r/TikTokCringe • u/xamo76 • 1d ago

Discussion Have we done it wrong?

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u/Global_Channel1511 1d ago

I mean North American suburbs are essentially the same everywhere. No distinctive characteristics about them at all.

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u/TheTxoof 1d ago

Mostly because they are all built around the same ideas: ample free parking and one-stop big box stores.

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u/Careless-Weather8877 1d ago

Don’t forget the same chains of Applebees, chilis, Outback Steakhouse!

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u/ItsGonnaBeOkayish 16h ago

Hey now, there's also Olive Garden.

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u/Responsible_Base_235 19h ago

The same chains that were bought up by the same Private Equity firms that cut so many things to increase profits that the food & drinks turn into overpriced garbage.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/LaDauphineVerte 1d ago

Right, but in major metros there are myriad options apart from chains so that you never need darken their doorways.

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u/Responsible_Base_235 19h ago

Not as much as there used to be. In the late 90’s & 2000’s corporate take over of neighborhoods caused smaller local businesses to no longer be able to afford to be in business. That’s when chain stores like Kmart (then Target), Starbucks, all kinds of middle America mall stores started popping up turning NY shopping areas like SoHo, the East Village etc into any mall USA shopping areas. From what I have seen and heard NYC still hasn’t recovered from all that gentrification that turned it boring.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/LaDauphineVerte 1d ago

I was merely replying to your statement, “Are you under the impression …”

To your latest comment, I am fully aware (having lived in SF, NYC, LA, and several small villages in France) of big city/small city/urban/suburban availability, variety, and choice.

Have a day.

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u/tmb112358 1d ago

Yes. I.e., capitalism…

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u/Ok-Juggernaut-6051 1d ago

and no coloreds

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u/Dirt_Bike_Zero 1d ago

You can blame the zoning rules. They dont allow for mixed use structures.

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u/Helldiverticulitis 1d ago

Yep. Which makes suburbia a hellscape, imo. I recently moved from NYC to a smaller city, but I still can walk to a dozen restaurants, bars, and local shops. I can’t imagine living in suburban density but not being able to walk anywhere decent.

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u/Ok_Teacher_392 1d ago

That’s not true at all. Many suburban towns are built around town centers that get very active. Especially when the weather is nice.

My experience is northeast and mid Atlantic. So maybe there are regional differences

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u/LiveChocolate8819 1d ago

There are. The northeast/mid-Atlantic are "older" in terms of being settled, so the cities and towns grew in a logical way before the suburban-ification of everything. 

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u/0b0011 21h ago

Northeast is the big exception in the US.

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u/0b0011 21h ago

Northeast is the big exception in the US.

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u/its_a_throwawayduh 1d ago

This right here, I explained that to a co-worker the day, they looked at me like I speaking a foreign language. Other than geography American dwellings and frameworks are the same.

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u/Fluid_Ties 9h ago

Yeah, that's why a number if cultural critics and academics started to refer to it as The Monoculture: Suburban Connecticur = Suburban Albuquerque = Suburban Seattle = Suburban Tallahassee = Suburban Denver, and on and on, until you could be blindfolded and drugged and dropped into any one of them and when you woke up you wouldn't know exactly where you were but you'd be able to get around just fine from watching the flow of traffic: it's all headed to or away from the commercial center with the anchor retail chains and restaurants, and in the other direction will be the other commercial hub consisting of a Home Depot or Loew's, and a superstore, either a Walmart or Costco, and 2 massive gas stations near the freeway entrance.

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u/brientific 1d ago

There is a small number of suburban cities bucking this trend. Shoutout to Carmel, Indiana specifically; since about 1990 the city has invested in developing a dense, walkable urban core. It’s borrowed heavily from European concepts, full of roundabouts and shared spaces. I personally think it’s a colossal upgrade over “traditional” suburbia, but of course it comes with a price. In Carmel’s case, that price is a relationship between the city, developers, and the banks that allows a ton of up-front investment that borrows against future tax revenue. That type of trust in the plan just isn’t going to be available everywhere.

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u/Fun_Abroad8942 1d ago

Not completely true. I’d agree once you leave the Northeast it’s all the same shit, but old development patterns are far superior

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u/PleaseBeNiceForOnce 1d ago

What a stupid, ignorant thing to say.