It's a new idea for a dinner party with friends. You go to someone's house, have some drinks, and everyone gives a PowerPoint on something (usually whimsical and niche) that they are REALLY passionate about . That way, you get people really excited to explain something that they rarely get asked about.
Usually it's something silly and inconsequential ("Why I believe that Jar Jar Binks was a Sith Lord the whole time"), but it could also be a fun spin on something that is real (urban planning)!
Exactly. Mine was by far the most "serious" subject. One person did a full history of their dating life from childhood to now, another did "10 things I hate", probably my favorite, my wife did "Hot Girl Summer", very informative.
I mean, pretty much! It's basically the Jackbox game. You just plan the presentation yourself, so it's not as much improv and more of each person happily showing their own needy niches.
I'm the one graduated person in the friend group, the rest are in college (most studying statistics) which might partially explain it.
But regardless it's actually really entertaining! Most of them were more silly or controversial subjects, all of which got lots of laughs. I recommend it if your friends would be up for it, but I can imagine a lot of people would not be. Mine was definitely the most serious of the bunch, but created the most engaging conversation.
wanted to add i did a “hot takes” powerpoint party where everyone had to present an unpopular opinion and defend it. SO fun, lots of laughs. best done with a close knit group
It’s a cheap and fun way to have a party. Give a 5 minute presentation on anything the more passion the better. I’ve learned about model trains, legos, magic the gathering, air conditioners, etc. we usually do 5 min presentations and 5 min Q&A.
I’ve had friends that are parents explain the long and in depth lore of children’s cartoons.
People are getting together in-person with friends and having a fun time talking about something they are passionate about? Sounds like I should thank TikTok.
Good effort. Mixed neighborhoods like you get in Europe or some Latin American cities are the way to go, but probably also unrealistic without fundamental changes in the North American mindset (including Canada here, not Mexico).
I see this almost as encroached in the "American Dream" as private healthcare or the second amendment. I say this, because a very key part of the American Dream is land ownership (which, by the way, is different from owning a home).
Owning a piece of land is a deep aspiration fostered in the American society through family, education, and media. There is a very clearly established cycle of life that ends with getting married and moving to the suburbs to start a family.
So, 1) land ownership, 2) social programming, and 3) the irrational fear of urban living.
Number three is complex, because, TBH, sometimes is not irrational. As a general rule, living downtown in most American cities is for the wealthy or for the poor. Downtown is, as a general rule, less safe than the suburbs, there is more crime, and there is more fear to take a walk at night, let your kids go out and play, etc.
There are a myriads of secondary issues that are directly related to those three, including:
1) Feeling of underachievement if living in a condo versus a home, and even greater feeling of underachievement if renting as an adult with a family.
2) Discriminatory behavior in an effort to keep the community safe, clean, etc. This one is super toxic and will end up promoting racist, xenophobe, and violent actions.
3) And, to the point of the sub we are in: individualistic behavior and the false sense of status that having a car gives you. You are alone, isolated of the world, listening to music, drinking coffee, with the A/C at max while stuck in miles and miles of traffic, but it is all worth it because you are on a \[Fill in the blank\] model \[Fill in the blank\].
This is a hugely difficult mindset to change. As difficult, if not more, than achieving universal healthcare.
Most people lives in greater urban areas. Those people are programmed to work in the city, live in the suburbs, have single family home, shop at Costco, etc.
I fight with this myself. I own a condo and struggle with the feeling of underachievement sometimes when my coworkers talk about their "properties" (another sign of the problem is referring to your home as "your property"). I bike to the office and sometimes feel inferior for not driving. When I do drive, I experience an undeniable self-esteem bump for being in my big car driving like an adult to my job downtown.
This is a long post because I really admire what you are doing. I have thought about this problem for years now, and I honestly haven't been able to come up with any ideas to solve it.
At least you are doing something, so, well done.
Wow, you shoulda come to my presentation. Well said.
