[sealthedeal]

I live in a nice suburb outside of Austin in the hills, and it's incredible. If I moved to Europe, I would still live outside of the city with some land where I have privacy. Living in a dense area is cool for some people, but not others.

[samarthr1]

Exactly!

Having a house that is large enough to support whatever hobby(/ies) one takes up is an underappreciated aspect of suburban living.

Growing up, (moderately wealthy) in a comparatively decent sized apartment, in a decent area, the biggest reason to not take up something like woodworking, or say working on a car, or for that matter gardening.

So, as soon as I graduated, I moved out of the city, into a suburb. I get 80% of the benefits of the density (there is a denser suburb 1km away), so I get walkable shops, and all the hep places to eat/drink are just 30 minutes away by car :)

Did I mention the ability to stretch my arms without punching someone in the face while travelling? (because public transport when successful (highly utilized) is crowded, and that is just plain painful)

[hattmall]

Are you implying 30 minutes away by car is a short / good thing? That's adding an hour to anything you want to do. Assuming you work 8 hours and sleep 8 hours that's taking like 15% of your free time just in getting somewhere.

[ghaff]

Or you just cook at home more--which isn't really a bad thing. I have tons of places within 10 or 15 minutes but don't really go out to eat much. Of course, if you really want to eat out all the time that's a different thing.