• RaoulDook@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Actually the majority of Americans live in the suburbs, 55%. 31% live in urban / metro environments, and 14% live in rural areas according to Pew Research:

    https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2018/05/22/demographic-and-economic-trends-in-urban-suburban-and-rural-communities/

    Where I live is classified as “rural” by Pew’s map but I live in town, and I have easy access to groceries and restaurants. It takes me about 20 minutes to commute to work by car. Life is good here.

    • mondoman712@lemmy.mlOP
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      1 year ago

      Suburbs are part of cities, and are the parts which have higher rates of car ownership. Being able to commute into a city by car is the entire point of a suburb.

      • RaoulDook@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Suburbs are generally towns adjacent to cities, by their literal definition and municipal boundaries. You are probably saying they are part of cities to fit the narrative that “most people live in cities” which is not accurate when you look at the actual concrete data.

        • mondoman712@lemmy.mlOP
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          1 year ago

          From your own link:

          Suburban and small metro counties: These 1,093 counties – sometimes called “suburbs” in this report – include those outside the core cities of the largest metro areas, as well as the entirety of other metropolitan areas. This group includes “large fringe metro,” “medium metro” and “small metro” counties in the NCHS classification system.

          And when I said “most people live in cities”, I was including suburbs, and in fact its mostly suburbanites that I was referring to since they are the ones sitting in these traffic jams. People in denser urban areas, or I guess what you’re thinking of when I say “cities”, own fewer cars and use other modes more.

          There’s no “narrative”, you just had a different interpretation of what I meant.

    • moonmeow@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      suburbs are essentially sprawled urban areas that are predicated on bad design and requiring a car.

      Suburbs are design with the implicit assumption that people will need a car. No car and require public transit? Tough shit, good luck with whatever current routes may or may not exist.