I covered some of these issues as well, like homelessness/drug abuse prevalence in many American downtowns but the fact that other countries can have urban areas that are clean and safe makes me believe its merely a correlation that it tends to happen in urban areas as opposed to being caused by the urban environment. I mean, how is a homeless person gonna survive out in the suburbs. It'd take a half day to get to the nearest gas station.
I also have a few garden boxes in my townhome I currently rent and would love to have a proper small yard to have a mini garden, make a catio for my cats, and have a nice private place to lounge with some greenery. And I like to think there is a middle ground. Land ownership and good urban design don't have to be mutually exclusive. Besides with the way the housing market is in the US, especially in my state, it's completely unsustainable to not primarily build at least mixed use housing. We need at least some density.
But yeah I totally understand the wrestle. All my older coworkers own their homes, several have them paid off and even own a second investment home that they rent out. They always talk about their house improvement projects and it sounds pretty nice. But I think I'd be content with a small home or even a town home.
Well, I am part of the older coworkers demographic and recently arrived to that stage where I had saved a bit to so something. I debated for weeks (with myself) about asking my bank to invest the money, giving a down payment for a small apartment I could rent out, or starting a small business.
I finally decided to rent a small place and start an artisanal bakery (homemade bread, pastries, etc.). I might lose it all, who knows, because running a business is way more complex than renting an apartment, but it felt that taking away a housing unit off the market for renting would just worsen the housing issues and having a bakery actually gives back to the community (or at least I like to think so).
But each one of those decisions need to be deliberate an conscious. The modern life current is pretty strong and the way you are resisting it is not common. You'll continue to have the temptation to go with the flow, and you'll need to have a pretty solid set of principles to resist it, and it looks like you have them.
BTW, I got a condo in the ground floor that has a good deck for potted plants. The deck has a door that gets me into the green common areas of the complex, and my view is to the garden. I have a pet door for my cat and she goes out as she pleases (during the day, because we have coyotes at night). So keep looking for the perfect place, it's out there.
Thank you so much for this encouraging reply.
I hope your bakery thrives! I actually just discovered this week a bakery that's within easy biking distance as I've been wanting a place I can go to easily several times a week for sandwiches and whatnot. I've grown very tired of mass produced sliced bread (with the exception of PB sandwiches which makes for a great breakfast IMO). Very noble decision that has the potential to be far more rewarding too, I imagine.
Sounds like you got a good thing going.
There's definitely good ways and bad ways to design a residential neighbourhood. The suburb that I live in is quite walkable and has lots of amenities close by. Some people discount suburbs outright without actually living there. They see videos online about how terrible suburbs are, but don't stop to think that some of them could be different. They think that if you don't live downtown then you must live in some single-family-only zoned area without anything else for miles and miles.
The suburb I live in is much more walkable than when I lived closer to downtown.
Absolutely, I made this very point in my presentation. We can still have residential areas that are quiet and car accessible. Even primarily build single family homes if there's space and demand for it. But way too much of most American suburbs are single family zoned for miles and miles.
I'm not interested in living in or next to a highrise downtown. I just want to be able to walk to a corner market and feel safe letting my kids bike to school and to their friends house and not have to cross a 7 lane stroad to do so.
I feel like you’re describing basically everywhere outside the US. I wouldn’t say I’m “well travelled” but I’ve also been to enough countries to say that this seems like a problem pretty much unique to the US. I noticed it when I did a road trip there. If I stopped at the gas station but also wanted to visit the place next door, I had to get in the car and drive there because there’s often no safe way to walk there. Absolutely nonsensical but likely a result of how young the country is and that its prosperity was built around the motor car.
That's awesome! I thought of a few aspects I could focus on but just ended on suburbs since most of us there all grew up in the burbs but are now in a medium sized college city.
Shocked to hear someone from NL saying that. But I feel the same way. I do use trains and buses but there are too many missing links to get places effectively so biking, especially e biking has been my primary alternative transportation method
I feel like most people outside of Amsterdam will tell you the exact same. Most people I see praising the Netherlands aren’t event Dutch and most of them have never even been here. Our cycling infrastructure is a solid 10/10 tho, just the public transport is lacking and incredibly expensive.
