[Alupis]

The problems you attribute to how American's live are not unique to America. Therefore, correlation does not equal causation.

> tiny town in rural Arizona

I don't think most of us would say a tiny rural town is anything like a suburban area surrounding a moderate/mega city.

My suburb is near one of these moderately sized cities (less than 1 million population). None of these fantasies are working well for this moderately sized city. All of the same problems exist... drugs, crime, safety, privacy, homeless, trash, exceedingly expensive... plus public transit isn't sufficient to rely on either. It's literally the worst qualities of both combined into one special dump.

And... if you truly believe suburbs are a deterioration of quality of life in America, you really need to try living in one. I can just as easily wave my hand and exclaim mega-cities are the root of all problems in this nation. In fact, I'd have a lot more evidence to support condemnation of mega-cities, including how they doom people into permanently impoverished lives.

[ethanbond]

Gee wiz, I’ve lived in a tiny rural town in AZ, moderate sized city in Northern AZ, Palo Alto, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Seattle, Raleigh, and a small town outside of Albany.

Yes, the fact that your nearby city is the worst of both worlds is my point. This is a condemnation of the way we build cities. Note that you are still near a city due to the amenities and opportunities that only cities can provide. This effect appears only to get stronger, not weaker, with time. So how can we not condemn later generations to abysmal living conditions?

It doesn’t look like either of the options on the menu in the US today.

[Alupis]

I think you are mistaking the European way of policing with how cities are constructed. Most of the problems big cities have in the US come from high tolerance of overt crime, drug abuse, homelessness and more. - things that are mostly not tolerated elsewhere, and used to not be tolerated here either.

Half of the names of cities you have lived in are definitely mega-cities, or very close to being a mega-city. Manhattan, Brooklyn, Seattle, Palo Alto - none of these are even remotely similar to typical modern-day suburbs.

[sagarm]

Palo Alto qualifies as a mega-city?

What exactly do you consider a "city" as opposed to a mega city?

[ethanbond]

Right, and the other half is not.

I’m clearly having difficulty speaking a language you understand, so have a good rest of your evening!

[mcphage]

> high tolerance of overt crime

I'm curious what you mean by this, given the unusually high incarceration rate in the US.

[ethanbond]

> it used to not be tolerated here either

Seems pretty evident GP lacks both historical and geographical context.