# North American Suburbs VS. Asian Suburbs



## polako (Apr 7, 2005)

Is that first pic of LA?


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## Sen (Nov 13, 2004)

SDfan said:


> ^Yeah but in the same boxy buildings? I would die of a lack induviduality in the neighborhood. It if thats asian suburbia it reminds me of a sci-fi-terror movie.
> 
> I would go for European if I had the choice, there a little denser, and have transit all the same.



north american suburban houses have individuality?


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## centralized pandemonium (Aug 16, 2004)

To live I would prefer NA suburbs.


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## Shawn (Nov 12, 2002)

*This is a repost from a thread I made back in early May:*

I spend a lot of time at my best friend's place in Higashi-kurume, a typical Tokyo "bed town" 25 miles from the city center. Like most of Tokyo's western burbs, it is nondescript to the point of boring, but still ridiculously urban by American "suburb" standards. Given its distance from Tokyo, equivalent American burbs might be such places as Suffolk Co Long Island (Plainville, etc), Covina/Pomona for LA, or Highland Park for Chicago. It is serviced by the Seibu Ikebukuro line, and is only 20 minutes away from Ikebukuro Station by express train (the local and semi-locals take upwards of 45 minutes).

Higashi-kurume: 114,091 people (2003), 4.98 sq miles (22,909 pp sq mile).









Higashi-kurume is #10 on this map of Tokyo-to.

I took these pics from Aikka's 9th story balcony on a hazy thursday afternoon.









The view south, looking at apartments in Nishi Tokyo. Instead of car parking lots, we have bike lots out here . . . 









. . . and trust me, they get filled.









The sign reads "Higashi-kurume Driving School," hence the odd looking roads behind it (these are "driving course" roads that are standard at all driving schools in Japan).









Looking west, towards Niiza City in Saitama Prefecture.









Another shot looking west.









Turning north from the other side of the apartment, Saitama Prefecture is just on the other side of the ridge. This style of housing is very typical of suburban Tokyo, and quite ugly in my opinion.









The northeast view. Note the Seibu Ikebukuro line train (it's yellow).









Higashi-kurume Station's "skyline."









Finally, looking east at the station itself. Aikka's apartment is a 2LDK, and because of its location right next to the station (plus, Higashi-kurume is an express line stop), it runs a bit pricey even though it's relatively far from Tokyo center: $2600 a month.


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## JARdan (Aug 21, 2004)

North America.


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## Talbot (Jul 13, 2004)

Asian sprawl.

Very cool pics Shawn, and the bike lots are pretty neat too.


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## Effer (Jun 9, 2005)

Asian


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## jbkayaker12 (Nov 8, 2004)

The suburbs in the Philippines especially in the subdivisions and villages are very similar to that of their American counterpart. The homes are of international style. The only difference I can think of between the two is that in Philippine subdivisions there are more styles because homes are custom built whereas in the suburbs of the United States usually they are tract homes and only have around 4 or 5 styles of houses to choose from. I will post pics later on of my relatives homes in the Philippines.

Pearl of the Orient Seas - The Philippines


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## Sen (Nov 13, 2004)

Shawn said:


> *This is a repost from a thread I made back in early May:*
> 
> I spend a lot of time at my best friend's place in Higashi-kurume, a typical Tokyo "bed town" 25 miles from the city center. Like most of Tokyo's western burbs, it is nondescript to the point of boring, but still ridiculously urban by American "suburb" standards. Given its distance from Tokyo, equivalent American burbs might be such places as Suffolk Co Long Island (Plainville, etc), Covina/Pomona for LA, or Highland Park for Chicago. It is serviced by the Seibu Ikebukuro line, and is only 20 minutes away from Ikebukuro Station by express train (the local and semi-locals take upwards of 45 minutes).
> 
> ...


good density for a bedtown of Tokyo, just wondering how long it takes to get to Tokyo if you live in one of those bed towns? how long it takes to get to Tokyo from Kanagawa(Yokohama for example) or Chiba? since Yokohama is more urban and i suppose it takes about the same time, dont people prefer to live in Yokohama and work in Tokyo?


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## SDfan (Apr 7, 2005)

Sen said:


> north american suburban houses have individuality?


Well I see what your saying and its varied. In the older suburbs you have some great architecture. In the newer ones...theres the home owners assosiation and they prevent a lot of induviduality. At least in my sub people have differeing flora and color homes, and it all works for us. 