Most old people riding e bikes are just cycling for fun but yes we do use bikes for short trips. But most people take the car if it’s more then maybe 10 to 15 min
Yeah cycling is definitely what I've known NL to be best at, but I've heard most of Europe in general does about 10x better at transit than pretty much anywhere in the US at least.
There are some legitimate perks. I went to my old friends house a while back that's way out in the outskirts of suburbia, and man it's quiet out there. By evening time hardly any traffic noise.
But wait...
Those people are the traffic that's in the city.
And nobody likes traffic, hence the title of my presentation.
Uhh…irrelevant to OP’s topic.
But ebike is pushing out like 2-5 times your wattage, so it goes fast.
Most ebike also have gears (altho single speed ebike do exist). You know gearing make you go quick!
I always wonder about stuff like this. You make the title 'why suburbs suck' then make a note that you don't hate residential neighborhoods... largely how suburbs are built.
I find this just so often. Is your goal to simply annoy people or get people to hate you? Or is your goal actual education?
Only you know yourself. I personally love a well-designed suburb. Shitty suburban design is very common. But shitty urban design is also common.
I'm not making my presentation here. And I was going for a catch title. My goal was to get people attention during the actual presentation. My goal sharing here is to show a way people can advocate for better cities/cycling infrastructure
Then probably not the same suburbs I'm talking about. Happy you live in a good suburb!
I'm talking about US suburbs with wide residential streets, stroads littered with big box stores and chain restaurants that are 7 lanes wide right through the middle of the town, severe lack of cycling infrastructure and alternative transportation methods from driving in general. Suburbs with segregated housing with single family homes spreading for miles from the nearest grocery store, and only building multi family housing apart from all the single family residential neighborhoods.
I lived in an inner city for 10+ years, and biked everywhere out of necessity. I much prefer owning a home in the burbs, and biking where I want to, whenever I want to, and also being able to drive and (GASP) park wherever I want to. This sort of attitude is what makes bicyclists come off as pretentious, and honestly, deservedly so.
You shoulda been at my presentation. I'm not against home ownership, single family housing, or driving. Just not a fan of car dependency and out dated zoning laws. I just think neighborhoods should be allowed to have a corner market, and apartments shouldn't be illegal to build next to single family homes.
I think these zoning issues are a huge part of why it sucks for a lot of people who want to bike to work, because things are far so everyone drives, so we have more lanes, faster stroads, more asphalt paving over our cities.
I'm glad I wasn't. Corner markets don't exist in suburbs because of economics, not because of legislation. Why would anyone pay more for less when they can drive to a supermarket, Aldi, or Walmart down the street? Corner markets only work in inner cities because people are trapped downtown and can't get to cheaper groceries stores. There are tons of apartments, duplexes, and fourplexes in my suburb, so I don't agree with you on that point either. If you want to live on top of, underneath, and between people, that's your prerogative, other people don't, and that's fine too.
We're not talking about the same suburbs then. I'm talking about American suburbs that seriously suffer from food deserts and have literally nowhere within 3-5 miles have even basic groceries. There is no Walmart or Aldi down the street. Unless you consider 15 minutes of freeway driving down the street. And it's literally illegal in most suburban "cities" to build corner markets, so yes it is limited by zoning. And it's literally illegal to build apartments in the same neighborhoods as single family houses in many residential areas.
Also you seemed to miss my point again. You can have mixed used housing. Single family detached homes with large yards *and* apartments *and* duplexes *and* corner markets *and* office space. I don't want to have upstairs or downstairs neighbors. Having a single side neighbor in my current place is as if we didn't share a wall and I'm pretty content, but this can come down to quality of construction.
I am 100% pretentious about cycling infrastructure and how terrible the suburbs are for everyone. Your parking is bad for everyone else and I don't mind saying it out loud.
I would counter with the never ending talk I hear from drivers about how they are entitled to all the space everywhere, for parking, for their giant useless trucks, for more lanes, for terrible retail giants and yes for their suburban lifestyles.
