[chrisco255]

I don't think they're designed explicitly to discourage non-car travel. It's quite easy to ride a bike around the suburbs and kids in particular do it all the time. It's just that as a function of everyone wanting a quarter acre lot and cul-de-sacs, the neighborhoods themselves take miles to navigate and then you have to get to a main thoroughfare or possibly even a freeway to then commute 10+ miles to work or to get groceries or see a movie or whatever you might want to do. Try riding a bike 15 miles with 2 kids in tow while picking up groceries on the way back home from some after-school activity or sport. It's just not feasible.

[digging]

> It's quite easy to ride a bike around the suburbs and kids in particular do it all the time.

First, I don't agree. Most of the suburbs I've lived in or near have extremely low bicycle traffic, even though kids do it sometimes.

But more importantly, where are those kids going? Usually either nowhere, or to another suburban house. They're probably not getting groceries or otherwise leaving the residential area.