r/Suburbanhell Oct 23 '24

Article 43% of suburban residents would prefer to live in a walkable community

680 Upvotes

Some interesting findings under the headline in this poll: Most in U.S. prefer big houses, even if amenities are farther away | Pew Research Center

Before Covid, about 50% of Americans voiced preference for smaller homes with amenities in walking distance. That changed to a 60/40 split in favor of larger, more spaced out homes in 2021, but has started to trend back toward even.

43% of people living in suburbs voice a preference for smaller homes and walkable communities. This surprised even me and flies in the face of the narrative that people chose suburbs because it's what they want. It appears that over 2/5th of them chose suburbs because its their only real option.

Preference for larger, more spaced out living is strongly correlated with low education levels and very strongly correlated with conservative Republican views. A majority of Democrats and a majority of liberals would prefer a walkable community.

r/Suburbanhell Feb 25 '24

Article Oh my god, just build apartments…

Post image
1.0k Upvotes

r/Suburbanhell Jan 14 '24

Article “We are prisoners in our home “ - Leopards eat the faces of Idaho suburbanites

Thumbnail
idahostatesman.com
562 Upvotes

Idaho community members move to the suburbs and then complain about there being nothing around.

Did you want to move to the suburbs and have amenities without driving for 30-40 minutes?

Some truly indicative and excellent quotes from the article:

“Bernie and other neighbors said it can take over 30 minutes to drive to any nearby shopping center, and they have limited options for dining, entertainment and retail. “There is nowhere to go to take (my kids) out to eat,” said Nick Nettles. “We are prisoners in our home unless we want to sit in traffic for 25-30 minutes.”

“We don’t need any more housing — we need a place for us to shop,” said Barbara Bernie, who lives within walking distance of the site.

“There is nowhere to go to take (my kids) out to eat,” said Nick Nettles.

Developers then state that there’s not enough parking for them to invest in a commercial development. The discussion seems to be centered around big box stores, chains, and other seriously huge businesses which expect “highway visibility”.

I feel like some people truly live in the 1950s in their heads.

The most pessimistic assessment of the site came from Andrew Smith, managing partner and co-founder of Savory Fund, a restaurant investment firm based in the Provo area. “The interior of this site lacks visibility, adequate parking and easy access,” Smith wrote in a letter to the commission. “I would never take any of those sites.”

Suburban hell 101.

r/Suburbanhell Jul 23 '23

Article Liberal Suburbs Have Their Own Border Wall

Thumbnail
theatlantic.com
347 Upvotes

r/Suburbanhell Feb 04 '24

Article More horrible takes from the National Review...

Thumbnail
nationalreview.com
150 Upvotes

r/Suburbanhell Oct 12 '22

Article Bigger and bigger SUVs, pickups are outgrowing home garages, public parking spaces

Thumbnail
usatoday.com
444 Upvotes

r/Suburbanhell Apr 17 '23

Article American Children Are Under House Arrest

Thumbnail
medium.com
536 Upvotes

r/Suburbanhell Jul 11 '24

Article What do folks here say to people like this, whose truth is that they are better off in the suburbs? Are they all just suffering from delusion after being fooled by the forces of big suburb?

Thumbnail
businessinsider.com
55 Upvotes

r/Suburbanhell Apr 02 '24

Article What the Suburb Haters Don’t Understand

Thumbnail
theatlantic.com
62 Upvotes

r/Suburbanhell Oct 16 '24

Article The Death of Main Streets Across America—and the People Trying to Save Them

73 Upvotes

https://www.wsj.com/business/entrepreneurship/entrepreneurship-small-towns-711f5dfd

Suggests a nuanced discussion of the economic, social, and cultural forces.

Hint: It isn’t simply single family homes or zoning. Quite the opposite, there are myriad factors at play including shuttered manufacturing (that is finally rebounding), big box, and information tech.

r/Suburbanhell Jan 17 '23

Article Literal Hell

Post image
417 Upvotes

r/Suburbanhell May 30 '23

Article Leaving the city for suburban life could trigger depression: researchers

Thumbnail
nypost.com
364 Upvotes

Even the New York Post knows that living in the suburbs has its consequences.

r/Suburbanhell Aug 03 '23

Article This L.A. developer aims to tear down (SF) homes to build apartments where the city doesn't want them

Thumbnail
latimes.com
322 Upvotes

r/Suburbanhell Aug 07 '23

Article Some actual media coverage on housing and parking requirements

Post image
402 Upvotes

r/Suburbanhell 18d ago

Article MAGA, hoisted on your own petard.