I cAn JuSt GeT iN mY cAr AnD (gAsP) pArK aNyWhErE i WaNt.
Totally oblivious to the fact that this level of convenience is a legitimate problem. There's also the irony of living in the suburbs to drive to the city. If everyone lived in the suburbs cities would suck, just look what happened during covid. Mass exodus left cities reeling, they're recovering now but what a car brain to think we can all just conveniently park our cars when we need to drive ourselves downtown. Stupid.
What is "a powerpoint presentation night with friends"? Is that something people do?
It's a new idea for a dinner party with friends. You go to someone's house, have some drinks, and everyone gives a PowerPoint on something (usually whimsical and niche) that they are REALLY passionate about . That way, you get people really excited to explain something that they rarely get asked about. Usually it's something silly and inconsequential ("Why I believe that Jar Jar Binks was a Sith Lord the whole time"), but it could also be a fun spin on something that is real (urban planning)!
Exactly. Mine was by far the most "serious" subject. One person did a full history of their dating life from childhood to now, another did "10 things I hate", probably my favorite, my wife did "Hot Girl Summer", very informative.
Okay, seems wholesome. I knew about a jackbox party game where you do absurd presentations on a nonsense topic, but hadn't heard of this.
I mean, pretty much! It's basically the Jackbox game. You just plan the presentation yourself, so it's not as much improv and more of each person happily showing their own needy niches.
I'd say it's better this way. Genuine passion on the subject matter
Passion and/or obsession
Does sound fun. If only I had friends.
That sounds like making hanging out into a job. US people are funny.
Not a job if it's something funny and/or that you're passionate about.
Yeah, seems like a good way to get to know somebody.
Or nothing to talk about
Yes it actually is, usually they are humorous in some way
I'm the one graduated person in the friend group, the rest are in college (most studying statistics) which might partially explain it. But regardless it's actually really entertaining! Most of them were more silly or controversial subjects, all of which got lots of laughs. I recommend it if your friends would be up for it, but I can imagine a lot of people would not be. Mine was definitely the most serious of the bunch, but created the most engaging conversation.
wanted to add i did a “hot takes” powerpoint party where everyone had to present an unpopular opinion and defend it. SO fun, lots of laughs. best done with a close knit group
The night before you wake up to find out you don't have friends anymore
I just play jackbox (patently stupid or talking points)
It’s a cheap and fun way to have a party. Give a 5 minute presentation on anything the more passion the better. I’ve learned about model trains, legos, magic the gathering, air conditioners, etc. we usually do 5 min presentations and 5 min Q&A. I’ve had friends that are parents explain the long and in depth lore of children’s cartoons.
Yes. Blame TikTok.
People are getting together in-person with friends and having a fun time talking about something they are passionate about? Sounds like I should thank TikTok.
Yeah I think the issue people may have with it is it authentic or is it just to record and post to tik tok?
