Jeff Russell

Thank you, I'm glad it's been helpful so far!

And yeah, I agree - I think suburbs are one of the prime examples of "you don't actually want what you think you want." Big house? Great, now you can be anxious about property values and your mortgage! Big yard? Huzzah, you've all but eliminated casual interactions with your neighbors! Away from the crowding and bustle of the city? Welcome to a wasted ~1 hour a day of commuting! Since you're commuting, want some big, easy to drive in streets? Great, now it's not walkable and it's dangerous for your kids and pets to play outside!

Basically, I've had a pet theory since college that suburbs are anomie machines thanks to the over-abundance of negative space and near total lack of organic, unplanned coming-together.

And all that's not even touching the isolation of kids that you're talking about, which I agree with. I was pretty lucky to be able to ride my bike around with my friends, but I definitely see how different things are now.

And, err, I'm deeply worried about how the suburb we live in is going to affect our daughters :/