Cities Vs. Suburbs

Eventually the swollen cities will rupture like dehiscent wombs and disperse their children back to the countryside. 

-John Steinbeck 

I feel this now more than ever. Throughout history there has been a vacillation between suburban living and city life. At times, people eagerly crowded into cities, often crammed like rats, for jobs, culture and safety; there have also been alternating periods where people moved back to the countryside in search of nature’s beauty, tranquility and peace. 

It seems to me, with admittedly no social scientific data to back it up, that a tipping point lies ahead. City living has become dirty, crowded and expensive. 

More importantly, the online revolution has and will make many of the previous perks of city living- 1. proximity to work, 2. culture and 3. social opportunities- available regardless of physical proximity. 

1- Take business for starters. As it is becoming more and more convenient to conduct business online, both employers and employee will find suburban living preferable. 

Why hire an employee that lives in an expensive city and be forced to finance his or her overpriced apartment, food costs and entertainment? Why not choose a more talented worker from and international talent pool? As an employee, why live in a crammed city, pay exorbitant prices when the same opportunities are available for cheaper from a beautiful beach, ranch or mountain top.

2- Culture too used to be exclusive to cities, but when Netflix, a 24/7 broadway play and Spotify, a portable concert experience, can be enjoyed from anywhere, that changes things. Online classes and ultimately online schooling will remove education from the list of considerations as well. 

3- Increased social opportunities is the advantage of cities that will be last to go. 

But as social opportunities exist online, via social media, reddit communities, Zoom gatherings, Xbox live, and people are able to vanquish the loneliness that once may have plagued suburban living, that reason too will deteriorate. 

As I said though, this is cyclical. And as soon as prices in the suburbs become too high, and opportunities in the city more available, people will come rushing back to the cities.