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alexist at 04:47am on 01/06/2005
alexist at 04:47am on 01/06/2005http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/01/national/class/01ALPHARETTA-FINAL.html
It's not intentionally depressing, in a death-war-poverty way. It just depresses me. It's the downside of American suburban life: shallowness. It doesn't exist in all suburbs; where I grew up was older, more densely built and more diverse. It was pretty much all middle class, still, but not so carefully divided. (There are new modern developments near where I grew up now and I find them laughable. The houses are huge, but with next to no yard, and cost a fortune... I should've taken a photo of the ones next to my parents'. They had maybe 25' behind the house, and one was selling for $1M!) (actually, 25' is way too generous.. there was a patio and a narrow strip of lawn and that was it)
I've never been to suburban Atlanta, but I've been to suburban Dallas and Houston, and they're the most soul-sucking places I've ever seen. On the surface, it's so tempting. Big affordable houses, everything all brand new and modern, lots of space inside and out. But they're just subdivisions plonked down with nothing around them. In comparison, Long Island was vibrant, even if it's got the same PTA-mother mentality.
If I ever move back, it will be to Queens or Brooklyn. I'm willing to sacrifice a giant family room and backyard for some life!
It's not intentionally depressing, in a death-war-poverty way. It just depresses me. It's the downside of American suburban life: shallowness. It doesn't exist in all suburbs; where I grew up was older, more densely built and more diverse. It was pretty much all middle class, still, but not so carefully divided. (There are new modern developments near where I grew up now and I find them laughable. The houses are huge, but with next to no yard, and cost a fortune... I should've taken a photo of the ones next to my parents'. They had maybe 25' behind the house, and one was selling for $1M!) (actually, 25' is way too generous.. there was a patio and a narrow strip of lawn and that was it)
I've never been to suburban Atlanta, but I've been to suburban Dallas and Houston, and they're the most soul-sucking places I've ever seen. On the surface, it's so tempting. Big affordable houses, everything all brand new and modern, lots of space inside and out. But they're just subdivisions plonked down with nothing around them. In comparison, Long Island was vibrant, even if it's got the same PTA-mother mentality.
If I ever move back, it will be to Queens or Brooklyn. I'm willing to sacrifice a giant family room and backyard for some life!
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