To find the suburbs a bit depressing?

I live in the suburbs. Two minutes from my door I have woodlands great for walking, 15 minutes I have train station to get into town. There is a theatre, several cinemas, even a couple of pubs with live music. I love the city but life here isn't bad and the schools are better and we can afford a bigger house. But it took me a while to adapt because I used to live in a very busy, vibrant area so initially it felt very boring. But there is things to do if you look for it

I live on a housing estate in a village and don't recognise the picture you have painted.

I live in green and leafy suburbia with attractive Victorian and Edwardian houses, and some blocks of decent flatslarge parks nearby. It's a 10 minute walk to a train station, a few minutes walk to a bus service into town. A 30 minutes walk takes me to open countryside in one direction or 50 minutes walk to the sea. Obviously much faster by bus if I'm in a hurry. 10 minutes takes me to a tennis club, a decent fitness centre, a friendly pub, there's parades of local shops and churches. 30 minute walk to a cinema, 10 minutes by bus. Car parking on road is easy, permits, it's not full of multi occupancy houses, there's very little litter, no tags, people are polite. It all feels quite spacious and airy.
Gardens are full of spring flowers and soon the blossom will be out. Not everyone's cup of tea and I love the buzz of the city but my suburbia suits me.

I really like my suburb. It’s peaceful (most of the time) and the neighbours are friendly with each other, so there is support should someone need it. There hasn’t been a burglary for well over 20 years and no one gets there car nicked!

As to your AIBU, if you believe they shouldn’t exist, then yes, of course. If it’s not to want to live in a suburb, of course not. AIBU seems a bit OTT for this issue.

So convenient though. I don't mind the aesthetics because of convenience but I live in a beautiful Victorian semi, walking distance from a pharmacy, corner shop, two lovely parks, cafés, Tesco express, three churches, two gyms, lots of childcare and so on. Plus a bus stop at the end of the road with a bus every 7 mins to a mainline tube station. Etc.

FWIW I think a lot of suburbs suffer from ugly development like lots of different types of PVC double glazing and rows of fast food outlets. Also derelict buildings and general neglect.

It's a failure of planning laws in my opinion, considering how much money has been made on property in the past 50 years, you'd think we could have achieved a better aesthetic outcome for everyone.

Instead we have a system where speculation and urban degeneration has been rewarded by profits. Our tax laws are some of the only ones in the world that allow someone to sit on an asset like land and infinitum paying no ownership privileges. There are no rules on paint colours and styles like they have elsewhere.

I'd tax the ownership of land and property rather than just on its sale/purchase. Then watch vacant property move hands out of absentee landlords..... And money laundering oil billionaires......

Then give residents and local wards/parishes more control over development in their area.

Each to their own. Some people are homeless. Do you judge them too?

Walked from Harborne into the centre of Birmingham at 41 weeks pregnant! I wouldn't even describe it as a suburb. We had loads of good things on our doorstep. Very fond memories of living there.

(Now live in Zone 5/6 and I would say that is the Suburbs, it's great. No way could I live in a tiny village or a sad town by the sea)

Know what you mean. Much prefer a city centre.

@mixedrecycling ah my lovely city. Love a Georgian crescent!! We live on edge of it but can be in town in 6 minutes (bus every 5 minutes) and yet have fantastic parkland within 2 minutes with sheep. One reason I like it is lots of facilities and green space , but very few sprawling new estates as there is no room to do so and most people live within 2 miles of town - there are some excellent suburbs though out there that I've lived in over the years. West Bridgford in nottingham is one, summertown in Oxford is another, Henleaze in Bristol was quite nice as well - although a bit of a fag to get into town

I grew up in a suburban housing estate and hated it. Yes, it was fine as a kid as I could play out on my bike etc but after that it was just so drab, nowhere to go, nothing ever happened.

I now live very close to the city centre and love it. Everything's on my doorstep and there is still plenty of green space. My house backs on to woods and is on the top of a big hill so lots of views. Yes, it's a bit tatty but I'd prefer that to neatly mowed lawns and people who have an aneurism if the bin's not out on the right day.

I also dislike huge sprawling estates with no amenities within walking distance, if that is what is meant by suburbs.

New builds are fine, when they are small developments. You get houses more suited to modern living (eg enough plugs!) and a downstairs loo and the like are standard.

I don't like big estates though, especially when they only have one way in and out of them, and you need a car to get to anywhere easily. And the gardens are tiny in proportion to the house. That doesn't bother me, as I am not a gardener, but it's not very sensible when a family is buying a 4 bed house and the garden is a postage stamp.

I agree with you OP (as someone who lives in a city centre) but I think it’s hard to judge an area when you don’t live there as oftentimes people will have friends and family and a school community so it’s much more than just a dull conurbation to them. It also tends to be more affordable in terms of getting the space needed for a family and now there’s often less commuting. It’s not for me though.

As I said, I love our suburb because of the excellent public transport (to get to museums etc quickly and easily), and all amenities within walking distance.

As for grim looking - well, that's in the eye of the beholder. Gorgeous Georgian crescents were the identikit housing of their day!

See for me if I'm going to live somewhere where you have to drive everywhere I'd want it to be a pretty cottage in some beautiful rural idyll with gorgeous views. Grim looking streets and lack of amenities is the worst of both worlds to me.

@StopGrowingPlease

I’ve just googled surburbs of where I live and we apparantly all live in them because it’s just another word for towns. 🤷‍♀️

Except it's not.

Suburbs.......

an outlying district of a city, especially a residential one:

No. West Wickham is in Bromley.

(ponders writing a quirky travelogue about walking from West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire all the way through London to West Wickham, Kent. I could call it "Getting on my Wickham" or something 🤔)

I live in a suburb and I agree op. If I could afford it I’d be back in the city in a minute.

@crackofdoom they are different, West Wickham is in Kent (although also in the outer London borough of Bromley)

Yes, I'm in zone 3 and it's definitely not a suburb of London - it's it's own village with everything in it including the river/museums

I always thought a village was a small settlement in a rural area? There are areas in Z5 with museums,shops, cinemas, etc.

I live in the suburb of a small city. 20 minutes to the city centre by car, 30-40 mins by bus, half an hour walking distance to a busy urban area with independent shops, cafes, bars, theatre, cinema. Loads of green space around us. Every one of the major supermarkets within 10 minutes by car, some in walking distance. Excellent schools. Minutes from the major road network, 20 minutes from the airport. It's great. Not all suburbs are created equal.

Yes, I'm in zone 3 and it's definitely not a suburb of London - it's it's own village with everything in it including the river/museums

Sounds absolutely brilliant!!
How different do your days/week look now?

I love the suburb I live in, grew up in a suburb, have lived in two UK cities and I love the quiet and the people near but not on top of us.
We looked at sone commuter suburban areas and disliked some and loved others.
But I've lived in some very unfashionable places over the years and some friends never came because they didn't even want to visit a place they don't like!