I found this video, and it pretty much sums up exactly my observations of suburban neighborhoods, that is, everything looks exactly the goddamn same! I found the song to be humorous and catchy.
The place is San Ramon Valley, CA, operated by the town of Danville. The lyrics talk about how all the houses look exactly the same, except perhaps the occasional change of color in the exterior house paint job. It also talks about how practically all the residents are in the same boat and undergo the same life: "doctors, lawyers, business executives" and children who grow up to marry and raise families in the same suburbs, thus completing and continuing the perpetual cycle. The repetitive, boring monotony of their lives reflect the same monotony of the houses.
The houses are called "boxes made of ticky-tacky" in the chorus of the song, which is repeated many times to add an additional effect of monotony that reflects the repetitive nature of the suburban homes. The orchestration of the song also reflects the gaudy and tawdry nature of suburban homes (described as "ticky-tacky").
On a completely different matter, I was reading through Pat's post earlier on wanting to live in Virginia Highland. In relation to my previous post on the five-stage suburban growth model, Virginia Highland would have achieved the final mature growth stage because of its developed town center with parks and shops serving the entire community. The parks and shops would provide recreational, cultural, and social centers for the entire community.
So although I myself haven't visited Virginia Highland, I guess there are some suburban communities that even the authors of Suburban Nation would not frown upon. I'll definitely try to check out Virginia Highland and see for myself how great the neighborhood is. It is good to hear that there are communities out there (nearby) that contain desirable attributes outlined by the authors of Suburban Nation, which I've ultimately come to agree with.
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