The suburbs are often sold to us as the perfect place to live. Neatly arranged cookie-cutter houses, bright green freshly cut lawns, quiet streets. On paper, it sounds like a great and safe option. But when that sameness stretches out for miles in every direction, it stops looking charming and starts looking bleak.
We’ve rounded up some posts from the Suburban Hell subreddit that show just how depressing these places can get. Scroll down to see them and share what you think in the comments.
#1 Paranoid Neighbors And Prehistoric Rituals
© Photo: donpelon415
#2 Sad But True
© Photo: unknown
#3 We’ll Have Suburbia 🤡
© Photo: unknown
#4 Sadly Not Wrong Here
© Photo: reddit.com
#5 Dystopian Playtime
© Photo: curiouswizard
#6 One Of The Most Depressing Suburbs I've Ever Seen. Texas, USA. This Is Real
© Photo: MontrealUrbanist
#7 POV: You Head Into Town To Go Out To A Restaurant
© Photo: Mongooooooose
#8 Americans Sure Do Love Their Strip Malls And Suburban Sprawl
© Photo: Mongooooooose
#9 Did It Reach The Bottom?
© Photo: TailleventCH
#10 An American Ram Truck Designed For Suburbs Trying To Fit Into A Typical European Parking Space, Showing Just How Ridiculously Large They Are
© Photo: Falabella_Stallion
#11 This Used To Be A Forest
© Photo: kid_ampersand
#12 You Will Live In The Pod
© Photo: unknown
#13 Visualization Of Space Dedicated To Cars
© Photo: CptnREDmark
#14 10 Points To Whoever Can Guess What State This Is
© Photo: Cassinia_
#15 Both Of These Places Are The Same Size. One Is Scaled For Cars While The Other Is Scaled For Humans
© Photo: CptnREDmark
#16 Suburbanites/Car Brains “We Don’t Want To Be Packed In Like Sardines”
Also their daily lives.
© Photo: uknown
#17 I'm A Traffic Engineer And I Just Finished Installing Our Town's First Bike Lane 🥰 What Do Y'all Think?
© Photo: bluerose297
#18 No Greenery Is Affecting My Mental Health Very Badly
© Photo: unknown
#19 Suburbia: Expectation vs. Reality
© Photo: Mongooooooose
#20 Dine With A View Of A Giant Parking Lot!
© Photo: bizsmacker
#21 Thought You All Might Appreciate This Thread/Discussion As Well
© Photo: Mongooooooose
#22 Maga Suburbanites Be Like: We Love Living In The Pod
© Photo: reddit.com
#23 Part Of My Ongoing Efforts To Rebrand Urbanist Ideas As Patriotic And Pro-Freedom (Which They Unironically Are)
© Photo: Fried_out_Kombi
#24 A Large Astroid Impact Sounds Better And Better . .
© Photo: Section_31_Chief
#25 Always The Same
© Photo: clean_lilies99
#26 Let’s Be Real, Suburban Downtowns Are Pretty Depressing, Aren’t They?
© Photo: Mongooooooose
#27 North American "Town Squares" vs. Town Squares In Walkable Communities
© Photo: CptnREDmark
#28 This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things In The Us
© Photo: Mongooooooose
#29 He Is Literally Crying Over A Few Trees
© Photo: noon182
#30 We Could Have Healthy, Sustainable Cities, But Instead We Choose To Have This
© Photo: Mongooooooose
#31 Suburbs Don't Have To Suck
© Photo: CptnREDmark
#32 ….this Neighborhood?
TheEngineerGGG:
It looks procedurally generated.
