cesiumadventures:

i was wondering why it is that i feel comfortable in rural settings and urban settings but not in suburban settings, because i’ve considered rural and urban to be two extremes on a sliding scale with suburbs in the middle

but that’s not really the case

the suburbs are extremely different and in a category of their own because their existence is predicated on the wealthier part of the working class trying to put as much physical distance between them and the centers of industry where they actually do their work as possible, creating as much of a division between work/life and public/private space as possible (and bridging the gap increasingly using cars rather than public transportation, to further isolate people)

not to mention the fact that white people wanted to get away from black people and immigrants as they were increasingly migrating in northern cities and white people could use their greater material wealth and racist housing subsidies in their favor to escape city life while maintaining employment

suburbs are a monstrosity that should never have happened and continue to do harm