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1 year agoI’m raising kids in a walkable neighborhood.
At this point, my biggest concern is still that they’d get hit by a car. At their current young ages (under 5), they’re just not good about understanding where danger comes from when crossing the street or a driveway/alley entrance. Even later in life, I’m wondering how old they’ll have to be before I’m comfortable with them riding their bikes on city streets.
At some point, I expect it to pay off (they’ll be able to go to hang out with friends and bring themselves to school long before they turn 16). I’m just hoping I’ll be able to stay in a walkable neighborhood when they’re at those life stages, so that they can take advantage of the good stuff that this neighborhood has to offer.
My contempt for small town and rural America comes from living in it for about 5 years, and then regularly visiting it for another 3 or 4 years. I’m glad I live in a walkable city now. But I don’t really criticize people for living that rural life, except in defense to someone else attacking my own lifestyle.
When this song came out, I remembered joking with my Army friends (many of whom are from rural areas, and definitely shared the experiences of getting stationed in rural areas) that it’s weird the song! didn’t include stuff like “find decent sushi” or “attend an NFL game” or “order pizza after midnight.” Or if I’m feeling particularly mean spirited, I’d throw in “find a six figure job” or “hold hands with a white woman in public.”
Realistically, though, something like 60% of Americans live in suburban America: close enough to a major city that they can go in for events, but far enough that they can feel that they’re isolated from crime or whatever. Nobody actually likes rural living, but some residents of suburban America likes romanticizing rural ideals while still living in an environment that gets the benefit of the economic engine of a nearby city, and the density to support a variety of restaurants and stores and activities. There’s an entire subculture of people who own $80,000 trucks and $3,000 guns, who have $200k+ jobs in the city but say their heart is in the country or whatever.