4/3     Suburbs are like SUVs. We know they're not eco-friendly and many
        people hate them, but everyone loves to own them because they
        provide more space and comfort. Suburb increase our needs for
        automobile, energy use, and traffic congestion, thus are detrimental
        to the environment as much as SUVs. Suburbs and SUVs are
        Weapons of Mass Destruction. Boycott them now!!!
        \_ we need weapons of mass destruction to maintain detente
        \_ Giving you the undeserved benefit of the doubt by assuming this is
           not a troll, what alternative would you suggest?  I should point
           out that you're completely and utterly ignorant of the history that
           led to the rise of suburbs in the last century, and is currently
           leading to exurbs. -dans
           \_ the alternative is mega-cities where everyone cramped into
              apartments which is on average less than 1000 square feet per
              household.
              FYI, China in the middle of 1990s has decided that they are
              going to follow the USA model:  concentrate government subsidies
              on automobile-related infrastructures.  It's been only 10 years
              and the problem is already very appearent: tail-pipe pollution,
              congestion, fuel shortage that is beyond the imagination of
              average Americans who blocked Unical merger.
              \_ Maybe they just have too damned many people?  Would China have
                 enough useful land to spread everyone out in the farm lands?
                 Would super high density no-auto zones really solve anything
                 or just make people even more unhappy and insane?  People
                 need space.  Cramped little apartments are completely
                 unnatural and unhealthy.  No one thinks people *want* to
                 commute 1-2 hours each way in the US but they do it so they
                 can get out of the city which they can't afford to live in
                 anyway.
                 \_ there are alternative ways to solve the problem.  cities
                    based upon public transportation than private cars, for
                    example.  People even talking about conveyer belt for
                    side walks, etc.  People are getting used to the USA model
                    and reluctant to dump money on different form of
                    infrastructure.
                    \_ when was this magic pre-USA period of time when cities
                       didn't exist?
              \_ I asked you what the alternative was, not for some screed
                 about another possible consequence of overpopulation.  We all
                 know that too many people in too small a space is a bad
                 thing.  Tell us something insightful.  Furthermore, we don't
                 really have many actual mega-cities, Tokyo, Hong-Kong, maybe
                 Dubai is shaping up to be one, can you point to others?  Can
                 you point to an existing city that is growing into a
                 mega-city?  I am highly doubtful that this will happen in
                 either New York or San Francisco, two cities I am intimately
                 familiar with. -dans