The modern suburbs, originally designed with cheap oil and a desire for a rural escape from the city, have become unsustainable and reliant on automobiles. With energy reliability decreasing, as seen in the 2003 North American Eastern Seaboard blackout, a shift towards walkable and humanistic living is needed. However, a generation has grown up believing the suburbs are normal, making it difficult to change this mentality.
The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream
The traditional suburban lifestyle is a flawed model, dependent on the availability of inexpensive oil and a reliance on cars.