America — The Last Suburb

2009.09.20   prev     next

As a city grows, it expands outward. So inevitably, the oldest parts of the city are in the middle. Since both newness and technological advancements in construction and infrastructure make the suburbs a nicer place to live, most of the successful people move to the suburbs. The downtown area becomes a mixture of wealth and poverty — with a heavy dose of the latter.

The USA is one big suburb of humanity. Less than 250 years ago, the US was nothing but virgin forests, fields, and deserts, very lightly populated by scattered tribes of stagnant primitives. By comparison, China, India, the Middle East, and even Europe have been strongly populated for thousands of years. And whaddaya know — they have much greater poverty problems and aging-infrastructure problems than does the US.

This is America’s future too. The competent middle- and upper-middle-class can flee to the suburbs — and I can’t say I blame them — but eventually the dysfunctional, damage-riddled segment of the population simply re-emerges (thanks to ongoing genetic mutation), the buildings and neighborhoods grow old and overbuilt, and it’s time to find a new suburb.

And the USA, I think, is the last great suburb nation. When the US loses its suburban character and becomes another France or India, then there won’t be any more. Not until we’re terraforming other planets, and that could be quite a while indeed.

So enjoy it while it lasts! I am.