Yes. Yes. We played video games or read books or had to have our parents drive us to a park or walked the whole way (no sidewalks) there.
Because our officials are incompetent. Yes. Yes.
See above on lobbying from oil and car companies.
Because the word “commie” is scary to Americans from decades of indoctrination and the “nuclear family” having their own home is the biggest lie in the “American Dream.”
Because of zoning laws. Refer to the above about incompetent officials. Yep, it is simply not possible and legal.
Americans care way more about appearances than actually having things be useful. What can I say, we’re fucking coddled.
Hope this helps. It’s valid to still be baffled at such.
Suburbs were intentionally designed to be hostile to families without a car. This created a financial barrier to living in the suburbs, organically weeding out “undesirable” (aka non-white) families. Yes this also meant that many white families also couldn’t afford to move to the suburbs, but that was a downside the rich white racists were willing to accept if it meant keeping most non-white families out.
it is profitable for big chemical companies and whatever lobby makes the lawnmowers and weed whackers for everyone to have these big lawns that need to be maintained via mowing and pesticides. There are breeds other than bluegrass that don’t grow that tall, chiefly buffalo grass, with deeper roots that make it generally more healthy, less patchy, less susceptible to weeds, etc.
It is convenient for the ruling class that we have to do all this maintenance individually, leaving us less time (and wealth) to organize and build community/alternative modes of governance. Divide and conquer and all that.
OK I lied here’s a 3rd:
Western society is pretty much defined by our need to control nature/the world around us in outright denial of any consequences that might arise from doing so.
I saw a case of a guy who was being prosecuted for having unruly lawn. The kicker? He was elderly with cancer, and his son used to do it, but he went away for a while and no one was doing it. The judge said, and I quote: “You should be ashamed of yourself. If i could give you jail time, I would. Why should the neighbours have to look at that?”. HE WAS ELDERLY AND CANCER RIDDLED.
Yes. Yes. We played video games or read books or had to have our parents drive us to a park or walked the whole way (no sidewalks) there.
Because our officials are incompetent. Yes. Yes.
See above on lobbying from oil and car companies.
Because the word “commie” is scary to Americans from decades of indoctrination and the “nuclear family” having their own home is the biggest lie in the “American Dream.”
Because of zoning laws. Refer to the above about incompetent officials. Yep, it is simply not possible and legal.
Americans care way more about appearances than actually having things be useful. What can I say, we’re fucking coddled.
Hope this helps. It’s valid to still be baffled at such.
No, malicious. Racist in fact.
Suburbs were intentionally designed to be hostile to families without a car. This created a financial barrier to living in the suburbs, organically weeding out “undesirable” (aka non-white) families. Yes this also meant that many white families also couldn’t afford to move to the suburbs, but that was a downside the rich white racists were willing to accept if it meant keeping most non-white families out.
Add in redlining and you’ve got yourself a good ol’ American suburb!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redlining
I think this was a feature, not a downside. (I agree with the rest of your post tho)
You’re absolutely right but I’m also gonna go out on a limb and say malicious/racist and incompetent are not mutually exclusive from one another.
They are not but this incompetence angle ignores a more likely scenario: corruption
But people in us sleep better when we say:
Yeah sure but this big money and when there is money, there is corruption
This the hill I will die on.
Definitely!!!
But that is the strange part to me: its appearance is awful. A big garden full of plants is much nicer looking than only grass.
So many Americans get rock hard about their lawns, and demand that everyone else does as well. There is no logic to it
Two pet theories I have about this
it is profitable for big chemical companies and whatever lobby makes the lawnmowers and weed whackers for everyone to have these big lawns that need to be maintained via mowing and pesticides. There are breeds other than bluegrass that don’t grow that tall, chiefly buffalo grass, with deeper roots that make it generally more healthy, less patchy, less susceptible to weeds, etc.
It is convenient for the ruling class that we have to do all this maintenance individually, leaving us less time (and wealth) to organize and build community/alternative modes of governance. Divide and conquer and all that.
OK I lied here’s a 3rd:
The logic is that they are modeling how the rich maintained their houses in england …
So they want to do it in Arizona and Florida and Texas because they are clearly on the same boat as an inbred English nobility
But HOAs mandate then
I saw a case of a guy who was being prosecuted for having unruly lawn. The kicker? He was elderly with cancer, and his son used to do it, but he went away for a while and no one was doing it. The judge said, and I quote: “You should be ashamed of yourself. If i could give you jail time, I would. Why should the neighbours have to look at that?”. HE WAS ELDERLY AND CANCER RIDDLED.