Every house in the neighborhood looks nearly identical, with perfectly manicured lawns. There’s not a bike lane in sight, and it’ll take you at least 30 minutes to walk to the nearest shop. Trees are few and far between, and if you don’t own a car, you’re essentially stranded. That’s right, folks, we’re talking about the good old suburbs!

Below, you’ll find some of the most depressing posts from the Suburban Hell subreddit, a community advocating for more sustainable cities, as well as a conversation with Brett Stadelmann, Founder and Editor of Unsustainable Magazine. Whether you’re a resident of suburbia or not, be sure to upvote the pics that infuriate you the most, and remember that you’re not alone if you’re currently stuck in the suburbs!

#1 Thought This Belonged Here If It’s Not Already

Image credits: quangos

To gain some insight on the topic of suburbs from a sustainability standpoint, we reached out to Brett Stadelmann, Founder and Editor of Unsustainable Magazine. Brett was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda and share his personal thoughts on suburbs. “I grew up in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, so for me, the suburbs feel perfectly natural and very balanced, between the fast pace of the city and the slower life of the country,” he shared. 

When it comes to the pros of living in the suburbs, Brett says, “You get all the cultural benefits of being near a city, such as services, culture, food, and job prospects, without some of the downsides such as poor air quality, noise, and overcrowding.”

On the other hand, Brett says some of the cons are, “Traveling anywhere does take time and results in emissions, and air quality still isn’t perfect. You’re completely at the mercy of your neighbors in terms of toxic airborne products they decide to use for cleaning, gardening, hobbies, and the like.”

#2 Never Forget What Was Taken From Us

Image credits: unroja

As far as making suburbs more environmentally friendly, Brett told Bored Panda, “Every neighborhood should have a group looking at sustainability, increasing natural spaces, reducing traffic, promoting recycling, etc. If you can’t find one, start one, because more and more people want to be involved in something positive.”

And if you’re considering moving to the suburbs, Brett says, “If you’re from the city, get used to driving more, a lot more. If you’re from the country, expect a much higher density of population.”

If you’d like to learn more about how we can be kind to our environment, regardless of where you live, be sure to check out Unsustainable Magazine right here!

#3 Defiant Family Refuse To Sell $50m Sydney Property To Developers

Image credits: PolSPoster

Even if you’ve never experienced living in the suburbs first hand, you likely have an image in your mind of what they’re like from countless American films and TV shows. Huge neighborhoods filled with exclusively large houses that have front and back yards and no grocery stores or shops within walking distance. If you’re lucky, the roads are safe enough to bike on, but more likely than not, cars are a necessity to get anywhere, even if it’s only a mile away. If you do live in the United States, there’s a pretty good chance you have lived in suburbia at one time or another, as according to the 2020 census, there are approximately 130 million Americans living in some form of suburbs.

And while you might be thinking that living in the suburbs is an outdated desire, you might be surprised to find out that many people still choose to move outside of urban areas. In fact, the Pew Research Center has found that Americans have become more likely to prefer living in suburbs since the pandemic. Between 2018 and 2021, the percentage of people who prefer living in cities has gone down by 4 points, while the percentage of people who prefer suburban areas has increased by 4 points. Some of the reasons people may prefer suburbs are having a quieter environment, being able to work remotely, and finding cheaper housing and larger spaces.

#4 It’s Almost Dystopian

Image credits: butterscotchland

#5 Land Use Matters

Image credits: unroja

#6 What A Cute Garage, Even Looks Like A House!

Image credits: theywasinthetrees

On the other hand, however, some people view living in the suburbs as an absolute nightmare. That’s where the Suburban Hell subreddit comes in. This community, which describes itself as being “about suburbs, how bad they are, how ugly they are and solutions against them,” has amassed nearly 57k members since 2015. The group does an excellent job detailing why suburbs aren’t always the most sustainable or reasonable way of living. From aerial views of cities showing exclusively asphalt and pavement to images of kids crossing major roads just to get to school, Suburban Hell has it all!

These photos point out how the land used in many suburbs could have been utilized much more effectively, providing additional housing, additional greenery and more sustainable ways of transportation than simply driving cars. According to Untapped New York, the first American suburb was Levittown, Long Island, which became what we now consider suburban in the 1940s. Today, however, over half of the households in the US would consider their neighborhoods “suburban,” rather than urban or rural. 

