It's a Sprawl World After All: The Human Cost of Unplanned Growth -- and Visions of a Better Future
by Douglas E. Morris
Book Summary Information
Author: Douglas E. MorrisEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2005-09-01
ISBN: 0865715467
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: New Society Publishers
Book Reviews of It's a Sprawl World After All: The Human Cost of Unplanned Growth -- and Visions of a Better Future
Book Review: Life in the Suburbs - The Bad - and Real - Side of It
Summary: 5 Stars
I own this book in the electronic format (Adobe Reader and DRM-locked) and finish my reading a couple of months ago. Suburbia is, in my modest opinion, a very good-looking place for a family life and this is why it is appealing for anyone who wants to live in one. Having your own large and greened piece of land with a large house on it is a dream coming true. No other thing symbolizes better the achievement of the American Dream than owning a house in the suburbs.
However, I never liked the feeling of loneliness and isolation that places like these offer its inhabitants. While it can provide a comfortable living and a strong sense of ownership, it lacks convenience and community sense. I agree with the author that the effect of these downsides are much more relevant than the good ones. Some people can deal with it, but many people cannot. And for those who cannot, life becomes a struggle and the dream becomes a nightmare.
Despite its beauty, suburbs do not promote human interaction due to its large dimensions that makes difficult for people to communicate with each other in a regular and informal way. The lack of such interaction really can make someone to be less tolerate and more aggressive and fearful of somebody else. Human interaction can only be learned if it is commonly practiced.
The book does a good job on explaining briefly the origin of the suburbs, why it has grown so fast, why it is still so popular and, with more details, what the consequences of living in such places are. After reading the book, it is perfectly possible to recognize that well-being and life in the suburbs aren't things that are necessarily connected to each other, although this is what your next door real estate developer says to a prospective buyer...
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