I’ll admit, I was joking a little. But it was in response to Maeglin saying that in the suburbs everyone knows everyone, which I can’t imagine is true.
I mean, I know all of my immediate neighbors, but the family that lives five houses down and across the street may as well be in Kahzakstan for as much as we’ve interacted.
Well, you may not have noticed that the subject of the thread is what’s wrong with suburbs from a societal perspective. Was I wrong for assuming you wanted to post something relevant?
And for the urbanite, how far away do they “know” the neighbors, or even remotely recognize them? I suspect many suburbanites at least recognize distant neighbors.
I recall a Seinfield episode where he doesnt even recognize the guy two doors down the hall as living there, much less knowing anything about him.
Me thinks that part of the humor there that there was SOME grain of truth there, as in most humor IMO.
Suburbanites may know less actual numbers of people, but by the same token they probably ignore less as well.
And then there is this. Just my totally unsubstantiated guess.
A stranger walks up someone to talk about something. I suspect a suburbanite is going to be much less defensive about it than an urbanite, if for no other reason than an urbanite (by neccessity almost) has trained themselves to ignore a virtual sea of humanity.
How long will I be in the room? Does room 3% have broadband internet and Netflix On Demand on a 42" LCD? Is there good beer in the fridge? Can I have friends over? Is there a nice view?
In my opinion, your question was outside of the scope of the thread and certainly outside the scope of my point. But anyway, I tire of this meta-debate. If you feel that Cosmic Relief hijacked the thread, feel free to say something to him or her about it.
What you’ve done is display one major thing that’s wrong with the suburbs from a societal perspective. They’re full of people who think just like you, and that’s something I don’t wish to be around. You flee ethnicities, I flee stupidities.
So… a bunch of stuff I don’t care about. I’ll pass. Plus, if I take the 3% room, I probably won’t even be there when you come to beat me, since there are craft stores and bars and restaurants and a couple of movie theaters and hiking trails and […] and friends’ apartments and a dog park and a record (yes, record) store within walking distance, and I’ll be out having fun doing those things.
If you don’t wish to have contact with people who think differently from you, it’s certainly your choice. I congratulate you on your moral superiority.
Oh I don’t mind being around people who think differently from me except when they all think the same things, and think that it’s grand that they all think the same things. A few racist cranks is fine, but whole geographical swathes of them… you’re welcome to that.
Sure, and everyone in the suburbs thinks exactly the same, whereas people in your hip urban neighborhood have a wide diversity of views. I again congratulate you on your moral and intellectual superiority.
I really don’t see what you’re protesting. Several posters in this thread have as much said that this is part of what they like about the suburbs. It seems that’s part of the appeal for you as well. Why does it seem to bother you to call it what it is?