Your thoughts on the suburbs? for everyday living

Poll of the Day

Suburban single family homes are only viable under population growth ponzi schemes and through being subsidized by cities.

The simple fact of the matter is suburban single family homes are extremely expensive to provide services (roads, electric gas water and telecom utilities, emergency services) per capita. The taxes brought in from property tax don't come close to offsetting the cost. So municipalities either need to balance the budget by taking in more taxes from more productive areas, or by growing their deficit. This deficit may not be obvious on paper from year to year, because infrastructure is replaced on the order of decades instead of yearly. But aging infrastructure can't be ignored forever and the bills eventually come due.

I live in a large apartment/condo building in what's technically a suburb. I don't have any noise issues from other units. My partner has a car from before our marriage, but I haven't had a car in six years. I walk, take the bus, or taken the metro for work and errands. My monthly transportation costs is $80 plus maybe a few bucks a week if I take longer trips during M-F. I don't have a car payment, gas, parking, insurance, or property taxes for transportation and this saves me probably $1000 monthly.

All the walking helps naturally stay fit and reduces future healthcare costs. The reduced carbon emissions from not driving is more significant than going vegetarian. The reduced stress from not having to drive to work is invaluable.

I can walk to multiple groceries stores, my doctor, dozens of restaurants, the pharmacy, and multiple coffee shops. While my building has a gym, I'm only two blocks from my large commercial one that I walk to most days (138/156 days so far in 2025). I can walk out my door and be on the train five minutes later to further destinations. My place of work is a six minute train ride with zero traffic. I feel like I'm living life with a cheat code.
Take me for what I am -- who I was meant to be.
And if you give a damn, take me baby, or leave me.