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Comment by afavour | Hacker News Reader

My takeaway from those stats is that it highlights how the suburbs are the worst of both worlds. I live in an apartment in the city, if I were to leave having a bigger house would be the primary reason. The fact that 44% of people already in the suburbs would prefer to move somewhere with bigger houses suggests that for a lot of people the suburbs aren't fulfilling their promise.

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Or more likely it just shows that if you ask someone "hey would you like a bigger house?" they're very likely to say yes. I don't think it's some profound statement on the promise of suburban living.

Well there are two halves to the question. "Would you like a bigger house even if it means amenities are further away?". So to me the 44% suggests that for a lot of people suburban amenity proximity is not worth the smaller home size.

And I'm not that surprised. Not to over generalize but very few suburbs are walkable. Once you're in the car what's an extra 10 minutes on your drive? As a person sitting in the city pondering a life outside of it I can't see the point in the suburbs if I'm going to be driving and stuck in traffic anyway. I'd rather go whole hog and live rurally.

As a suburbanite, I think my current tradeoff is just right. I have a big enough house for my needs and wants. But if I wish, a major city is just the right distance away and not too far. Also, the place is not overly crowded but it is neither desolate like the rural areas I have visited. I can go to the "main street" and have enough people. Finally, all the amenities I want for a comfortable life (restaurants, bars, hospitals, schools, sports facilities, airports, supermarkets, specialty stores..) are 20-25 min radius.

Rural setting doesn't have anything like that.

> As a person sitting in the city pondering a life outside of it I can't see the point in the suburbs if I'm going to be driving and stuck in traffic anyway. I'd rather go whole hog and live rurally.

I've though this way too for a long time, both now and when I lived in a city. Having thought about it often, I think the two things driving suburbs are those with daily commutes (that 15 extra minutes twice every day adds up), and many people are not well off enough to live in the denser city to begin with (as things stand). Cities are economic attractors, and suburbs are basically less concentrated instances (or addons) of that.

Also note that the question specifically says "amenities". Likely most people aren't thinking about commuting while answering the question.

After a few miserable years in the city, I moved to the suburbs - the place I consider the best of all worlds. I lived in the suburbs when single and bought a bigger house when I started a family.

The reason people in the suburbs are moving to even bigger houses is because they are getting older and richer, or their families are growing.

> that 44% of people already in the suburbs would prefer to move somewhere with bigger houses suggests that for a lot of people the suburbs aren't fulfilling their promise.

Once you start playing the space game, particularly if you're in a location where you tend to get guests, it's always appealing to have another room.

I must disagree. Having resided in the residential districts of a large city for nearly 15 years, I relocated to the city center, drawn by the promise of better balance and easier accessibility. However, I found myself discontented with the experience and opted to purchase a small detached house in a suburb, a decision I've come to love even if amenities are somewhat further away. If the opportunity arose to move into a larger house that's even more distant from the city, I would certainly seize it. It's not that suburbs are unfulfilling, but rather that once you've tasted the pleasures they have to offer, you may find yourself longing to immerse even more deeply in nature.

> The fact that 44% of people already in the suburbs would prefer to move somewhere with bigger houses

I think you are reading it backwards. 44% suburbanites would prefer to live in communities with smaller houses.

From a 1960's screed about cars 'An automobile is a great thing when you're the only one that has one. And a terrible thing when everyone else does'

Same can be said for large suburban houses.

That's not my takeaway at all. Can you please elaborate?

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