Suburban Nation Response
Since I was born, I have lived in subdivisions in suburban cities. I enjoyed how there were no cars and freeways to keep me up at night like in Chicago. My parents loved how a Wal-Mart and a Target were just a few minutes away from home. It is very hard to find flaws in the system that I have learned to adapt to as I grew up. As much as I like suburban living, I can’t help but agree on some of the arguments the authors made in the text.
Since I was 9 years old, I grew up in the town of New Albany, which is next to Columbus and Gahanna. In New Albany, Ohio, there are new houses and subdivisions being built every year. Almost all of the houses were built in the late ‘90s and early 2000’s. What used to be farmland are now subdivisions for people planning to move in for the superb school districts. When I drive to school, the roads I take are congested with construction workers. There are new roads, new subdivisions, and old buildings are being demolished. Sadly, in a few years, New Albany will “consume land at an alarming rate” and eventually become “unsustainable” (4). The extra few minutes of traffic are an inconvenience, but the benefits seem to trump the downsides.
Even though the neighborhoods did not form naturally, a suburban lifestyle is not the worst thing in the world. Instead of paying rent for a small apartment, people can have mortgages which “typically cost less per month than paying rent” (8). Everything is separated into defined areas, such as restaurants on one street and stores on another. Even if there is a little more traffic, the things that suburbs offer are worth the extra ten minute drive to work.