# Why do liberals hate suburbs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 31, 2013, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-suburbs/664965 "2013-07-31T02:31:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 35
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-suburbs/664965/681 "2015-02-23T04:01:14Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Why are you using racially charged language on this message board? Because I’m not. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-suburbs/664965/682 "2015-02-23T04:10:16Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Because I’m not. Yes, you are. The term “Cracker” is offensive and disparaging and only directed to people of one race. That’s racist. Maybe a moderator will check in? ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-suburbs/664965/683 "2015-02-23T04:54:06Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I think you’ll find old Floridians do not object to the name [“Cracker.”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_cracker) It’s a state appellation, like “Tarheel” or “Buckeye.” Granted, it is one only ever applied to **white** Floridians. Essentially it means white Anglo Floridians of Southern culture whose families were living in Florida before WWII. Man - let’s go to the way back machine! Doh, it’s from this same thread, though it was 1.5 years ago: > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > IME, whenever a Doper posts “It’s not racist” or words to that effect, usually it is. I’m not sure what’s more amusing, the original absurd statement or the fact that it’s actually accurate in this instance. I’m torn. * * * > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Again, it is bad for kids to grow up where you can’t go anywhere unless Mom drives you. In _It’s a Wonderful Life,_ young George Bailey (living not in a city but in the vanishing typology of an old-fashioned small town) could walk to school, walk to his job at the drugstore, walk to other stores to run errands for Mom, walk to the play-area where his brother almost died, walk to his Dad’s building-and-loan, walk anyplace in Bedford Falls without bothering anyone for a lift. It helps a kid grow up faster and better. **A suburban kid can only walk to close neighbors’ houses, and perhaps to a playground.** (my bold) I wonder if you actually believe this. It’s quite ridiculous. There are two assertions here: [ol] [li]it is bad for kids to grow up where you can’t go anywhere unless Mom drives you. [/li][li]A suburban kid can only walk to close neighbors’ houses, and perhaps to a playground.[/li][/ol] To the first - cite? To the second - cite? I grew up in a suburb. I walked or biked to school, the grocery store, the comic book store, the mall, the arcade, bowling alley, tennis courts, basketball courts, book stores, pretty much everywhere. And my neighbors’ houses and the playground. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-suburbs/664965/684 "2015-02-23T06:43:31Z")
> [@jmm313](#): > > **Rural** > > -Best place for senior citizens to live. Peace and quiet. Seniors in good health, perhaps. But if you’re likely to need to hurry to a doc, “rural” better mean a small town and not a farm in the middle of nowhere. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-suburbs/664965/685 "2015-02-23T07:12:44Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Wrong. > > It’s racist. it was the name for the Atlanta minor league baseball team before the Braves moved there. > **[Atlanta Crackers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_Crackers)** > > The Atlanta Crackers were a Minor League Baseball team based in Atlanta, Georgia, between 1901 and 1965. The Crackers were Atlanta's home team until the Atlanta Braves moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1966. > Atlanta played its inaugural Southern Association game, against the Nashville Baseball Club, on Saturday, April 26, 1902 (Memorial Day) in Piedmont Park before a crowd of around 3,500. For 60 years (until 1961), the Crackers were part of the Class AA Southern Association, a period durin... There was even a Negro League team called the Atlanta Black Crackers. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-suburbs/664965/686 "2015-02-23T11:25:11Z")
The hijack over “cracker” has now ended. As initially used by **BrainGlutton** , the term is not inherently pejorative nor racist. If hurled as an epithet, it certainly becomes both. In the interest of avoiding further disruption, please do not use it in this thread, again. If anyone wishes to argue the issues of the word, they are free to open a new thread to discuss that topic. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-suburbs/664965/687 "2015-02-23T21:18:22Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Again, it is bad for kids to grow up where you can’t go anywhere unless Mom drives you. In _It’s a Wonderful Life,_ young George Bailey (living not in a city but in the vanishing typology of an old-fashioned small town) could walk to school, walk to his job at the drugstore, walk to other stores to run errands for Mom, walk to the play-area where his brother almost died, walk to his Dad’s building-and-loan, walk anyplace in Bedford Falls without bothering anyone for a lift. It helps a kid grow up faster and better. A suburban kid can only walk to close neighbors’ houses, and perhaps to a playground. I’m confused. I lived in the suburbs ([here, actually](https://www.google.com/maps/dir//33.9177533,-84.3215755/@33.9139884,-84.324024,15z)) in high school and was able to walk to… School Drugstore Job Other stores Church The playground (and park) And, not available in Bedford Falls… The mall The arcade Multiple ethnic, fine dining, and fast food restaurants Tragically I couldn’t walk to where my brother almost died, but I think that’s because he never came close to dying. 😉 I lived [here](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Aldah+Dr,+Tucker,+GA+30084//@33.84858,-84.241683,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m8!4m7!1m5!1m1!1s0x88f5a7d3d3a80efd:0xd676aef7e907aa36!2m2!1d-84.2324561!2d33.8485625!1m0) in my middle school days and was also able to walk to all the above places as well. Perhaps you just live in the wrong suburbs? ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-suburbs/664965/688 "2015-02-24T00:04:01Z")
We do? ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-suburbs/664965/689 "2015-02-24T21:44:26Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Again, it is bad for kids to grow up where you can’t go anywhere unless Mom drives you. In _It’s a Wonderful Life,_ young George Bailey (living not in a city but in the vanishing typology of an old-fashioned small town) could walk to school, walk to his job at the drugstore, walk to other stores to run errands for Mom, walk to the play-area where his brother almost died, walk to his Dad’s building-and-loan, walk anyplace in Bedford Falls without bothering anyone for a lift. It helps a kid grow up faster and better. A suburban kid can only walk to close neighbors’ houses, and perhaps to a playground. These day, people don’t really let their kids roam free even if they live in a walkable community until they are teenagers. I remember going to the corner drugstore to buy cigarettes for my grandfather when I was 7 or 8. That would never happen today. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-suburbs/664965/690 "2015-02-24T21:50:26Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Zombies hate suburbs, too. Population density is too low. Where do you think all the people fleeing the cities end up? You don’t really relax until you are deep in the sticks and even then, you want a dog to warn you if any zombies show up. > [@JRDelirious](#): > > Sure. But everyone flees the city when civilization fails. So what’s a zombie to do? A zombie’s real Achilles heel is ladders. I have never seen a zombie that could climb a reasonably tall ladder. ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-suburbs/664965/691 "2018-10-25T01:06:44Z")
I’m resurrecting this dead thread to show that plenty of conservatives hate the suburbs… [The Horrors of Suburbia](http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/2014/11/horrors-suburbia.html) [Should We Love or Hate the Suburbs?](http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/2018/10/suburbs-patrick-brown.html) [The Conservative Case Against the Suburbs](https://www.theamericanconservative.com/urbs/the-conservative-case-against-the-suburbs/) [New Urbanism Isn’t Just for Liberals](https://theweek.com/articles/445510/new-urbanism-isnt-just-liberals--conservatives-should-embrace) ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-suburbs/664965/692 "2018-10-25T01:25:44Z")
Interesting, coming as suburban voters are increasingly turning away from the GOP. But Matt Lewis even admits there that conservatives who feel the way he does are “small in number”. Conservatives may end up mainly representing rural voters and not connecting with people who live even close to a city. (BTW, two of those links are reproductions of the same article.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-liberals-hate-suburbs/664965.md?page=34)