Raise the Hammer

good thoughts from both of you. I also think it will certainly be interesting to see what becomes of that 'middle ground sprawl' area that nowhere to go talks about. In many ways, sprawl has been the largest experiment of western civilization. I'm 29 and am part of the first ever generation of kids who were raised without knowing neighbours, having stores in walking distance along with schools and parks. It seems to me that the further into this experiment we get the less hope I have for it's long-lasting ability to remain viable. I agree that not everyone wants to live in the country or an 'intense urban experience'. And that's certainly not being proposed by us here at RTH. I live in Strathcona and know folks who are chosing to sell their south Mountain homes for homes in Kirkendall, Delta area, West Harbour or Corktown. These areas have varying degrees of 'intensity' but none are like NYC or even Toronto. The streets are quiet and safe, many folks live in homes. The only real difference is that I can walk to various shops and services, our homes were built with porches or front patios instead of huge garages and some folks have to park on the street. There are more apartments and condos thrown in as well, but it's well-balanced. That's really where sprawl has gotten it very wrong - no balance. I recall my mother mentioning last summer (after asking one of us to run out and 'grab some milk' while we were spending an evening at their place) how insane it was that we have to 'drive just to get some milk'. This is on the south Mountain. Yet only 10 minutes away along the north Mountain and downtown neighbourhoods people can still walk for basic needs. Liking your car is no problem at all....I think the problem is when we are forced to live in them for hours a day like Ade said. The future of suburbia is certainly up in the air - especially if cities slowly continue to move towards the practice of having developers and new home-buyers pay more of the real cost for the new developments instead of relying on urban tax-payers to heavily subsidize the suburban lifestyle. Great comments though, you seem to have a good perspective on things.