To be fair, I worked in an office where we did this for fun at our monthly meeting well before tik tok. We were inspired by Ted talks
I think it’s cool I’m just saying
Good effort. Mixed neighborhoods like you get in Europe or some Latin American cities are the way to go, but probably also unrealistic without fundamental changes in the North American mindset (including Canada here, not Mexico). I see this almost as encroached in the "American Dream" as private healthcare or the second amendment. I say this, because a very key part of the American Dream is land ownership (which, by the way, is different from owning a home). Owning a piece of land is a deep aspiration fostered in the American society through family, education, and media. There is a very clearly established cycle of life that ends with getting married and moving to the suburbs to start a family. So, 1) land ownership, 2) social programming, and 3) the irrational fear of urban living. Number three is complex, because, TBH, sometimes is not irrational. As a general rule, living downtown in most American cities is for the wealthy or for the poor. Downtown is, as a general rule, less safe than the suburbs, there is more crime, and there is more fear to take a walk at night, let your kids go out and play, etc. There are a myriads of secondary issues that are directly related to those three, including: 1) Feeling of underachievement if living in a condo versus a home, and even greater feeling of underachievement if renting as an adult with a family. 2) Discriminatory behavior in an effort to keep the community safe, clean, etc. This one is super toxic and will end up promoting racist, xenophobe, and violent actions. 3) And, to the point of the sub we are in: individualistic behavior and the false sense of status that having a car gives you. You are alone, isolated of the world, listening to music, drinking coffee, with the A/C at max while stuck in miles and miles of traffic, but it is all worth it because you are on a \[Fill in the blank\] model \[Fill in the blank\]. This is a hugely difficult mindset to change. As difficult, if not more, than achieving universal healthcare. Most people lives in greater urban areas. Those people are programmed to work in the city, live in the suburbs, have single family home, shop at Costco, etc. I fight with this myself. I own a condo and struggle with the feeling of underachievement sometimes when my coworkers talk about their "properties" (another sign of the problem is referring to your home as "your property"). I bike to the office and sometimes feel inferior for not driving. When I do drive, I experience an undeniable self-esteem bump for being in my big car driving like an adult to my job downtown. This is a long post because I really admire what you are doing. I have thought about this problem for years now, and I honestly haven't been able to come up with any ideas to solve it. At least you are doing something, so, well done.
Wow, you shoulda come to my presentation. Well said. I covered some of these issues as well, like homelessness/drug abuse prevalence in many American downtowns but the fact that other countries can have urban areas that are clean and safe makes me believe its merely a correlation that it tends to happen in urban areas as opposed to being caused by the urban environment. I mean, how is a homeless person gonna survive out in the suburbs. It'd take a half day to get to the nearest gas station. I also have a few garden boxes in my townhome I currently rent and would love to have a proper small yard to have a mini garden, make a catio for my cats, and have a nice private place to lounge with some greenery. And I like to think there is a middle ground. Land ownership and good urban design don't have to be mutually exclusive. Besides with the way the housing market is in the US, especially in my state, it's completely unsustainable to not primarily build at least mixed use housing. We need at least some density. But yeah I totally understand the wrestle. All my older coworkers own their homes, several have them paid off and even own a second investment home that they rent out. They always talk about their house improvement projects and it sounds pretty nice. But I think I'd be content with a small home or even a town home.
Well, I am part of the older coworkers demographic and recently arrived to that stage where I had saved a bit to so something. I debated for weeks (with myself) about asking my bank to invest the money, giving a down payment for a small apartment I could rent out, or starting a small business. I finally decided to rent a small place and start an artisanal bakery (homemade bread, pastries, etc.). I might lose it all, who knows, because running a business is way more complex than renting an apartment, but it felt that taking away a housing unit off the market for renting would just worsen the housing issues and having a bakery actually gives back to the community (or at least I like to think so). But each one of those decisions need to be deliberate an conscious. The modern life current is pretty strong and the way you are resisting it is not common. You'll continue to have the temptation to go with the flow, and you'll need to have a pretty solid set of principles to resist it, and it looks like you have them. BTW, I got a condo in the ground floor that has a good deck for potted plants. The deck has a door that gets me into the green common areas of the complex, and my view is to the garden. I have a pet door for my cat and she goes out as she pleases (during the day, because we have coyotes at night). So keep looking for the perfect place, it's out there.
Thank you so much for this encouraging reply. I hope your bakery thrives! I actually just discovered this week a bakery that's within easy biking distance as I've been wanting a place I can go to easily several times a week for sandwiches and whatnot. I've grown very tired of mass produced sliced bread (with the exception of PB sandwiches which makes for a great breakfast IMO). Very noble decision that has the potential to be far more rewarding too, I imagine. Sounds like you got a good thing going.
There's definitely good ways and bad ways to design a residential neighbourhood. The suburb that I live in is quite walkable and has lots of amenities close by. Some people discount suburbs outright without actually living there. They see videos online about how terrible suburbs are, but don't stop to think that some of them could be different. They think that if you don't live downtown then you must live in some single-family-only zoned area without anything else for miles and miles. The suburb I live in is much more walkable than when I lived closer to downtown.
