Week 15: Suburban Life

I have grown up in mostly suburban areas.  I have definitely seen changes take place over the years.  I think that many of the changes that have taken place are in reponse to the population growth.  When I was younger, land was easier to find and houses were spaced further apart.  These days, neighborhoods are built very close together.  Roads are being widened all the time to accomodate more traffic.  Schools are also getting more overcrowded.  My schools had to make use of trailers to fit extra classes.  Every year more trailers were added until finally new schools had to be built.  Thankfully I have lived in middle class areas that could afford these changes.  In poorer areas they cannot afford new schools and so children are forced to learn in overcrowded classes with not enough materials.  Most of America is rural and not developed, so it still surprises me that people will continue to move to crowded suburbs and cities to be closer to everything.  There is not as much movement out west as I thought there would have been.  I have grown up in suburbs but I have still been close to cities.  There are some areas that I have seen improve and others that have gone downhill.  There are still "bad areas" of the cities with poor neighborhoods and high crime.  I agree with the textbook that the world cannot continue to support everyone at the rate we are going.  Only the wealthy can afford to make changes to make their lives better and the poor suffer.