Why We Won't Raise Our Kids in Suburbia
Why Hacker News recommends it
The standard link in threads about child autonomy, helicopter parenting and car-centric planning.
What it is
Not Just Bikes argues that car-dependent suburbs rob children of independence, contrasting North American suburbia with Dutch cities where kids walk and bike on their own. It is the creator's remake of an earlier video on the topic.
Recommended by 7 HN commenters across 7 different months, 2022 to 2026.
What Hacker News said
Recommends xputer · 2022-07 · on “Why we ignore thousands of daily car crashes”
Watch some videos from this channel and you'll be able to see how the US definitely does not do enough in terms of creating safe road infrastructure for all: [LINK] [LINK] [this video]
Recommends evolve2k · 2022-08 · on “Marc Andreessen says he’s for new housing, but records tell a different story”
NotJustBikes has some excellent videos on the differences between US and European cities, this one captures many of the issues - [this video]
Recommends NegativeLatency · 2022-10 · on “Barcelona-style “superblocks” could make cities greener and less car-centric”
Once the environment is safe for kids you don't have to do as many logistics for your children. You might be interested in this "Not Just Bikes" video about raising kids in non car dependent places: [this video] or this one about kids who bike to school in a group for safety: [LINK]
Recommends noahtallen · 2022-11 · on “Mom handcuffed, jailed for 8-year-old son walking half a mile”
Well, part of the problem is our infrastructure choices over the past many decades. When you build suburbs that are very isolated from places you need to go and then need to drive to literally everything you do, nearly everyone starts viewing normal activities like walking to a grocery store as abnormal. As a result, kids can’t actually go anywhere until they turn 16 and get a car. :/ There are a lot of excellent videos about this sad problem, like this: [this video] But at the end of the day, when it’s not actually possible to be independent every day, you just loose this culture. And countries that made different infrastructure and development decisions 6 decades ago are in a much better place
Recommends CalRobert · 2023-02 · on “Connecticut Parents Arrested for Letting Kids Walk to Dunkin' Donuts”
Yet again this video on how there is something deeply, horrifyingly wrong with raising kids in American suburbs is apt. [this video] Visited Utrecht in December and visiting Freiburg in April to decide where to live.
Recommends ignormies · 2023-04 · on “Kids Toys Suck (2011)”
The issue isn't purely house vs apartment. It's a symptom of our neighborhood design. Not Just Bikes has a really good video on why suburbia (usually single family housing) is often worse for children than denser environments. [this video]
Recommends malermeister · 2024-01 · on “Safetyism killed playtime”
There's a great video by the urbanist youtuber Not Just Bikes about this very topic - he ended up moving to the Netherlands so his kids can safely play on the street and independently meet up with friends: [this video]
Cites david-gpu · 2022-06 · on “Ask HN: Have You Regretted Immigrating?”
Toronto, by any chance? One other thing that frustrates me about most cities in North America is how car-dependent they are [0]. [0] [this video]