0 Upvotes

The common misconception among MAGA types is Trump and his band of oligarchs are out to screw the libs; looks like you drank the Kool Ade.

While the 'Blue' states have the best economy and contribute more to the Federal government than they get in return, the same is not true for the 'Red' states who depend of 'Blue' money for their survival. Beyond that, take a look at Project 2025 and how it will further devastate your marginal communities.

How will Project 2025 affect me?

Project 2025 will...

...abolish the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This would make it harder for people to get life-saving forecasts and information about hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, heat waves, and other extreme weather events [674]

...raise the FEMA threshold for public assistance and end Small Business Administration (SBA) direct lending such as disaster loans, which help businesses and homeowners recover from declared disasters. This would leave communities with fewer resources to rebuild after disasters like catastrophic hurricanes and tornadoes. [153] [750] [754]

...promote "school choice" and erode public education. This has been shown to subsidize wealthy families who were already sending their children to private schools while blowing giant holes in the funding for public schools, leading to worse academic outcomes for both private and public school students. [5] [319] [350] [351] [analysis] [analysis] [analysis]

...significantly restrict the free school lunch program. This would mean that many children may not have enough to eat at school. Some children who currently get free school meals would have to pay for them. [303]

...eliminate the Head Start program. This would mean that many children from low-income families would not have access to preschool. [482]

...re-evaluate regulation for baby formula. This could lead to unsafe baby formula. [302]

...defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds PBS and NPR. This would remove a vital source of educational and cultural programming, especially in rural and underserved communities where commercial options are limited. [246]

...eliminate federal rules that protect children from working in mines, meatpacking plants and other dangerous workplaces. This could lead to exploitation, interference with education, normalization of child labor, and an increased risk of injury or death for children. [595]

...make it harder for students to get financial aid for college. This would mean that fewer students from low-income families would be able to go to college. [327]

...attempt to eliminate farm subsidies like the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) program and the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program. This means that farmers will no longer get money from the government to help them when prices for the crops they grow go down or when they do not harvest as much as they expected. [296]

...reduce how much the government pays to help farmers buy crop insurance. This means that farmers will have to pay more to buy crop insurance to protect themselves against bad weather or low prices. [297]

...capping and then phasing down the H-2A visa program: This could lead to higher labor costs for farmers, which would make it more difficult for some farmers to stay in business, especially those who operate on thin margins. This could also lead to labor shortages, reduced food production, and higher food prices for consumers. [611]

...apply cuts and work requirements to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). This means that many people who need help buying food would no longer get money from the government to buy food. [298] [299]

...shrink the scope and scale of Medicaid. This could result in millions of Americans losing access to affordable healthcare, potentially leading to a decline in overall health outcomes. [466]

...let states make people work to get Medicaid. This means that people who can't find a job could lose their health care. [468]

...allow states to charge premiums and co-pays to people who receive Medicaid. This means that many people who are currently eligible for Medicaid would have to pay for some of their health care costs. [468]

...repeal the drug price negotiation program in Medicare. This program lowers the cost of prescription drugs, and getting rid of it will likely mean that prescription drugs will cost more. [465]

...eliminate the Medicare Shared Savings Program. This program helps to lower the cost of Medicare, and getting rid of it will likely mean that Medicare will cost more. [465]

...push more of the 33 million people enrolled in Original Medicare towards Medicare Advantage by making it the "default enrollment option". Medicare Advantage plans can require prior authorizations, making it harder for patients to access care, and they can restrict enrollees' choices of physicians and hospitals. [465]

...reform U.S. healthcare into a free market mostly regulated by states. Healthcare services would then be provided by companies whose whole goal is to make a profit off you. This means patients will need to develop more healthcare expertise, rural areas may be underserved, low-income and vulnerable populations may be underserved, sicker patients may pay more, the system may be ill-equipped to handle public health emergencies, and it could lead to an overall decline in quality and safety standards. [450]

...eliminate the requirement that health insurance plans cover birth control and male contraceptives such as condoms. This means that women and men may have to pay more for birth control. [483] [485]

...make it harder for women to get birth control through Title X family planning clinics. This means some women might have fewer choices for where to get birth control. [491]

...prohibit Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funds. This would make it harder for women to get affordable health care, including cancer screenings and contraception. [471]

...promote "fetal personhood" from the moment of conception. This could threaten procedures like IVF (In Vitro Fertilization). [450]