#7 I’ve Noticed This Weird Disconnect With Reality Surbubanites Have

Image credits: LibrightWeeb941

#8 I’ll Take Mixed-Use, Walkable Urbanism Instead, Please

Image credits: Fried_out_Kombi

#9 Car-Dependency Destroys Nature

Image credits: unroja

Suburbs are often criticized for being poor uses of space, destroying natural habitats, polluting water, wasting resources and exacerbating housing crises. But among all of the problems that crop up in suburbia, Chris Weller at Insider says there may actually be an evolutionary reason why the suburbs feel like a hellscape. He explains that two things that humans have natural preferences for, socialization and well-defined spaces, are made much more difficult when living in suburbs. When we live in large homes with yards and pools and drive everywhere, we encounter people out and about much less than if we were to live in an apartment building with a courtyard and had to walk down the street or ride public transportation to get around. Suburbs make it incredibly easy to isolate ourselves and avoid interaction.    

#10 Honest Design

Image credits: shmeeandsquee

#11 Triacylglycerol Looking Like Any Suburb Ever

Image credits: Anon5054

#12 Always The Same

Image credits: reddit.com

Another reason Weller notes that makes residents’ lives much more difficult in suburbs is the “lack of planned order found in urban environments.” When you don’t have a lot of space available, you have to be wise with how you use it. Your apartment building might have a grocery store and a coffee shop on the first floor, and trees often line city sidewalks, as they have nowhere else to go. But in suburbs, where everything is designed to make it easier for cars to get around, the pedestrian experience is often ignored. The planning just doesn’t make sense, and when we don’t have defined walking and biking paths, we don’t feel comfortable or at ease trying to maneuver around without a car. 

#13 The American Dream ?

Image credits: millerjuana

#14 Get Your House Away From My House!

Image credits: PiskAlmighty

#15 The “I Live In The Suburbs For The Peace And Quiet” Starter Pack

Image credits: JagVillBliFull

If you’re concerned about the environment (which, let’s face it, who isn’t these days?), you might want to become an advocate for urban areas over suburbs too. According to the Organization for World Peace, suburban sprawl is a major contributor to climate change. They explain that the reliance on vehicles suburbs have created greatly increases suburbanites’ greenhouse gas emissions and use of fossil fuels. Large homes require lots of energy to maintain, while housing small amounts of people.   

#16 Congrats! Your Neighborhood Is A Highway Exit! (Austin, Tx)

Image credits: odohertycd

#17 Paris, France (Pop. ~2.2 Million) City Limits Overlaid At The Same Scale As Houston, USA City Limits (Pop. ~2.3 Million)

Image credits: ChristianLS

#18 How Far A Pedestrian Has To Go To Cross A Street Using Crosswalks

Image credits: SHGamer

Suburban sprawl also greatly contributes to water pollution, the Organization for World Peace notes. “Lawns and gardens contribute to water pollution on a surprisingly large scale. Sprinklers and other irrigation systems can lead to harmful run-off. Run-off from lawns and gardens carries with it fertilizers, pesticides and other potentially harmful substances,” they explain. “These substances get rinsed into adjacent bodies of water. The products used to treat lawns and gardens eventually contribute to the pollution of lakes, rivers, streams, and even the ocean.”

#19 Thought This Was Fitting For This Sub

Image credits: SiddThaKid

#20 ???????? ????? (Before And After)

An inner city suburb of Detroit. It was formerly known as “Black Bottom” Before they obliterated it with the highway, as it was a predominantly African American neighborhood.

Image credits: Lyr_c

#21 This Is Levittown, The First American-Style Suburb, Built By William Levitt On Long Island, NY. It Was “Whites Only.” It Was Built In 1947, And Served As A Direct Model For Future American Suburbs

Image credits: reddit.com

Turning massive amounts of land into suburbs also takes away land that could have been used for agriculture and provided us with the opportunity to grow more food. “This land could have been relied upon by generations to come for food production,” the Organization for World Peace explains. “This issue is particularly troubling as population explosion continues. The sprawling development pattern exemplifies the capitalist impulse to disregard long-term sustainability in favor of short-term profit.” Unfortunately, however, it’s still the dream of many individuals to purchase a home with a yard for their family one day.

#22 Florida ?

Image credits: EvenJesusHadPubes

#23 Car Dependency

Image credits: gonanners

#24 Where Suburban Sprawl Meets An Indian Reservation In Scottsdale, Arizona

Image credits: etxxn

So what’s the solution to living in suburban hell? Well, according to the Organization for World Peace, it might come down to legislation. By implementing stricter government regulations on land development, communities could be required to use space and resources more sustainably and efficiently. Creating more housing in smaller spaces that uses less resources sounds like a win-win. People just have to keep an open mind and realize that living in a suburb might not be the happily ever after they always wanted. Perhaps taking better care of our planet and our communities is a bigger win.

