Posted on 06/11/2006 8:24:03 PM PDT by Lorianne
I remember when I first drove through Collin County several years ago and thought, "Why do all these people live so far away?"
It took me a while to realize that these crazy people out in the sticks didn't live far away – not far away from the things that mattered to them: their churches, their shopping centers, their favorite restaurants and even their jobs.
Now that I live in East Dallas and work downtown, I run into the very kind of naïve, shallow thinking I was guilty of when I first experienced Collin County.
Can you believe they are now building these urban-style neighborhoods all the way out THERE?
Yes, I tell people, I can. Because they don't all work and play HERE, at least, not frequently.
And so, it seems, some city-dwelling snobs have ventured into the suburbs to see what in the world is going on. And they have reported back with some less-than-flattering findings. One recent article in The Wall Street Journal, dateline Plano, sneered at how "fake" downtowns were springing up in the suburbs, but it's not just that paper or its readers who are the anti-suburban snobs.
Can you believe they have sidewalk cafes in the 'burbs? Posers! Wannabes!
And that's where the anti-suburbanites have it flat wrong. By supporting shopping developments like Legacy Town Center or Frisco Square or Eastside Village, people are not trying to be something they're not. They aren't living out a fantasy of living in the big bad city, sans crime. They are just supporting businesses that create a sense of place, and I am glad to see Legacy expanding to the north.
The alternative to new urbanism in the suburbs is not moving to the city; it's run-of-the-mill strip shopping centers.
(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
Not every townie appreciates them.
Me, for one, because they are in fact a nod to urbanism, which I loath. Go to the city if you like that stuff, and keep my small town... small.
I live in a "suburb" that has been its own town for 100 years or so. It's a suburb in the since that it has close proximity to a city and it's where many people who work in the city want to live.
I used to live near downtown in my "suburb" and still own a home there. I could walk to two schools, three parks, restaurants, a grocery store, the library, a university, as well as "Main Street." I totally loved it. However, I don't like the sprawl and retail development that has grown and is growing all around it. But what can you do?
If I was going to go to a sidewalk cafe, I would choose one where there is less pollution.
I promise you that a sidewalk cafe with temps in the "triple digits" is better than one with the temps in the "single digits" or slightly warmer.
You have a point, although I found I was always able to add enough layers to stay warm, but you can never shed enough layers to stay cool. Although it is hard to handle a fork when you have mittens on over your gloves.
Depends on what your definition of "cool enough" is. :^)
I grew up in South Louisiana, in the "pre-air conditioning" days. Summers 100F and 100% humidity. Peeled down to skivvies always did it well enough for us.
"Although it is hard to handle a fork when you have mittens on over your gloves."
Now THERE's a drawback I hadn't considered--LOL. But true.
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