> charming neighborhoods in the country (e.g. Chelsea in New York
That's charming to you???? Looking at photos of it gives me the creeps. How can people stand to live in places like that?
> But most of the rest of the country feels dead in comparison.
?????
The rest of the country feels open and alive, not crowded and oppressive.
I've very glad that in the US you can pick and choose what you like, and it's not all a monoculture. You live in a density you like and I'll live in one I like.
But please don't go out and advocate for more of what you like while pretending other people's desires are somehow "bad".
I think "desire" has little to do with it. Right now in my age demographic tons of friends are gnashing their teeth because "public transit" and "decent schools" are apparently incompatible among American urban planners.
And suburban sprawl is hardly "open and alive." Here in NoVA it's just mile after mile of asphalt and concrete with most of the greenery strategically planted as highway noise breaks and to separate subdivisions. If you want to see "open and alive" go to cities in Europe. If you start driving out of Amsterdam, it's crazy how quickly you're in the middle of dairy farms.
It's typical of people from both the East Coast and West Coast to think their experiences are representative of the whole country...
Just like it's silly for me to say everyone from the coasts ignores the middle, it's silly for you to imagine that everywhere is like Northern Virginia.
> It's typical of people from both the East Coast and West Coast to think their experiences are representative of the whole country...
I think you have good intentions, but this comes across as pretty insensitive. Rayiner isn't saying every corner of the USA is sprawling suburbia; only that the huge NoVA sprawl outside of D.C. contributes against the average sprawling suburbia from being considered "open and alive". It's a debatable point without labeling huge groups of people.
I did have a second paragraph, short as it was, noting how silly it is to paint with such a broad brush.
Whatever makes the difference (zoning, local culture and traditions, socioeconomic status, ...), there are good and bad suburban areas; they aren't all lifeless, even if they do seem to stretch on forever in places.
Edit to add: suburban areas aren't meant to be experienced from a distance, viewing from the freeway. Looking from a distance at sprawling neighborhoods won't give one a good impression of what it's like to live in one of those neighborhoods.
In my exurban town, all that's paid by either property taxes or my utility payments. (Plus local schools--which I don't use but are far and away the largest cost applied against my property taxes.) I also pay for private trash collection and my own septic.
Imputing the costs of roads is more difficult although I'd note my town is only about 25 years newer than Boston so it's hardly a case of recent sprawl.
That's charming to you???? Looking at photos of it gives me the creeps. How can people stand to live in places like that?
> But most of the rest of the country feels dead in comparison.
?????
The rest of the country feels open and alive, not crowded and oppressive.
I've very glad that in the US you can pick and choose what you like, and it's not all a monoculture. You live in a density you like and I'll live in one I like.
But please don't go out and advocate for more of what you like while pretending other people's desires are somehow "bad".