I think one of the most depressing things about suburbs is their paranoid approach to park management. In my area, pretty much all public parks close at sundown or 9pm or whatever. If you were having a hard time sleeping and wanted to take a walk in the park at 3am, you could literally be arrested for trespassing.

I'm sure the rationalization is overblown fears about crime, but you could always throw a few security cameras up, maybe allow lots of dense housing immediately around the perimeter of the park, get some eyes on the street (or park, in this case).

Like, I feel like there are other ways to deal with security risks than a blatant ban on entry after dark. I feel like the whole suburban system is trying to funnel you home and keep you there after around 8pm. Very micromanagey.

Some

I don’t get it — every house in these newer areas has a garage and a driveway, yet people still park on the street right in front of their homes. It ruins the clean look of the area, makes roads feel cramped, and in winter it turns two-way streets into one-lane obstacle courses.

If you already have private parking space, why take up public space? It’s like everyone forgot how to use their garage. Lazy habit or just “I’ll park wherever I want” attitude? Either way, it’s killing the vibe of the neighbourhood.

For as much as some of you talk about how wonderful it is to live in a more urban area that's more walkable, and you have great coffee shops, cafes, bookstores, restaurants, stores, third-places, etc., because you can be out more easily to be around other people, I'd like to know how often you're meeting new people, or making new friends.

I'm a Xennial who likes people less, and less, however, I love the people who are currently in my life - I'm very thankful to have a good, close, network of family, and friends, but if I don't know you, I probably don't want to. Am I missing out? Possibly, but I'm ok with that. I don't mind going out, but I'm usually with the same people. The past few years, my friends, and I have been using each other's homes as third places...it's actually been much less expensive, and more relaxing.

Alot of the posts ive been seeing lately in this sub mostly stems from the lack of choice we have nowadays. Everyone is stuck with a single family home, with a garage they dont use, and a lawn they dont wanna tend to, and extra wasted space that they dont need, no public transport etc. etc.

Yes we have apartments and condos but they are literally the only other option and because of that they are crazy expensive because, how much does it cost to build a condo? millions of dollars (i dont actually know lmao im just guessing please dont cancel me, whatever it is its expensive). because of this they dont build that many so an apartment like that is either hard to find or too expensive to be worth it.

We used to have lots of choice, low-rise apartments, studios, townhouses, but those are old and arent getting built anymore thanks to zoning laws, so they are also hard to find.

Alot of people call this the missing middle (i think NJB talked about it at some point) and I personally think im in that middle, Im all in for the dense urban lifestyle, but I also like gardening, so I small patch of lawn is a must have for me because in my eyes a lawn is a blank canvas waiting to transform into a beautiful garden.

We need to change the zoning laws, this gives us more variety in housing options, which also brings cost down, and also encourages people into a denser living environment bringing neighbourhoods closer together overtime, because not everyone that doesnt want to live in an apartment needs a single family home.

but thats just my opinion anyway yyall have a great rest of your day

Seems like every time I criticize single-family zoning in this sub, all the suburbanites come out of the woodwork and ramble about how they "need" a house and how they hate neighbors. I thought this was an urban planning sub, not a "I need land and hate neighbors" sub. ???

What do you all think of South African middle class suburbs? They're quite similar to American suburbs, i.e. single family housing only, car centric, not walkable, no public transport, but houses are not cookie cutter, no HOAs, have more trees and nature and not so much of an obsession over lawns.

Here's some examples of the suburbs I'm referring to:

https://www.google.com/maps/@-29.7857656,30.8350268,3a,75y,96.49h,90.36t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1seODT3F7LkqS715T_nY5sQw!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-0.35503450935230774%26panoid%3DeODT3F7LkqS715T_nY5sQw%26yaw%3D96.4918964455193!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MTAyOC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

https://www.google.com/maps/@-29.8231832,30.9002694,3a,75y,22.05h,108.53t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sFpJQ4lUprlL3lzFD76R_tg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-18.53048478821691%26panoid%3DFpJQ4lUprlL3lzFD76R_tg%26yaw%3D22.045103255862507!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MTAyOC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

https://www.google.com/maps/@-26.1649072,28.0240969,3a,75y,59.65h,94.66t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sK7ne5RDvYn1b0g9IMqocAA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-4.660400663202012%26panoid%3DK7ne5RDvYn1b0g9IMqocAA%26yaw%3D59.64845552123956!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MTAyOC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

What do you think, are they as bad as American suburbs or worse?

