on November 20, 2025, 8:24:09, in reply to "I've yet to find a suburb that feels as small town as an actual city. And by small town, I mean"
Along with that, the neighborhood feels like a very small town. I know all of my neighbors. We all have keys to each others houses. Our kids play on the sidewalk and run back and forth between each others houses. Their school is walkable. The park and library are walkable. There’s frequent block parties and festivals and street markets. We take our kids abd their friends and parents and attend local high school sports events. I can’t go to the store, or to get a coffee or go to a bar or a restaurant without running into at least a few people I know. It’s very tight knit…and can be kinda insular.
My house is small. Very small by ish-standards…and it’s worth a ton of money, relatively. I could sell it and move to most other places and come out ahead. We’ve considered it years ago…especially during Covid shutdowns…but ultimately we didn’t. I’ve lived in the neighborhood for 15 years now and 13 years on my block. My wife grew up in this neighborhood. I think it takes a long time to break through the shell and form a community like we have here. Especially now with school aged kids, the thought of starting that process over is a non starter for us.
That and I enjoy being home. My commute is about 20-30 minutes my boss lives in Petaluma and is frequently in the car for 2-3 hours a day. No fucking way.
So, that’s my long winded explanation of why I kinda agree with Snapper. 
Previous Message
A legitimate small town. Walk to school small town. The typical suburban experience is about as far from small town as you can get.
There may be some suburbs that have that feel, but I'm guessing that is because it shares similarities with cities. Walkable, higher density, and accessible. Previous Message
House was cheaper, obviously.
We weren't interested in raising kids in the city in any event. Could have won the lottery and we wouldn't have stayed. We're small town kids at heart, i guess. Previous Message
I have no idea, but, using Chicago as an example, the cost of daycare being more expensive in the city than in Evanston, Barrington, Glencoe, etc. would surprise me. Previous Message
Build more homes, provide childcare, etc.
I’m someone who is going to try to raise a kid in one of the most expensive cities in the country, and the math is very tough even though we do pretty well. Previous Message
..to alleviate the real world issues that make doing it so prohibitive.
I call it "The GOP plan".
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