[l72]

It is important to differentiate between suburbs and sprawl. Many of the old suburbs are still dense, walkable, have a diverse mix of single and multi family housing with some small retail scattered in. However, that is not what most people think about when they think about American suburbs.

[bluGill]

Lot sizes have not changed between old suburbs and new for the most part. sure there are some mansion lots around but look at all suburbs in a better sample.

[bitwize]

Even in the suburb suburbs, a lot of households had kids, and they would get together and bike around, play basketball in the cul-de-sac, or just go to each other's houses and hang out. I lived way out in the bush comparatively speaking where the nearest neighbor was like a quarter mile away, and I used to envy those suburban kids.

Then I guess some time ago that all stopped, and the late millennial/zoomer /r/fuckcars bughive lovers are all like "it's the suburbs, man, the suburbs killed childhood".

[The_Colonel]

Fertility rate dropped, parents are more anxious to let kids roam, kids now have a lot of alternatives to spending time outdoors. There are just fewer kids around, and this drop is then amplified by suburbs' low density.