As an American, it’s interesting to hear someone from overseas offer up the same complaints about suburban life as the ones I often hear in the States.

I grew up in the suburbs as well, but it was different back in the 80s. We had block parties all the time in the summers, and as a child I could quite literally just walk into my neighbors’ homes without knocking (though I did still knock most of the time). And I will never forget the neighborhood babysitter. Her name was Johnna. She was my first crush lol.

But then my parents moved us to a different suburb in ’89, and everything changed. The kids in my new neighborhood did not play together. No one left their doors unlocked. There was no neighborhood babysitter who watched everyone’s kids, and we never had a single block party in the 10+ years that I lived there. It was the most mundane neighborhood ever.

I don’t know what happened or why things turned out that way, but I don’t want to go back to living in the suburbs. I live in the city now, and I enjoy it for many of the same reasons you do. There’s so much motion and energy, and I really do love it. But I’ve also lived and worked in rural America and found it equally pleasing. I used to enjoy going for a hike at dawn on Saturdays and following it up with a backyard BBQ or an afternoon of fishing. And I really do miss living in places where everyone knew each other and neighbors looked out for each other.

Anyways, great work as always, Anna! Thanks for posting!