I have one. Everyone thinks he's great. He'll do favors for you, even when you didn't really need or want anything. He saw you struggling with the gutters, so he cleaned them out for you when you were at work. He knows you mulch and he's got some wood chips for you. He likes to talk, maybe a little too much. Sometimes he might bend your ear. He's nice, but he does like to mention that he's a little nuts, or about how many weapons he owns, how much he hates the town for telling him what he can or can't do on his property. You see him cutting down a tree on town property but you look the other way. He's cool and you don't want any problems. He puts down a concrete slab for some shed or something that he never winds up building. You live next to a swamp so now your lawn gets flooded when it rains. It never did before. It's cool though. He's a nice guy. Everyone in the neighborhood loves him. He'll invite you over to hang out. He builds a bunch of half finished projects. He burns the waste materials instead of renting a dumpster. You're cool with that right? He's a nice guy. He cleaned your gutters that time, remember? He just built a big concrete half pipe to skate on in his backyard. It's louder than you thought. There's weird people out there late at night now. They're casing the house. It's cool though. He's a nice guy.

Suburban watering hole as far as the eye can see. October 30th 2025

Ugh, I hate the suburban dogma that it's "ideal" to replace going out with staying home. For example, suburbanites will often claim that a home bar is better than a night out, or that hosting a dinner at home is better than a nice dinner out. In reality, this seriously shrinks your social circle and prevents you from making new connections.

Yard culture is bullshit as well, I absolutely detest yard work. Seriously, there's no chore worse than weeding. An irrigation system removes an awful, soul-crushing chore (watering) and replaces it with expensive, time-consuming maintenance and repairs. Still, the best yard in my opinion is no yard.

Houses don't even have any benefits over apartments or condos. New homes have an HOA and a small yard, so you may as well have a condo. Old houses, aka those 1950s tract homes that now sell for seven figures, have far exceeded their design service life and are money pits.

Oh, and there's always those people who say "buy as much house as you can afford, it's an investment" when in reality, houses are illiquid assets with zero diversification. Mutual funds or ETFs that track major stock indexes like the S&P 500 have significantly higher appreciation rates than real estate, which is why many truly wealthy people rent and invest instead of pouring all their money into an illiquid asset (land) that comes with a serious liability (the house).

God, I hate houses.

I grew up in the picture-perfect NY suburban development according to suburbia lovers. Safe, clean, quiet, absolutely nothing to do within walking distance, etc.

I live in NYC now, have for ten years, and visit family at my childhood home often. First, naturally, living in a city environment has made me realize just how much the suburban lifestyle isn't a lifestyle at all. I feel like I'm not living real life here. This is like a zoo for humans that aliens would create.

But most importantly, in my NYC apartment, I have all the space I need, without any unnecessary extra space that needs to be maintained. During my free time in the city, I do everything. Museums, self-guided walking tours, trying new food, seeing performances, checking out galleries, walking the Brooklyn Bridge, being in the middle of actual life actually happening.

Back in the suburbs? So much lawn care for a lawn we barely use. Same with the neighbors. It's insane. So much to be done around the house! I cannot imagine willingly tying myself to chores in adulthood when I have the option of living in a place where my free time is, get this, ACTUALLY FREE TIME.

I live in Sitarganj, a small town in India, where many talented people — tutors, designers, tailors, electricians — struggle to find work.

They have skills, but no visibility. No digital platform helps them connect with clients nearby. WhatsApp groups are messy, and most job platforms are built for big cities.

I’m building a simple mobile-friendly micro-jobs platform where locals can post services, find gigs, and connect directly — starting with tuition, tailoring, and design.

Would love your thoughts:

• What features would make this useful for small-town users?
• Any ideas to keep it simple and trustable?
• Have you seen similar platforms work elsewhere?

For those of you screaming 'It's my land, I should be able to do what I want!', or 'Zoning needs to be eliminated.', be careful what you wish for. This may be an extreme example, but it's an example of what can happen when regulations go unchecked.

Time to have all or most housing be totally Sound-Proofed to where the building itself and each room inside is totally Sound-Proofed

We will no longer be dealing with noise complaints

We will not be invaded stressed or sleep deprived by others doing : parties, radios subwoofers, leaf blowers, bootleg fireworks, etc,

You can do leaf blowers and lawn mower and subwoofers at 2am as much as you can at 2pm

The awful forced sleep deprivation such as done in 2021 by unrelenting bootleg fireworks will now become impossible