A bit of straw man-ing here
I’m just saying that the idea that it’s “good for the kids” can be a bit disingenuous.
Truth is, none of these “urban experiences” described in the above few posts aren’t available to my kids growing up in the suburbs.
The “candy store” experience in particular I find baffling. I don’t know what the hell is going on in suburban Dallas, but we have candy stores in downtown Libertyville. I and my kids have biked to downtown Libertyville numerous times.
Yes, my kids do need to be shepherded around in cars but still, they get out, walk to the park, and get plenty of physical activity. This idea of kids walking to the candy store on Main St is a very quaint idea that most Americans will never experience, but I think people are exaggerating how valuable or important it is as a part of one’s upbringing.
I can take my kids into the city whenever I want to experience urbanity. And pre-Covid, I did it a lot. But it seems that many urbanites (not all) seem to show such a disdain for the suburbs that they will not say the same in reverse. They’d just as soon deprive themselves and their kids of the vast number of experiences their metropolitan area offers because “the suburbs suck” or whatever ideology informs them.
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