization would be only a first ugly step... eventually, government would undertake to "deal" with the product of "unauthorized reproduction" that the decision-makers don't want mucking up the gene pool... might as well set up the gas chambers and fire up the ovens right now, because they would get to that, sooner or later.

The suburbs are where many people seek a life a bit closer to nature and more space for themselves and their families, away from the crowding and pollution of cities where too many people living in a concentrated area cause all kinds of environmental and social problems. Many scientific studies have shown that crowding (as found in most large cities) leads to massively increased levels of stress - it just isn't natural to have human beings crammed in to tiny dwellings stacked on top of each other like ants. This is a natural physiological response of thousands of years of evolution where the population density was much lower and humans lived more spread out and with room to roam and interact with their natural environment. America is blessed with plenty of land for its citizens...we just need to figure out how use it more intelligently through better designed transportation systems and living situations.

Suburbs ARE the problem. With the era of cheap energy over therefore so is the era of cheap personal transport. That means the era of the suburb and sprawl is over. Lifestyles must change. America can start to plan for this now or wait and make the change with much pain and suffering.

One big issue with the suburbs is zoning. Many suburban neighborhoods have restrictive zoning that keeps out affordable housing or small businesses. Zoning boards are heavily influenced by local residents, who are afraid that changs will make their housing prices drop. I used to live in an apartment near my job, which was located in an affluent suburb. I attended many zoning board meetings where home owners would scream that the apartments were bringing in "the wrong kind of people". (Almost all of my neighbors were like me - people with full time professional jobs who couldn't afford to live in McMansions.) Eventually the zoning board got their way, and the apartments were torn down. Most of the people who lived in them left the area - I got another job and moved out of state. The zoning board got their way, but at what cost to the community as a whole?

For eight years the middle class and suburbs have not mattered to those in Congress and the White House.
Perhaps this will change now. A change that is sorely needed and truly where attention should have been. DrDavidRobinson4Health.com

Since the banking industry has already made their money on bad loans which eventually led to people foreclosing, perhaps the billions of dollars of bailout given to the banks could be returned to the government to be used to help the suburban areas. The banks are not using the bailout money at present since they received the money. They should be held accountable for taxpayers money and return the money or start financing or refinancing loans more readily so that people can keep or have their homes at even a more lower rate. If not, they should adjust the mortgage amounts to the current appraised values. They helped create this mess and should be held accountable for clean up and truly lending a hand. The banks have made more than enough.

Modern mass transit is even more important. We need to connect the suburban areas with the city and connect the suburbs to other suburbs instead of just hub and spoke transit systems.

I'm moving out to the country...