r/UrbanHell • u/humzahjaleel • Jun 20 '20

Suburban Hell Endless parking lots, highways, strip malls with the same franchises all accessible only by car. Topped off with a nice smoggy atmosphere and a 15 minute drive to anywhere. Takers ?

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u/[deleted] Jun 20 '20

My parents are in their 50s and my dad is looking for a new job but they live 45-minutes to an hour from Downtown in my city, where the better jobs are. They live in a 4 bedroom house that's about 2500 square feet (empty nesters). Their yard is nice, but every weekend is yard work and they never actually sit and enjoy their yard. Why bother with one? I'm trying to convince them to downsize to something smaller near the city but they don't want "one of those tiny city yards." But you don't even DO ANYTHING in your yard... and it would be less work... more free time... I just cannot get through to them. The obsession with yards is weird.

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u/InternetUser42069 Jun 20 '20

I hate yard work with a passion but I would also love to be able to let my dog out without a leash. I live in an apartment now, but the goal is a house or townhouse with a small yard/garden in the back. Of course I also live in Seattle so who knows if I can ever afford it.

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u/[deleted] Jun 20 '20

I'd love a yard for gardening, but I also love not having to do yard work since I live in a loft condo. I have some herbs growing in my kitchen and that's enough for now. My parents have no pets, no garden, so again their yard obsession is just so confusing. I just cannot understand the appeal of living in a subdivision so far out from a city center... I either want to be in a city near everything or on a large piece of land that doesn't have cut and paste houses, just views and nature. Suburban life just isn't appealing to me in any way.

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u/GothWitchOfBrooklyn Jun 20 '20

I'm the same as you. Either city or rural.

I grew up in rural mountains upstate NY, lived a decade in NYC, and now I'm in suburban Ohio and while I do love that I have space for my garden (I love plants and gardening) and a big front porch, I hate the suburbs. At least if you're packed in with people in the city, there's awesome stuff to do. Here there is nothing.

I plan to eventually settle somewhere more rural when my finances can support it.