Suburban Shame

I spent almost my entire life living in the suburbs. I never really had reason to complain, I had a big back yard, my friends and I lived close to each other and we always felt safe in our neighbourhoods. The suburbs was the perfect place to grow up. Why would anyone think differently?

On a recent site visit to one of our projects, my boss and I got into quite an interesting discussion on why he HATES the suburbs!! I was shocked to say the least but he had some valid points. He told me that when he use to live in Seattle, he lived exactly a mile from work. But thanks to the way the city was designed he had no choice but to DRIVE to work.

"I lived in the suburbs only once in my entire life. My home was one exit away from my work but there was no pedestrian crossings or safe path that I could take to get to my office. If I wanted to walk, I would need to take a detour 5 miles even though I lived only a mile away! My time is very valuable, I don't want to waste it sitting in traffic."

My boss and his family now live in downtown where they can walk or take transit to any location they need go daily. They are involved in the ZIP car program (vehicle-sharing) so they have a vehicle whenever they need it, which is not very often. He claims that not only is his quality of life better (more time to spend with his wife and son) but he's healthier now because of all the exercise he is getting.

Many would claim that downtown streets are not entirely pedestrian friendly but the suburbs are worse. Sure we may have wide new sidewalks but when do we actually use them to make a walking trip? The atmosphere in the suburbs is not endusive to non-automobile trips, everything is just too far from each other!

So sure I might have a nice yard but all the time I might have spent in it is now lost in commuting everywhere. What a shame....!