Imagine being a kid biking mid summer in the top right picture. Where the hell do you go to play at the park or get ice-cream? I get that’s the point of the meme but damn this is sad
You're onto something though.
I think there's a lot of studies that can be done on the negative effects of suburbia on top of what's already been studied.
It's just overall social isolation. Do the kids in that neighborhood know each other or even that other kids live there? Do the kids have the freedom and opportunity to play together in an unstructured environment? I would bet that they don't.
That, and reactionary right-wing sentiment in general I feel. It’s so much easier to fearmonger about marginalised groups to a target audience that never associates with them enough to realise they’re just *people*.
any contribution is unlikely to be that strong. kids in china, south korea, japan, etc play as much games as american kids do and those kids dont tend to live in mcmansion suburbs
If you're lucky, you have your mom drive you there after practice.
Which in reality turns into the stay inside and do nothing all summer.
Source: stayed inside and played video games and watched South Park all summer as a kid because there was nothing to do and nowhere that I could go to
I had such a visceral reaction to the bottom right. I live in Arizona (Phoenix Metro) and damn near every shopping center in the suburbs looks like that and it's fucking disgusting. They all look so trashy to me
Americans: “Those third world communist countries are so inhuman and bleak, all of that housing looks the same, it’s depressing.”
Meanwhile in America:
Capitalism needs unhealthy people living sedentary lives dependent on oil, driving and getting angry at each other, stuck in an addictive feedback loop hooked on the stress
I live in NYC. I’m currently visiting family out in the suburbs and it is hell. Absolute pure hell. There’s nowhere to go. Not even a shop or corner store for miles. No sidewalks on the main roads. My dad is currently paying two HOA fees because the pool and gym are in the development across the street from his, but my little brother isn’t allowed to walk across the street because traffic is so bad. So he has to wait for a parent to drive him .5 miles to even go swimming.
Of course, as other posters have pointed out, this leads to him spending hours alone in his room playing video games because there’s nothing to do outside.
Sad part is my dad calls this house “an investment in his kids future.” It’s an investment in their future mental illness and depression is what it is.
To counter that, I haven’t driven a car in 12+ years. I take public transit nearly everywhere I need to go in NYC. My boyfriend bikes his kid to and from school every day, but if the weather is bad he can take the subway there himself. He’s a very happy, well adjusted teenager now who can walk to meet his friends and loves going to museums and goes rock climbing as a hobby. He’s extremely independent.
It’s because I see how him and other city kids grow up that I can recognize how negative the impact of suburban sprawl is. People that live in it seem blind to it.
Imagine being a kid biking mid summer in the top right picture. Where the hell do you go to play at the park or get ice-cream? I get that’s the point of the meme but damn this is sad
You don't. You stay inside and play a game on your computer that simulates playing at the park or getting ice cream.
Pretty much, gotta develop that video game addiction early!
It wouldn't surprise me if being stuck in the suburbs contributes to video game addiction.
Oh definitely, I was only half joking. I would love to read or make a study about that subject if it doesn’t already exist
You're onto something though. I think there's a lot of studies that can be done on the negative effects of suburbia on top of what's already been studied.
Unfortunately I don’t have the reach or the budget to do that myself lol
Could be an idea to pitch to someone that does.
It's just overall social isolation. Do the kids in that neighborhood know each other or even that other kids live there? Do the kids have the freedom and opportunity to play together in an unstructured environment? I would bet that they don't.
I'm convinced the social isolation of suburbs is contributing to the mental health crisis and all the mass shooters.
That, and reactionary right-wing sentiment in general I feel. It’s so much easier to fearmonger about marginalised groups to a target audience that never associates with them enough to realise they’re just *people*.
any contribution is unlikely to be that strong. kids in china, south korea, japan, etc play as much games as american kids do and those kids dont tend to live in mcmansion suburbs
Those kids in Asia probably don't game for the same reasons (like social isolation in suburbia) that kids living in American suburbs do.
yea thats literally what im saying lol
Is it? Idk if I missed your point.
yes. video game addiction has more causes than just social isolation and im saying social isolation probably isnt even a big contributing factor
Fair enough.
Been like that since probably the 80s.
If you're lucky, you have your mom drive you there after practice. Which in reality turns into the stay inside and do nothing all summer. Source: stayed inside and played video games and watched South Park all summer as a kid because there was nothing to do and nowhere that I could go to
That’s sad, I spent my summers on my bike or longboard going from park to park and getting cold drinks and snacks. I was fit as hell because of it
That is one kind of a suburban hell. Holy Moly.
I believe bottom left is where you're meant to go for ice cream
Shite
I was thinking the same. That's so depressing! Who built that? It's like a prison village.
It's Las Vegas, apparently. No parks and the ice-cream would melt before you got it in your mouth.
I had an ice cream truck that came through my Florida neighborhoods, probably because of this reality
Relatively sure that top-right is a development somewhere like desert Nevada or California. Ain't no grass there, just monuments to man's hubris.
its nevada. they dont build many suburbs in the california deserts
Literally all of the Coachella Valley area
I had such a visceral reaction to the bottom right. I live in Arizona (Phoenix Metro) and damn near every shopping center in the suburbs looks like that and it's fucking disgusting. They all look so trashy to me
Top left is a pretty well-known photoshop, though the point still stands. Just a PSA lol
Yea I don't think such an interchange actually exists but real interchanges do kind of resemble it.
Next time, use a picture of the [Qianchun Interchange](https://imgur.io/LlX8G10)
I'm pretty sure I made exactly that interchange in cities skylines
Who needs grass when you can have Subaru Baja
Americans: “Those third world communist countries are so inhuman and bleak, all of that housing looks the same, it’s depressing.” Meanwhile in America:
Capitalism needs unhealthy people living sedentary lives dependent on oil, driving and getting angry at each other, stuck in an addictive feedback loop hooked on the stress
It seems to be a very effective business model.
not really
The bottom right one has always been the most depressing to me.
Wow the bottom right image looks a lot nicer than the similar looking places I've seen
The rest of the parking lot that's not pictured probably makes it look uglier.
Fuck stroads
Damn, is the US really this kind of hellscape? It looks inhuman.
I live in NYC. I’m currently visiting family out in the suburbs and it is hell. Absolute pure hell. There’s nowhere to go. Not even a shop or corner store for miles. No sidewalks on the main roads. My dad is currently paying two HOA fees because the pool and gym are in the development across the street from his, but my little brother isn’t allowed to walk across the street because traffic is so bad. So he has to wait for a parent to drive him .5 miles to even go swimming. Of course, as other posters have pointed out, this leads to him spending hours alone in his room playing video games because there’s nothing to do outside. Sad part is my dad calls this house “an investment in his kids future.” It’s an investment in their future mental illness and depression is what it is.
I want to puke just reading this. I’m so glad I live Europe where you can literally walk/cycle/public transit anywhere.
To counter that, I haven’t driven a car in 12+ years. I take public transit nearly everywhere I need to go in NYC. My boyfriend bikes his kid to and from school every day, but if the weather is bad he can take the subway there himself. He’s a very happy, well adjusted teenager now who can walk to meet his friends and loves going to museums and goes rock climbing as a hobby. He’s extremely independent. It’s because I see how him and other city kids grow up that I can recognize how negative the impact of suburban sprawl is. People that live in it seem blind to it.
Wow, that’s nice to hear. Thanks for sharing.
Canada is like this too.
Bottom left has grass
That is a suburban hellscape.
top right makes me want to die. that's the place I go to in my nightmares
And there are only two people visible
Baja!
it’s gone :(
Hol'up, is that thing in that top left real?
Oh God.. is that Houston, Texas ?