I grew up in a middle class neighborhood in Portland, Oregon. Within walking distance of my house were 4 grocery stores, including a small Safeway, a variety store, a hardware store and several restaurants. When I became a family man myself I moved to the suburbs and none of those things were within walking distance. Not a problem then – my family had 2 cars and we could drive when necessary. This Washington Post article points out that changing demographics may be changing all of that.
Although we seldom think about them this way, most American communities as they exist today were built for the spry and mobile. We’ve constructed millions of multi-story, single-family homes where the master bedroom is on the second floor, where the lawn outside requires weekly upkeep, where the mailbox is a stroll away. We’ve designed neighborhoods where everyday errands require a driver’s license. We’ve planned whole cities where, if you don’t have a car, it’s not particularly easy to walk anywhere — especially not if you move gingerly.[icopyright one button toolbar]
This reality has been a fine one for a younger country. Those multi-story, single-family homes with broad lawns were great for Baby Boomers when they had young families. And car-dependent suburbs have been fine for residents with the means and mobility to drive everywhere. But as the Baby Boomers whose preferences drove a lot of these trends continue to age, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the housing and communities we’ve built won’t work very well for the old.
I live in a suburban retirement community. Many people no longer drive which is a problem when the nearest grocery store is a mile away and the nearest doctor’s office could be miles away. The problem is further exacerbated by the fact that the children of these seniors have often moved hundreds if not thousands of miles away leaving them with no family support.
Are the suburbs becoming obsolete? In addition to the elderly the young people who grew up in the suburbs are rejecting them and moving to the inner city and opting not to have an automobile. I love the quiet of the wilderness but I also love the dynamics of the big city. I find nothing inspirational about the suburbs.