Its better then a window on the 13th floor or a balconey in a complex of 5 buildings.  But I do like the concept of density, they just need to do it without having copy cat towers.


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## Sen (Nov 13, 2004)

SDfan said:


> Well I see what your saying and its varied. In the older suburbs you have some great architecture. In the newer ones...theres the home owners assosiation and they prevent a lot of induviduality. At least in my sub people have differeing flora and color homes, and it all works for us.
> 
> Its better then a window on the 13th floor or a balconey in a complex of 5 buildings.  But I do like the concept of density, they just need to do it without having copy cat towers.


ａｇｒｅｅｄ．．


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## TalB (Jun 8, 2005)

I am not a fan of sprawl. I don't like the way everything is so spread out, and there is little or no transportation to get around it. However, Canadian suburbs, espeically around Toronto, are quite interesting being that they have skyscrapers in them compared to houses, though they are mainly projects.


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## doady (May 23, 2004)

I don't see how North American suburbs are better than Asian suburbs. Cookie cutter houses are no better than cookie cutter apartment buildings. The difference with cookie cutter apartment buildings is that they can support good public transit.



TalB said:


> I am not a fan of sprawl. I don't like the way everything is so spread out, and there is little or no transportation to get around it. However, Canadian suburbs, espeically around Toronto, are quite interesting being that they have skyscrapers in them compared to houses, though they are mainly projects.


Yes, Canadian suburbs have alot of high-rises but they are mainly condos. There are very few "projects" in Canada.


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## SDfan (Apr 7, 2005)

Sen said:


> ａｇｒｅｅｄ．．


I don't know what that means, but I wasn't being mean. Can someone translate that for me.


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## I-275westcoastfl (Feb 15, 2005)

Definetely american suburbs 2 car garage private pool the abililty to customize the whole house well id take that over some crappy apartment building any day.
Please not all north american suburbs are cookie cutter homes please go to older parts of cities they you can see what kind of nice houses are there. Also it depends where you live like here in dallas the new homes are crap used of probably the cheapest matierial but back in florida new homes are architectually pleasing.


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## MikeHunt (Nov 28, 2004)

Sen said:


> why not European suburbs? i think they are the best, not sprawls, but not highrises clusters either.
> 
> but if i have to choose, i will choose Asian.


Most US cities have suburban sprawl, but the biggest one, NY, has very little. Westchester and Fairfield Counties, in which I have lived, have extremely strict zoning and therefore, commercial enterprises are extremely limited. Unlike most US suburbs that are overrun by malls, the shopping malls in Westchester, a county with 1M people, are limited to White Plains, which is a city in and of itself. The malls are also very nice. They have Tiffany, Gucci, Burberry, etc.

NY has the best suburbs that I have ever seen:


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## doady (May 23, 2004)

I-275westcoastfl said:


> Definetely american suburbs 2 car garage


Great... American suburbs are very car dependant 




MikeHunt said:


> Most US cities have suburban sprawl, but the biggest one, NY, has very little. Westchester and Fairfield Counties, in which I have lived, have extremely strict zoning and therefore, commercial enterprises are extremely limited. Unlike most US suburbs that are overrun by malls, the shopping malls in Westchester, a county with 1M people, are limited to White Plains, which is a city in and of itself. The malls are also very nice. They have Tiffany, Gucci, Burberry, etc.
> 
> NY has the best suburbs that I have ever seen:



I'm not sure what people find so attactive about this. Homes in the middle of nowhere with no community and no mass transit options. Cutting those huge lawns must be only way to pass the time...


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## MikeHunt (Nov 28, 2004)

New York's mass transit is among the best in the world. Most of the homes in those photos are in towns (like Greenwich, CT) that are served by express trains that travel to Grand Central in 40 mins or less. Each town also has a beautiful high street area. In Greenwich's case, its high street is like a mini 5th Ave. or Bond Street. These houses are hardly in the middle of nowhere.

What these towns do lack (quite fortunately) are strip malls and box stores.


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## JARdan (Aug 21, 2004)

doady said:


> I'm not sure what people find so attactive about this. Homes in the middle of nowhere with no community and no mass transit options. Cutting those huge lawns must be only way to pass the time...


No, when you live in homes that big you hire people to do everything for you. That way, you can spend your spare time counting all of your money  .


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## JARdan (Aug 21, 2004)

North American, Middle-class sprawl in Mississauga, ON:


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