Check out this weird article in the Washington Post. It's about people in Northern Virginia who are downsizing, downgrading and otherwise refusing to keep up with the Joneses. Tired of the lengthy commute and the huge mortgage and the absurd monthly payment on the SUV, they are breaking free of "suburbia's stranglehold." (I take that terminology directly from the headline.)
But I wonder. Is this strictly a suburban problem? Is this not true of people who live inside city limits? Drive through Squirrel Hill or Shadyside once. Do you think that none of those people struggle to make their mortgage? Do you think that some of them are a little obsessed with their automobiles? (Walk down Walnut Street once, and pretty soon you will see two Hummers trying to get past each other. Hilarious!) Go to any upscale neighborhood in DC. You'll see the same thing.
OK. So maybe those kids of neighborhoods are "suburban" in a loose sense. But that doesn't seem fair. Because in that case, "suburb" is being used as a loose term for "things that are dysfunctional," and things pretty quickly become incoherent.
Besides, even if you do accept that definition, it still doesn't matter. Go into any upscale neighborhood that you define as "urban." And you will quickly find people who are "house poor," people who spend too much on cars, and people who are crunched for time. Seriously. I hardly think the suburbs are unique in this regard.
As a matter of fact, go to any RURAL area. You might see fewer $65,000 SUVs, but you will see a lot more $50,000 pickup trucks.
But speaking of people doing ridiculous things, the same Washington Post has an extensive article about "marathon commuters." People who drive more than 100 miles (one way) to work. Both of the people featured in the article spend AT LEAST four hours in the car every day. [Whoops. The one guy commutes only 60 miles. And he often spends opnly three hours in the car everyday. Sorry. On the other hand, when the weather is bad, his trip is three hours. Each way.] But again, this is hardly a "suburban" issue. The one guy drives from one urban area to another: From Charlottesville to Tysons Corner. In fact, Tysons is actually a suburban area. So this guy is living in a city and driving to the 'burbs. In quite strange fashion. (No, Charlottesville is not Manhattan. But it's not a suburb of anything, either.)
It all makes me glad I walk to work.
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