Hmm... is it because the suburbs are boring?
reads article
Yep, except instead of "boring," they say "walkable." I can't say I disagree.
reads article
Yep, except instead of "boring," they say "walkable." I can't say I disagree.
Suburbs where I live are very walkable, with footpath on both sides of the road, and typically plenty of traffic calming. Rare to be more than a mile to a school for under 11s, maybe 2-4 miles to high school, half a mile at most to a bus stop.
Before you can drive I think the main factor for how much fun your environment is (assuming safety and no poverty) is the density of kids your age in the neighborhood.
Yard gets boring when you are like 6. Then the kids either have bigger space to bike, explore, play actual hide and seek where they can actually hide etc .... or move all activities inside typically toward videogames.
I live in a lower middle class suburban neighborhood with about 600 homes. My kids have the following, within walking distance of their home: two neighborhood swimming pools, three parks, three schools (two public, one private) two convenience stores, two drug stores, a small department store, and a pizza joint. They can safely walk, ride bikes, play soccer, basketball, swim and even get to school without a bus. This is not a fancy suburb for the wealthy. It's a decidedly normal one in a pretty normal midwest city.
In the rural area I could ride my bike or walk to friends houses, but there were really only 2 that were in range. There were tons of activity options - bike trails, fishing, exploring the woods, model rockets, etc.
Then in a small town setting, there were more kids, but not as many options for stuff to do. You would need to drive places for many outdoor activities, such as the fishing, mountain biking, model rockets, etc. So the activities were more indoor, which was still stuff I could do rurally, like video games (well rural couldn't do online, just in-person), board games, etc.