I was just about to post an apology for stirring up such emotions over a simple question, but I have to respond to your comment:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cambridgite
The comment I was responding to was coalminecanary scoffing at someone because they "find life across from Future Shop so fulfilling". It struck me as the typical kind of arrogant comment that gets spouted off by urban elitists.
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I did not scoff at anyone. I stated that I personally do not understand a desire to move into that environment. And I posed a question about whether life across from Future Shop is fulfilling:
Quote:
Originally Posted by coalminecanary
What i'll never understand is anyone WANTING to live in developments like this. Is life across the street from future shop really that fulfilling?
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The area in my mind at the time was the collection of subdivisions at meadowlands. I headed up there recently to meet a Craigslist seller, and it struck me that it must be difficult to have to deal with the meadowlands traffic all day every day, and be so close to these amenities and yet so far (try walking around up there and you'll see the barriers to human scaled movement). My confusion about the entire concept of these spaces perhaps did not come through in my generalization of "across from future shop".
Anyway, people are welcome to respond to my question -- maybe something along the lines of "in fact, it is fulfilling because ________" -- and then perhaps I'd be able to better relate to the choice to live in this type of development. Some of you have, but I'm still not convinced.
I think the problem is that personally I dislike getting in my car. I find it to be an inefficient way of going about my daily business. I don't like how it disconnects me from the other people on the street. I don't like the attitudes that driving brings out in people (including myself). I don't like the frustrations of traffic. I don't like the cost. There is a lot to dislike. I do appreciate the convenience and the comfort especially in winter. But in my ideal world, I'd be able to walk/cycle to everything I need on any day of the year. So I have trouble relating to living in a neighbourhood where it's a 10 minute walk just to get to the nearest main street - and that street has only a few amenities (if any) - and it's a 10 minute walk between each amenity. I think these characteristics are pretty universal in the neighbourhoods we classify as "sprawl", and they are the characteristics that force undue car usage (especailly for short trips) and all of the negatives that go along with that (congestion, pollution, road rage, etc).
So my personal feelings are pretty clear now, and I didn't mean to belittle anyone who chooses to live in the 'burbs, but I DID mean to question their reasoning because there must be some huge benefits to them that I just don't see...