#25 Spatial Priorities (Source: @fanmaps)

Image credits: juralexferguson

#26 Must Add Parking

Image credits: slumlords_city

#27 The Soulless Suburbs Of Omaha

Image credits: reddit.com

Whether you’ve lived your entire life in the suburbs or you refuse to step foot in them, we hope you’re enjoying this list, pandas. Keep upvoting the pics that you think scream “suburban hell,” and feel free to share your thoughts on suburbia in the comments below. Then, if you’re interested in checking out a Bored Panda article discussing a similar topic, Urban Hell, look no further than right here!

#28 Tulsa, Oklahoma Urban Decay

Image credits: TropicalKing

#29 Students And Parents Must Scale Wall In Order To Travel Between School And Their Homes

Location Pflugerville, Texas, USA.

Image credits: assasstits

#30 Development In Utah

Image credits: Sachem81

#31 Tried To Relax On The Back Porch A While Ago. All I Could Hear Was The Sound Of Lawnmowers

Image credits: cheesy_nuggets_

#32 Cars Make Sensible Land-Use Impossible

Image credits: unroja

#33 “This City Should Not Exist. It Is A Monument To Man’s Arrogance.”

Image credits: unroja

#34 Public School In Ontario, Canada That Can’t Legally Be Walked Or Biked To. (Those Signs Are “No Pedestrian” Signs)

Image credits: DrSKOb4gzQ

#35 I Have To Wait Two Hours At School After My Last Class Just So I Can Take An Hour And A Half School Bus Ride (Green) To Get Home Every Day Because I Can’t Afford A Car

Image credits: TheTrekMachine

#36 You’re Not From The City You’re From The Suburbs

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#37 1979 Advertisement For London Transit Showing How The City Would Look If Built By American Planners

Image credits: Wardt-

#38 Thought This Belonged Here

Image credits: Technical_Wall1726

#39 Our Lovely Hoa Dog Park—no Shade, No Turf, Just Gravel And Rocks

Image credits: click2189

#40 Colour? Never Heard Of It. – Ottawa

Image credits: BenjaminDaaly21

#41 How A Suburb Should Look: 1. Built Around Train Station 2. Everyone Within A 10 Minute Walk 3. Human Scale

Image credits: ResolutionImaginary2

#42 I Love Bikeable Cities ?

Image credits: RhettJ0157

#43 I Wonder

Image credits: CheckPrize9789

#44 The United States

Image credits: Tommy-Nook

#45 Fun Fact: There Isn’t A Single Store Or Restaurant In This Image

Image credits: MusicalElephant420

#46 Took This Flying Into Dfw Yesterday. Imagine The Poor Children Who Have To Grow Up In This Endless Labyrinth Of Concrete Roads And Fences

Image credits: kommentierer1

#47 Overpriced Average Urban City. Vancouver, Canada

Image credits: CryptographerDeep373

#48 Kansas City Before And After

Image credits: reddit.com

#49 Effingham, Il

Image credits: unroja

#50 Anon Goes To NYC

Image credits: CaliberSir

#51 One Of Suburbia’s Biggest Problems, In A Nutshell

Image credits: Ilmara

#52 (UK) An Island Of Fast Food Restaurants Surrounded By A Sea Of Lanes

Image credits: eatinglettuce

#53 When Spongebob Perfectly Mocked Suburban Life

Image credits: collinnames

#54 A Sterile Wasteland Where Kids Have To Bike To Their Bus Stop

Image credits: oncearunner

#55 Most Depressing Dog Park In Existence?

Image credits: your_catfish_friend

#56 Frisco, Tx. With All The Personality Of Unseasoned, Boiled Skinless Chicken

Image credits: shaunthesailor

#57 Building The Missing Middle Does Not Cause Overcrowding. Banning It Is What Causes Overcrowding

Image credits: Mongooooooose

#58 I Don’t Think Suburbs Are Any Better For People In Their 30s Either, And Nor Are They Good For Teenagers

Image credits: JagVillBliFull

#59 Suburbanites: “Apartment Blocks Alienate You From Nature!” Meanwhile Soviet Apartment Blocks:

Image credits: AgreeableLandscape3

#60 What Is It About The Suburbs That Makes People This Way?