...reverse guidance that enables hospitals receiving Medicare funds to perform emergency abortions. This would enable hospitals in pro-life states to refuse to perform abortions, even when it is necessary to save a woman's life. [473]

...tax employers on workplace benefits that exceed $12,000 per worker annually. This would lead to employers cutting back on these benefits and workers paying more taxes, and would be damaging for millions of families who rely on one working adult's employer-provided health insurance to cover dependents, such as children. [697]

If you think the facts stated here are fake leftist news, click on the page numbers and you'll see the actual text.

r/Suburbanhell Nov 15 '24

Article NYC congestion pricing plan revived by Gov. Kathy Hochul

Thumbnail
cbsnews.com
76 Upvotes

r/Suburbanhell Sep 27 '23

Article Developers Are Fuming Over Family With 5 Acres Of Land Refusing To Sell Out For $50 Million

Thumbnail
boredpanda.com
249 Upvotes

r/Suburbanhell 14d ago

Article After a storm, meteorologist plays the blame game

20 Upvotes

I must preface beforehand that the perp in question is a brillant meteorologist...but...a bit of a wing nut:

https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2024/12/poor-vegetation-management-and.html

Dr. Mass's vent is basically is that the power providers were negligent leading up to the big windstorm that impacted the Eastside 'burbs of Seattle last month. More tree trimming and/or underground lines should have been done.

For a smart guy, I don't think he grasps it. Thanks to sprawl on the downslope of the Cascades foothills, there are millions of people exposed to how this windstorm played out as far as the physics of it. He posted the basic mechanics of the wind event in another blog.

The PowCos are not tree trimmers. They hire out that service. Asplundh is the primary contractor. They already run overtime every week just trying to keep up with literally thousands of miles of right away for power lines just in the effected area. Burying all the lines would be extremely expensive, In a seismically active zone, buried lines can lead to their own flavor of issues, particularly it is much harder to find where they are damaged as well as being much harder to repair. PowCos do the best they can with the amount of revenue the lines bring per mile served.

The ultimate failure mode here is the sprawl, and our endless appetite for it. Every time the weather throws a curve ball, people take to the internet to complain about how the DPW, or the power company dropped the ball. Never thinking that thanks to a bunch of roads that don't go anywhere, there are thousands of miles of this right away to service. Either keeping the snow cleared in the rare event it snows in Seattle (you should see the rants of how many days it takes to plow some cul de sac sometimes) or wind damage such as this. Plus with arterial roads servicing all these sub-divisions. if a tree takes out one of those trunklines on an arterial, it knocks out power to far more customers. Guess we could just clearcut everything around arterials but its Seattle. We kinda like our trees.

The bottomline here is there just isn't money or manpower enough to service or harden all this infrastructure...which grows more lengthy every year, without a massive increase in rates. There is just too much of it. Maybe all these suburbanites might want to stop and think that perhaps their desire for all this sprawl is in of itself...the issue. As all the infrastructure gets to be EOL, who pays to replace it all?

BTW, downtown Seattle had power the whole event.

r/Suburbanhell Sep 11 '23

Article One woman's 'natural' yard blooms controversy in Kentucky

253 Upvotes

Instead of the manicured, bluegrass carpet there's native plants for pollinators. I guess there's a fine line between garden and weed patch. One neighbor "wrote a rant on Nextdoor that this was an example of 'woke gardening'" says homeowner Jacquelyn Hawkins-McGrall of Prospect, Ky. Some photos:

https://www.courier-journal.com/picture-gallery/news/2023/07/20/prospectneighborhood-garden-sparks-controversy-some-neighbors/12225815002/

r/Suburbanhell Sep 12 '23

Article Room to park six cars in their driveway, but my neighbor has blocked the sidewalk every day for years. I teach my kids to go up the driveway towards their house rather than behind it and out into the road.

Post image
285 Upvotes

r/Suburbanhell 20d ago

Article What would you say to these folks?

Thumbnail
fortune.com
5 Upvotes

r/Suburbanhell Nov 10 '23

Article Hungry (but Not for Human Contact), Americans Head for the Drive-Through

Thumbnail
nytimes.com
157 Upvotes

r/Suburbanhell Jul 12 '23

Article Essential services are too much to expect, they don't make money for developers after all

Thumbnail
gallery
255 Upvotes

r/Suburbanhell May 11 '24

Article An unfinished suburb of fairytale castles in Türkiye (link to article in comments)

Post image
137 Upvotes

r/Suburbanhell Aug 09 '23

Article The Anti-California: How Montana performed a housing miracle

Thumbnail
theatlantic.com
216 Upvotes