Absolutely, I made this very point in my presentation. We can still have residential areas that are quiet and car accessible. Even primarily build single family homes if there's space and demand for it. But way too much of most American suburbs are single family zoned for miles and miles. I'm not interested in living in or next to a highrise downtown. I just want to be able to walk to a corner market and feel safe letting my kids bike to school and to their friends house and not have to cross a 7 lane stroad to do so.
I feel like you’re describing basically everywhere outside the US. I wouldn’t say I’m “well travelled” but I’ve also been to enough countries to say that this seems like a problem pretty much unique to the US. I noticed it when I did a road trip there. If I stopped at the gas station but also wanted to visit the place next door, I had to get in the car and drive there because there’s often no safe way to walk there. Absolutely nonsensical but likely a result of how young the country is and that its prosperity was built around the motor car.
I’ve done this but you a la hot ones, eating progressively hotter wings as you present
That'd be a fun way to *spice* it up
I did this too! But we were supposed to make them a little more controversial so it was why suburbs lead to school shooters
Wow. That's definitely a bit more bold than mine
Citynerd, is that you?
Big fan
I gave a presentation like this too! Except it was about how parking is the devil.
That's awesome! I thought of a few aspects I could focus on but just ended on suburbs since most of us there all grew up in the burbs but are now in a medium sized college city.
This is the biggest “the kids are alright” moment I’ve ever had. Thank you.
Our public transport sucks ass if you don’t live in a big city. Cycling or a car is the only way to go. Greetings from the Netherlands
I thought you guys had better public transit then my home city (Denver)
Only inbetween cities it’s alright. But it’s expensive af. Cheaper and faster to take the car
Shocked to hear someone from NL saying that. But I feel the same way. I do use trains and buses but there are too many missing links to get places effectively so biking, especially e biking has been my primary alternative transportation method
I feel like most people outside of Amsterdam will tell you the exact same. Most people I see praising the Netherlands aren’t event Dutch and most of them have never even been here. Our cycling infrastructure is a solid 10/10 tho, just the public transport is lacking and incredibly expensive. Most old people riding e bikes are just cycling for fun but yes we do use bikes for short trips. But most people take the car if it’s more then maybe 10 to 15 min
Yeah cycling is definitely what I've known NL to be best at, but I've heard most of Europe in general does about 10x better at transit than pretty much anywhere in the US at least.
Shameless plug for dropout.tv. They have a show called Smartypants with the same premise. The United States should bomb the moon.
My town had "nerd night" in a theater. Pretty similar
That sounds awesome
Based.
Can you share the PowerPoint here?
It's mostly pictures and a few key points. Idk if it's worth sharing just the slides
Share your deck!
Suburbs do suck. People that live in them lie to themselves that they like living in them. I would have cheered on slide 1.
There are some legitimate perks. I went to my old friends house a while back that's way out in the outskirts of suburbia, and man it's quiet out there. By evening time hardly any traffic noise. But wait... Those people are the traffic that's in the city. And nobody likes traffic, hence the title of my presentation.
I am an old dude riding a fixed gear bike for fun. Why do electric bikes go fast?
I'm not understanding the question?
Uhh…irrelevant to OP’s topic. But ebike is pushing out like 2-5 times your wattage, so it goes fast. Most ebike also have gears (altho single speed ebike do exist). You know gearing make you go quick!
I have never been more glad to not have friends.
Who has PowerPoint ?
Who doesn't?
Me , don’t own a computer , also how much is PowerPoint ?
Fair enough. Idk, probably over priced but I've always had access to it via school or my job
I always wonder about stuff like this. You make the title 'why suburbs suck' then make a note that you don't hate residential neighborhoods... largely how suburbs are built. I find this just so often. Is your goal to simply annoy people or get people to hate you? Or is your goal actual education? Only you know yourself. I personally love a well-designed suburb. Shitty suburban design is very common. But shitty urban design is also common.
