In Defense of the Suburbs

Housing developments near Markham, Ontario. (Photo Credit: IDuke)

Last month, during a nightly scroll through social media, I came across an unfamiliar subreddit: r/SuburbanHell. Out of curiosity, I clicked on the banner, only to find hundreds of posts, all bemoaning the very existence of suburbs. Users shared aerial photos of cookie-cutter houses, miles on end, with captions mocking the dullness of suburban life and the difficulties it wrought upon them. 

Having happily grown up in a suburb, I became defensive. I commented in protest, saying there exist no alternatives that offer what suburbs do, only to be met with vitriolic replies calling me a “sheep” and a “part of the problem.” The polemics were certainly unwarranted, but what is even more unwarranted is the cultural narrative being pushed: that suburban life should be dismissed as the paragon of conformity and mediocrity.

Suburbs are denounced as the great bane of American society, seen by urbanists and architects as a disease plaguing every part of our nation. Online communities, such as r/SuburbanHell, garner hundreds of thousands of monthly visitors who lament about their repetitive nature. Nearly a dozen states have passed laws that seek to abolish or abridge zoning designations for low-density suburban housing. In spite of statistics showing that suburban housing is safe, comfortable and economical, the assault on American suburbia shows no signs of slowing. 

The rise of the suburb was precipitated by America’s postwar economic and demographic growth. As millions of veterans returned from World War II, they sought spacious, private, and affordable housing. With Americans taking advantage of federal mortgage programs and the burgeoning highway system, a mass migration to low-density residential communities took place. 

Bolstered by the prevailing “nuclear family” zeitgeist, America's suburban population nearly doubled between 1940 and 1960, increasing from 29.2 million to 73.3 million. This dispersal marked an irreversible change to the residential composition of America. While cities remained bastions of enterprise and commercial activity, suburbs began to bear much of the nation’s domestic weight. Today, this residential skew persists, with suburbs housing 50-70% of the American population and holding nearly half of the nation’s residential unit stock. 

Having grown up in the suburban swaths of Chandler, Arizona myself, I will be the first to admit that suburbs can be boring. It takes thirty minutes to walk out of my neighborhood, and the route is lined by endless iterations of the same four-bedroom house, three-car garage, and neatly curved lawn. The repetition is frustrating, I get it. But this criticism of suburbs overlooks a more important fact: their practicality and utility make them indispensable to American life. 

Suburbs exist at the juncture of housing and employment. Americans want to work in cities with higher wages and more job opportunities, while simultaneously preferring safer, more spacious homes they can retire to after their 9-to-5s. 

The National Association of Realtors reports that a few of the most important residential considerations Americans have are a quiet location, a garage, a large backyard, an outdoor living area, and an open floor plan. Suburbs answer these demands far better than urban housing. Suburban housing exhibits lower noise levels, greater outdoor space, and much more square footage than urban areas, not to mention the disparity in affordability. Realtor.com finds that an average home in the suburbs costs $230,000, while a home in the city costs $431,000. With cheaper prices, more space, and a better match to consumer preference, these communities remain the evidently practical choice.

Beyond price and square footage, suburbs offer safety. Across age demographics, safety remains a foremost concern for most American homebuyers. In nearly every taxonomy, suburban crime rates lag far behind their urban counterparts. In 2023, violent crime per 1000 residents was nearly 30% greater in urban localities than in suburbs. Violent crimes, excluding assaults, were 41% higher in urban areas, and property crime in urban localities was nearly double that in suburban ones. 

Safety, in this sense, is itself a residential amenity. A safer neighborhood affords its residents the ability to utilize the surrounding spaces without fear of victimization and reduces the precautions that households must incorporate into ordinary routines. Suburbs offer not only more spacious living, but the ability to enjoy that space unhindered by worry.

Detractors of suburbia often claim that daily commutes from suburbs to workplaces are unbearably long, thus rendering them a lesser option. While it is true that suburban homes are farther, as the crow flies, from both workplaces and everyday amenities, distance is an imperfect proxy for time. In fact, analysis of American Community Survey statistics found that average one-way commute times were 14-20% higher for residents of the urban core than for those living in suburban homes. 

Families need not choose between quiet neighborhoods and timely access to employment centers, between comfortable living and fast commutes. Suburbia offers all of the above, and therein lies its appeal.

Yes, suburbs may be boring and repetitive. They may even be the labyrinthian clusters of mundanity their critics accuse them of being. But there is order in the repetition and comfort in the monotony. Suburbs are safer, more affordable, and more spacious than their alternatives. What they lose in form, they make up for in function—whether you like it or not, suburbs are central to the American way of life for a reason.