The Revenge of the Cul-de-sac
Nothing like a shutdown to turn the tables
During the past decade, there has been a relentless assault on the place of the suburbs and the people who have chosen to live there. Insults from city dwellers have been repeated so often that it has become an “accepted fact” in many planning and development circles that those who lived in the suburbs had no lives, no personality, and no idea who their neighbors were. It is time to level that field and have a new conversation. And there is nothing like a pandemic to make that happen.
These lower-density communities can often be characterized by “its surplus of cookie-cutter homes, odd and winding streets, and a random smattering of trees that barely qualify as nature,” as stated by Alex Balashov. That article went on to suggest that we are left with a “vague sense of unnaturalness” and one of “general malaise” just being in the suburbs. The examples of those with general disdain for the suburbs are endless.
But then came the lockdown.
People worldwide were reminded how much a patch of earth to call your own - whether you own it or rent it - could bring you peace & oxygen. A place to do a cartwheel. A place to plant a garden. And sunshine.
Many also found out that many of our suburbs have matured very nicely, thank you, into bastions of tree-lined streets, cul-de-sacs where people do know their neighbors, and backyards that are often sewn together for a late-night game of “flashlight tag.” Neighbors shared meals, bought groceries for comprimised neighbors, and set regular cocktail hours on the front porch. The suburbs can be, in reality, quite different from the soul-less deserts described in far too much of today’s planning community. The best ones are now being pursued with a breathtaking vigor as many families, particularly with school-aged children, seek room to spread out.
The suburbs, and those who call them home, deserved a reprieve from the bad press they have been receiving.
This awareness is also an opportunity for us, those that live on these single-family lots, to take a deep breath as we truly re-engage with our community to consider what our future will look like. Other places are revealed to have been under-appreciated during the past year as well. The neighborhood grocery store, small restaurants with outdoor seating, the local park or library, the missing bookstore or neighborhood watering-hole, the ball field, the walking trail - those places where we connect with commerce and community. We have gathered, when we could, in the small-scaled downtowns that often anchor our suburban communities. While they fit for destination retail purchases, the big-box centers, and the enclosed malls do not fill this aspect of our communities. We sought people-scaled places first and often. Perhaps we may have had a directional shift during this season that will stick.
As the suburbs grow to absorb their new inhabitants and the population that will follow - let’s take time to identify what makes our communities special and preserving those characteristics, places and patterns; let’s envision our growth creatively; new places to live, to shop and to learn and work, through a more people-focused lens.
If 2020 taught us anything, it is that we can learn to do things differently, and we can adapt and create. Let’s not miss the magic.
Written by a suburban mom of four who relishes in catching fireflies as much as taking in a musical performance downtown or visiting the big city. Like many, I love it all and revel in the choices.
https://www.businessinsider.com/why-suburbs-are-bad-2016-9?op=1