R: Bulldoze the Suburbs

What makes for strong communities? How important is human geography to how we live our lives?

One of the greatest yet least acknowledged phenomena of modern American history has been the invention of the suburb. The suburbs represent the ultimate division of family life from professional and business life, made possible by the mighty bonds of our interstates and automobiles. One can go from his kitchen to his car, to his workplace, and back to his garage without ever taking a step outside. The morning stroll to the mailbox is considered an adventure.

The suburbs are the great enablers of this reclusiveness, and their victims are the once tight-knit communities of sandlots, block parties, and old ladies with soup at your door whenever you're sick. Yet suburbs can also represent something grander: the triumph of the American dream. Perhaps the community weakens, but is not every house now truly its owner's castle? In it he can raise a family without interruption, cultivate hobbies and garden in the backyard, and use it as capital to be disposed of when he sees fit. Perhaps the suburbs can be the key to our liberation. And so, we must ponder several oft-neglected questions: Now that the majority of Americans live in the suburban outskirts of urban America, what exactly are we giving up for this kind of life? How dangerous or advantageous is it? What—if anything—is to be done?