I&#x27;m sure the suburb you live in is much nicer than the suburbs pictured in the article. My friends&#x27; neighborhood certainly is. I think the US standard of living, if you&#x27;re privileged enough to be able to afford it, is very high.<p>Still, if your house is on an acre of area, that must have consequences. It makes infrastructure more expensive and increases distances. Do the roads in your neighborhood have walkways? How many college&#x2F;middle schools can your kids choose from? Is there community life &#x2F; sports clubs &#x2F; shopping &#x2F; restaurants other than pizza and burgers reachable without car?<p>I mentioned the bus&#x2F;snow situation because my friend told me the school had closed for something like 20 days last year and had to extend classes into summer to make up the time. And both of us have fond memories biking to school for 10km in -admittedly Dutch- snowstorms, having fun. The US attitude towards risk still feels silly to me.