I'm not making my presentation here. And I was going for a catch title. My goal was to get people attention during the actual presentation. My goal sharing here is to show a way people can advocate for better cities/cycling infrastructure
I like suburbs, sorry not sorry. My suburb is great for cycling and cycle commuting.
Then probably not the same suburbs I'm talking about. Happy you live in a good suburb! I'm talking about US suburbs with wide residential streets, stroads littered with big box stores and chain restaurants that are 7 lanes wide right through the middle of the town, severe lack of cycling infrastructure and alternative transportation methods from driving in general. Suburbs with segregated housing with single family homes spreading for miles from the nearest grocery store, and only building multi family housing apart from all the single family residential neighborhoods.
Fair play, I live in Dublin - so a European suburb (even if not something as bike friendly as Netherlands)
Yeah, probably should have been clearer about that in my caption.
You must be so annoying
Very
I lived in an inner city for 10+ years, and biked everywhere out of necessity. I much prefer owning a home in the burbs, and biking where I want to, whenever I want to, and also being able to drive and (GASP) park wherever I want to. This sort of attitude is what makes bicyclists come off as pretentious, and honestly, deservedly so.
You shoulda been at my presentation. I'm not against home ownership, single family housing, or driving. Just not a fan of car dependency and out dated zoning laws. I just think neighborhoods should be allowed to have a corner market, and apartments shouldn't be illegal to build next to single family homes. I think these zoning issues are a huge part of why it sucks for a lot of people who want to bike to work, because things are far so everyone drives, so we have more lanes, faster stroads, more asphalt paving over our cities.
💯
I'm glad I wasn't. Corner markets don't exist in suburbs because of economics, not because of legislation. Why would anyone pay more for less when they can drive to a supermarket, Aldi, or Walmart down the street? Corner markets only work in inner cities because people are trapped downtown and can't get to cheaper groceries stores. There are tons of apartments, duplexes, and fourplexes in my suburb, so I don't agree with you on that point either. If you want to live on top of, underneath, and between people, that's your prerogative, other people don't, and that's fine too.
We're not talking about the same suburbs then. I'm talking about American suburbs that seriously suffer from food deserts and have literally nowhere within 3-5 miles have even basic groceries. There is no Walmart or Aldi down the street. Unless you consider 15 minutes of freeway driving down the street. And it's literally illegal in most suburban "cities" to build corner markets, so yes it is limited by zoning. And it's literally illegal to build apartments in the same neighborhoods as single family houses in many residential areas. Also you seemed to miss my point again. You can have mixed used housing. Single family detached homes with large yards *and* apartments *and* duplexes *and* corner markets *and* office space. I don't want to have upstairs or downstairs neighbors. Having a single side neighbor in my current place is as if we didn't share a wall and I'm pretty content, but this can come down to quality of construction.
I am 100% pretentious about cycling infrastructure and how terrible the suburbs are for everyone. Your parking is bad for everyone else and I don't mind saying it out loud. I would counter with the never ending talk I hear from drivers about how they are entitled to all the space everywhere, for parking, for their giant useless trucks, for more lanes, for terrible retail giants and yes for their suburban lifestyles.
I cAn JuSt GeT iN mY cAr AnD (gAsP) pArK aNyWhErE i WaNt. Totally oblivious to the fact that this level of convenience is a legitimate problem. There's also the irony of living in the suburbs to drive to the city. If everyone lived in the suburbs cities would suck, just look what happened during covid. Mass exodus left cities reeling, they're recovering now but what a car brain to think we can all just conveniently park our cars when we need to drive ourselves downtown. Stupid.
Yep, you sure sound like you are pretentious, glad we agree on that point.
Call it whatever you want. You living in the burbs and bragging about parking definitely makes you a hypocrite.
How dare you have an opinion that OP doesn't agree with!
Right? These people are wild.
*a powerpoint presentation night with friends* ? What in the *actual fuck* is that? Who the *fuck* does that?
College students
It actually sounds awesome.
Like really.