Image credits: sexywheat

#61 Copy, Paste. Copy, Paste. Copy, Paste. Copy, Paste. Davenport, Fl

Image credits: EvenJesusHadPubes

#62 A Different Kind Of Suburban Hell. Dubai, UAE

Image credits: bokbokboi

#63 Did You Know On Average, A Mowed Lawn Results In 6 Times More Carbon Emissions Than It Can Capture?

Image credits: a-1-2-punch

#64 Most Common Means Of Transportation To Work By County. [usa] Acs Survey

Image credits: ghatroad

#65 Rio Verde, A Retirement Community 40 Miles Outside Of Phoenix. It Will Stop Receiving Water Truck Deliveries By 2023 Due To The Colorado River Drought

Image credits: BornThought4074

#66 California: We’re In A Drought! Also California:

Image credits: PotassiumTree247

#67 I Can’t Tell How Many Times I’ve Heard This “Argument”

Image credits: reddit.com

#68 I Hate It Here

Image credits: MR_COOL_ICE_

#69 The Entire R/Lawncare Sub

Image credits: Endure23

#70 Wide Open West Texas—paved Over For Suburban Hell

Image credits: Larrea_tridentata_

#71 R. Crumb’s Suburbanhell Prophecy, 1979

Image credits: splortsplibbler

#72 Oh Ok

Image credits: reddit.com

#73 Every City Council Discussion

Image credits: Mendo56

#74 Realistic Parking Lots Were Briefly Considered For Simcity

Image credits: koojay23

#75 The Cost Of Your “Own” Patch Of Grass

Image credits: reddit.com

#76 Houston’s Low-Density Sprawl Put Into Perspective

Image credits: d_e_r_e_k

#77 Imagine How Much Time We Waste Doing That

Image credits: reddit.com

#78 Stroads: The Greatest Misallocation Of Resources In Human History

Image credits: scata90x11

#79 When You Spend Thousands On Lawn Care But Don’t Even Go Outside

Image credits: Pardusco

#80 The Color Of Law

Image credits: unroja

#81 Dfw Is One Of The Worst Suburban Hells, 300 Sq. Mi (Larger Than Singapore) Of Non-Stop Single-Family Mc Mansions That Only Take A Break For Highways. Lived There For 5 Years, Loathed It But Only Realized What Was Wrong With It After Discovering “Notjustbikes” Videos On Yt

Image credits: MJlovesplants

#82 Glad I Dont Live In A Place Like This

Image credits: HappySometimesOkay

#83 The American Dream

Image credits: poomaw

#84 And People Wonder Why Its One Of The Most Expensive Cities In The Country

Image credits: unroja

#85 “Welcome To The Suburbs” Starter Pack

Image credits: unroja

#86 Such A Wasteful Use Of Space

Image credits: unroja

#87 Housing Development In A Phoenix Suburb. What Water Crisis?

Image credits: SurelyFurious

#88 One Of The Final, Natural Green Spaces In Tomball, Tx Has Been Completely Flattened For A Macy’s Distribution Center

Image credits: Perriwen

#89 Ideally Situated…??

Image credits: pascalines

#90 I See Your “Garages With Houses Attached” And Raise You “Garages With Daylight-Free Warehouses Attached” (Screenshot From Latest Njb)

Image credits: frsti

#91 Yuma, Arizona (From Google Maps)

Image credits: CaseyGuo

#92 No Irony

Image credits: aeranis

#93 This Is No Place Of Honor

Image credits: Ilmara

#94 Guys Bad Suburban Planning Is Ok Because Even Worse Housing Exists In Latin America!!!

Image credits: brandon_beans_

#95 You Know, I Get These Aren’t Pretty, But This Karen “Apartments Are Bad” Mindset Is Why We’re Stuck With Suburban Sprawl In This Country

Image credits: methodwriter85

#96 Why Don’t You Just Go “Outside?”

Image credits: Mongooooooose

#97 UK Suburban Hell

Image credits: eatinglettuce

#98 How Much Space Parking Takes Up For A Suburban Main Street In Florida

Image credits: scata90x11

#99 Car-Dependent Suburb Starter Pack

Image credits: ihatemath1010

#100 Living The Dream – Desert Burbs Edition

Image credits: NonZealot

#101 My GF Just Sent Me This Pic Of Her Cousin‘S Newly Cemented Back Yard. Taking Bets On How Long The Tree Will Last

Image credits: jfd851

#102 Sprawl Between Two Nearby Spanish Cities, Over A Month To Get There, Smh

Image credits: AOCsFeetPics

Source: boredpanda.com