Leave the Suburbs Alone, Please

Here is a great article about the relentless literary and film cliche of suburban misery.

The result of all this has been a picture of suburbia that ignores both the genuine benefits and the legitimate criticisms of life on the urban fringe.

Instead, depictions of the suburbs offer predictable images of conformity and alienation. In its short existence, suburbia has become more a bundle of clichés and conventions than a real place. Today, a young writer looking to describe a new landscape would do well to stay clear of the subdivision and head for somewhere fresher. New York, London, Casablanca — almost anywhere has less literary baggage than the North American suburb.

No kidding. Bu then again maybe I'm not the best judge of these things--I think anyone who would choose to raise their kids in a city without grass ought to be brought up on charges of child abuse.