I've just read the abstract, but I do have a personal anecdote related to this. When I first purchased a house in 2018, my thought process was largely defensive: the idea of my living space being...
I've just read the abstract, but I do have a personal anecdote related to this.
When I first purchased a house in 2018, my thought process was largely defensive: the idea of my living space being owned by another person who was not really accountable to me was pretty anxiety-inducing, and it seemed if I did not buy a house quickly I likely would have been priced out (this turned out to not be 100% true, but it definitely would have been significantly harder if I had waited too much). At the time I would not have been able to afford a home closer to the downtown area where I would have preferred to stay, so the suburbs it was.
I liked the perks of apartment living otherwise: in particular, the place I moved out from had a great location that was extremely walkable with a grocery store not 3 minutes away, a bakery across the street, and a convenience/dollar store literally next door.
So once the novelty of owning a home wore off, the suburbs themselves really started to get to me. There was more friction between me and the things I liked to do generally - stuff like grabbing a quick lunch or going to a bar now required the overhead of a car and the associated parking, or cabbing (bad in my city), or bussing (EVEN WORSE in my city). A car itself is a lot of work and money between registration, inspection, cleaning, gas, insurance, and maintenance but even so it was the best option.
My street is very quiet and low-traffic - it's ring-shaped, so there's no reason for through traffic, and it takes about 15 minutes to do a loop on foot (25 if you have a curious and rambunctious dog). There are some alternate routes, as well as a nearby private business which very kindly allows partial access before and after its active hours, but mostly I felt like I was on an island with my car as a noisy little boat to ferry me to the mainland.
Until... I started actually getting to know my fellow neighbourhood dog-walkers. Now almost every day I go out around the same time with my wife and my dog, and we'll meet up with two sisters who also do a daily walk on the same schedule. We are sometimes joined by another woman who walks her elderly mother's dog a few days a week; on the days when she's not there, one of the sisters will grab the dog instead as a favour. There's also one older man who waits for us with treats for the dogs and we will all stop and chat every day, and now that it's warmer out we'll also catch people gardening or doing yard work and stop to say hello.
I've gotten to know a lot of my neighbours and it's mitigated my feelings SIGNIFICANTLY. It is incredible what a difference it has made. I used to think walk-ability was mostly about convenience, and I valued it mostly along that axis, but I've realized it's way, way more than that. Just seeing other people out and about regularly, even if you don't interact with them meaningfully, is huge. Community is so, so powerful.
I'm lucky we formed a small community, because it feels like we did so DESPITE the design of the area rather than BECAUSE of it. If we had a park, or a coffee shop, or some other shared space mixed into the neighbourhood it would have been so much better and easier. It's a real shame there are not more mixed use areas.
I've just read the abstract, but I do have a personal anecdote related to this.
When I first purchased a house in 2018, my thought process was largely defensive: the idea of my living space being owned by another person who was not really accountable to me was pretty anxiety-inducing, and it seemed if I did not buy a house quickly I likely would have been priced out (this turned out to not be 100% true, but it definitely would have been significantly harder if I had waited too much). At the time I would not have been able to afford a home closer to the downtown area where I would have preferred to stay, so the suburbs it was.
I liked the perks of apartment living otherwise: in particular, the place I moved out from had a great location that was extremely walkable with a grocery store not 3 minutes away, a bakery across the street, and a convenience/dollar store literally next door.
So once the novelty of owning a home wore off, the suburbs themselves really started to get to me. There was more friction between me and the things I liked to do generally - stuff like grabbing a quick lunch or going to a bar now required the overhead of a car and the associated parking, or cabbing (bad in my city), or bussing (EVEN WORSE in my city). A car itself is a lot of work and money between registration, inspection, cleaning, gas, insurance, and maintenance but even so it was the best option.
My street is very quiet and low-traffic - it's ring-shaped, so there's no reason for through traffic, and it takes about 15 minutes to do a loop on foot (25 if you have a curious and rambunctious dog). There are some alternate routes, as well as a nearby private business which very kindly allows partial access before and after its active hours, but mostly I felt like I was on an island with my car as a noisy little boat to ferry me to the mainland.
Until... I started actually getting to know my fellow neighbourhood dog-walkers. Now almost every day I go out around the same time with my wife and my dog, and we'll meet up with two sisters who also do a daily walk on the same schedule. We are sometimes joined by another woman who walks her elderly mother's dog a few days a week; on the days when she's not there, one of the sisters will grab the dog instead as a favour. There's also one older man who waits for us with treats for the dogs and we will all stop and chat every day, and now that it's warmer out we'll also catch people gardening or doing yard work and stop to say hello.
I've gotten to know a lot of my neighbours and it's mitigated my feelings SIGNIFICANTLY. It is incredible what a difference it has made. I used to think walk-ability was mostly about convenience, and I valued it mostly along that axis, but I've realized it's way, way more than that. Just seeing other people out and about regularly, even if you don't interact with them meaningfully, is huge. Community is so, so powerful.
I'm lucky we formed a small community, because it feels like we did so DESPITE the design of the area rather than BECAUSE of it. If we had a park, or a coffee shop, or some other shared space mixed into the neighbourhood it would have been so much better and easier. It's a real shame there are not more mixed use areas.