And the Discussion on the Future of Suburbia Continues
On the Times’ Freakonomics blog, leading urban theorists are debating what we’ve been talking about around here lately: the future of suburbia. The “smart people” they gathered to pontificate include James Kunstler, Thomas Antus, Jan Brueckner, Gary Gates, John Archer, Alan Berube and Lawrence Levy, who offered these predictions: The suburbs have three destinies, none…
On the Times’ Freakonomics blog, leading urban theorists are debating what we’ve been talking about around here lately: the future of suburbia. The “smart people” they gathered to pontificate include James Kunstler, Thomas Antus, Jan Brueckner, Gary Gates, John Archer, Alan Berube and Lawrence Levy, who offered these predictions: The suburbs have three destinies, none of them exclusive: as materials salvage, as slums, and as ruins. Or: If [gentrification] continues in a significant way, large numbers of suburban households looking for urban stimulation may end up switching places with minority central-city dwellers, stirring the ethnic pot in both places. Or, this vision: Suburbia will be flexible, it will be smarter, and it will be hybrid. So which is it?
What Is the Future of Suburbia? [Freakonomics Blog]
Suburbia. Photo by Stacy Magallon.
Thanks wasder for the well wishes. I thought for sure I would check in this morning and see “Don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out”! LOL
Good luck in your new house!
You know, maybe this registered user thing is a good thing indeed.
Yeah, I have made that flight with kids several times. Not fun, but once you get there its sweet. Especially when its winter here. I will probably spend some years living there when my children are old enough to really enjoy it.
“Queens blvd. really, really sucks. The towers of apartments suck.”
And the Pope is catholic.
I don’t think anyone thinking of giving up brownstone brooklyn for queens is considering moving to the soviet-era apartment blocks on queens blvd….
Wasder – I also spent two years down under earlier this decade (Melbourne not Sydney). I would live there forever if it weren’t for the 24-hour travel time back to the East coast, which is a very big deal with kids. Life down there is very good.
I don’t think you’ll regret it, since your reasons don’t seem clouded by resentment. No place is perfect, we can’t all have everything we want. Also, a move isn’t permanent, if you don’t like it, you can give NYC another try…if you can swing it financially that is. Moneywise I think I am out of that game, but once I accepted my situation and stopped being angry at all the people with more money than I have and started being grateful for what I do have, things got better.
Good luck HWN!! Nicely said and totally understood.
Count me in amongst those contemplating the move, and actually leaning towards it.
With 2 very active boys, I feel as though we need the space. I’m not talking McMansion space. But 3 modest bedrooms would be nice.
I’m glad that there are those in thie thread who are objective enough to realize “These theories while interesting, are much too “all or nothing” to be considered a realistic fore-shadowing of the future. ” (Thanks townhouselady) I haven’t seen this before in any other suburbs vs. city thread in Brownstoner, and I appreciate this intelligent discussion.
In Kuntsler’s book, the Geography of Nowhere, he also maintains that his own preference is for town, not city or the suburb. He’s in Saratoga Springs – a place I love except for lack of diversity.
We’re finally looking at the usual suspects of Larchmont, Hudson Rriver towns, Montclair, etc. I think we will likely choose Montclair for a bunch of reasons. They all have a bit of sidewalk culture and decent train service to the city, and I am hoping living there won’t compare to a totally car dependent suburb with no sidewalks.
Having previously lived in an area that is the extreme opposite of a city, somewhere btwn exurbs and rural, I can comfortably say that no matter how great the hiking, lakes, nature, etc. you will still live in your car and it’s incredibly isolating. So, like Kuntsler, my family and I will vote for “town”. I would prefer to stay, but I don’t think I can make it work. I’ve been visiting this site because my heart belongs to Brooklyn, but I feel the time has come to make the move.
I hope we won’t regret it. :/
Lechacal–I hear you about enjoying a few more years in the slope. Being married to an australian my back up plan is Bondi Beach in Sydney, where her family has a house. I don’t want to bail but I am happy to have at least a fantasy out.
I used to live in Manhattan and when my son was born we needed more space. We tried to move to Brooklyn because we liked it more, but we simply could not afford it. We moved to Queens and I totally convinced myself that the ‘uncool’ vibe was just groupthink and that I was smarter than all those people who needed their neighborhood to be a brand.
Well, after three years we had to leave. Queens blvd. really, really sucks. The towers of apartments suck. The ethnic real deal food is overrated. The Indian food at Roosevelt is not any better than a crappy buffet on E. 6th street.
Most of the restaurants in Queens suck. There is a huge quido car culture thing going on that gets really, really tiresome. It’s not that Qeens is uncool, it’s that if you are an artist, you will feel alienated. The people there are nice, and I got along very well with my nieghbors, but most folks were back office bankers, or accountants, or people who are very content with the cubicle life. I am not judging them, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
But I am not one of them, and the former E.Village or parts of Brooklyn would have made me feel much more a part of a community. The thing is, it costs too much, especially if you have a kid. The idea of suburban life seemed like it would be more of the same, so I moved very, very far away.
Now I live in a tiny town a 14 hour plane ride from New York and I can’t really speak to my neighbors, but for now I am actually enjoying my life much more. I love New York, but I don’t have the moneyt to make it work, and I don’t have the ambition to make that kind of money. When I moved to New York, it was a viable place for someone like me to live, now you really have to be a finanical success to pull it off.