It's time for a big letting go. The rich nations have got to say
farewell to the strange notion which has gripped us for the last half
century and recognize that the suburban life style – with its 2 car
garage, its lawns in the desert, its strip malls – is completely
unsustainable. More than that though, it isn't even really "the good
life".
There's never going to be more oil readily available than there is
now. Nor more natural gas, either. Suburbia relies on these, not only
for its residents to be able to get to shops or work and to heat their
homes, but also to build the homes and the accoutrements associated
with this lifestyle.
And it isn't even that great a lifestyle. Do people really form
tighter bonds with their neighbors in a suburb than they do in a
mixed-use city block or the countryside? Do people in the suburbs feel
connected to the communities surrounding their neighborhood? If you
have to drive to get to anything, do you feel anything but distanced
from the places you move through?