© Photo: neatokra
#33 Keeping Children In Car-Dependent Suburbs
© Photo: am_i_wrong_dude
#34 Prioritizing Cars Leads To Creating Hellscapes Like This
© Photo: TheFonz2244
#35 I Actually Live Next To This Picture Lmao
© Photo: koromo777
#36 Las Vegas
© Photo: Apprehensive_War6542
#37 Because Of The Layout Of This Subdivision, The Two Marked Houses On This Map Are An 8 Minute Drive Apart Or 51 Minute Walk (Eureka, MO)
© Photo: TigerNation-Z3
#38 My Suburb's Social Scene, In One Picture
© Photo: Desm0dium
#39 Really?! Can’t Even Connect A Sidewalk
© Photo: Time_Professional441
#40 Suburbs Are Ableist
© Photo: reddit.com
#41 Found This Weird Arrangement Of Cul-De-Sacs In North Fort Myers, FL. Imagine Living In One Of The Middle Houses 👀👀👀👀
© Photo: Atticus248
#42 Oh My God, Just Build Apartments…
© Photo: GoldenBull1994
#43 Building A Picturesque Traditional City Like This Is Illegal Today Due To Modern Zoning Laws
© Photo: XCivilDisobedienceX
#44 No Balls Allowed
© Photo: starklyUnnamed
#45 Nobody Does Suburban Hell Like North Texas
© Photo: Solomonopolistadt
#46 No Thanks
© Photo: unknown
#47 What
© Photo: bac0_tell
#48 Unfortunate Reality Of Running In The Suburbs
© Photo: dPx42
#49 Zoning Damaged The Planet Faster Than Plastic Straws Ever Could
© Photo: Mongooooooose
#50 I Still Don’t Get The Appeal Of Suburbs , Even If They Are Quieter And “Safer”
© Photo: iv2892
#51 Anywhere, USA
© Photo: TheFonz2244
#52 Hate Em
© Photo: 20dollarsinmapocket
#53 And They Call It Town Center
© Photo: Farriswheel15
#54 Flying Into Austin, TX
© Photo: PureCSGO
#55 Average Suburban Fear…
© Photo: _-b_r_u_h-_
#56 New Housing Development Outside Of San Antonio
Most homes under 700 square feet. Anything to not build apartments.
© Photo: opposide
#57 Defend Your Neighborhood Character
© Photo: kayakhomeless
#58 Old Legacy Suburbs Juxtaposed Against Cheap New Construction Next Door
© Photo: Geminile
#59 Nothing Says ‘Vibrant Urban Core’ Like A Half-Empty Parking Lot The Size Of A Football Field
© Photo: Mongooooooose
#60 I Raise You The True Suburban Hell Final Boss
© Photo: JohnyGhost
#61 Mandatory Sprawl
© Photo: Fried_out_Kombi
#62 Why Do Developers Use Awful Road Layouts?
© Photo: RunswithDeer
#63 Is Houston Even Considered A City. Just A Big Suburb With To Many Freeways To Count
© Photo: jaycdillinger94
#64 Salem, Oregon
© Photo: user0097352
#65 Pushing The Limits Of Waterfront Property In Conroe, TX
© Photo: Material-Compote2817
#66 Suburb Life Requires More Driving But Also More Walking
© Photo: TheEverythingKing101
#67 Thanks Suburbs!
© Photo: Best_in_EU
#68 Walkablity? Density? The Horror!
© Photo: reddit.com
#69 Can’t Imagine A Worse Place To Live. A Cul-De-Sac Inside Of A Golf Course
© Photo: Cassinia_
#70 Look, Northern Virginia, If You’re Going To Build These Big Box Stores And Suburban Hell Sprawl Then Fine… Have At It. But Why No Access For Nearby Residents? Why Is Every Single Neighborhood Disjointed? Why No Trails Or Walking Paths? Why??? Answer Me!
© Photo: JuliettesGotAGun
#71 They Made The Squidward Neighborhood Meme
© Photo: iv2892
#72 Malls Are A Waste Of Space And Are Depressing Places
© Photo: unknown
#73 Truman Sports Complex, Suburban Kansas City, Mo
© Photo: Frequent_Ad4
#74 Eagle Mountain, Utah
© Photo: uknown
#75 Living In This Will Suck The Life Out Of You
© Photo: Top-Craft-8224
#76 Impressive!
© Photo: JuliettesGotAGun
#77 One Of My Biggest Regrets Is Moving To This Hellscape, No One Needs Houses Like This
© Photo: the--wall
#78 "Why Don't Kids Walk To School Anymore?"
1 preschool, 5 elementaries, 3 intermediate schools, 1 highschool in almost one square mile of land.
South Cedar Rapids, IA.
© Photo: Ok_Scarcity901
#79 Suburban Boomers Be Like
© Photo: iop90
