Friday, December 14, 2007

Is Suburbia Actually Hell on Earth?

It might be if you listen to popular culture. It is also heaven if you listen to popular culture. Pundits and intellectuals attack it, historians and politicians applaud it. Rock stars complain about it and country stars pretend it is something more rural than it is. All I know is that I mostly love it, but that I feel very guilt living in it. I know that suburbia is the center of our overly consumptive lifestyles. I know that it would be far more environmentally friendly to cluster in more urban areas. I know that suburbia creates an existential crisis for many who feel disconnected in ways that they are incapable of understanding. But, it still seems like a wonderful middle ground between the cities and the country. I can have my little homestead, but still have lots of services. I can take advantage of large clusters of people in that we can have good restaurants and parks and schools, but I don't have to share a structure with strangers.

I think the suburbs may be wrong for a great number of people - it just isn't the right environment for them and they'd suffer if they lived there. But, for me, I think it is exactly the right place.

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